Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy, whose stage name is XXXTentacion (pronounced xxx-tenta-ción), was an American rapper, songwriter, and singer born on January 23, 1998 in Plantation, Florida. He died on June 18, 2018 in Deerfield Beach, Florida.
XXXTentacion’s Jamaican parents were Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy and Cleopatra Eretha Dreena Bernard, and he had three siblings, including one half sibling from his father’s side of the family. But XXXTentacion was predominately raised by his grandmother Collette Jones in Pompano Beach, Florida, and Lauderhill, Florida.
At the age of 6, XXXTentacion defended his mother by trying to stab a man that was attempting to attack her. This violent event put the young boy into a youth program prior to being placed in his grandmother’s care.
Finding Music Early On
While in the early teenaged stage of his young life, XXXTentacion found a connection to not just rap, but also nu-metal and hard rock music as well. Soon he was on a mission to become self-taught on the piano and the guitar. Lil Wayne, The Notorious B.I.G., Nirvana, and The Fray were some of XXXTentacion’s early influences.
During middle school his aunt and mother did their best to encourage his passion for music by signing him up for school choir, until he was kicked out for punching a kid in his class. High school for XXXTentacion only lasted until 10th grade.
XXXTentacion met rapper and frequent collaborator Ski Mask the Slump God during a nine months to a year stint in a juvenile-detention center due to a gun possession charge around 2013-2014.
During the month of March in 2014, “Vice City” was the first song that XXXTentacion uploaded to SoundCloud, with his first SoundCloud EP being Heartbreak Hotel on February 3, 2015. Ski Mask the Slump God and XXXTentacion went on to release Members Only Vol. 1 on April 20, 2015 and Members Only Vol. 2 on October 23, 2015.
Getting into Trouble
Unfortunately, there were several sticky situations that found XXXTentacion on the wrong side of the law:
- XXXTentacion was charged for committing home invasion, robbery, and aggravated battery on November 16, 2015.
- XXXTentacion allegedly had his first instance of domestic violence. According to his ex-girlfriend’s testimony, be made violent threats to penetrate her vagina with a “barbecue cleaner” in late May 2016.
- During the middle of July 2016, round two of alleged domestic violence occurs with XXXTentation allegedly punching, kicking, tackling, and stomping his ex-girlfriend. She said that the reason this vicious outburst took place is because he overheard her singing another artist’s song. His threats also included that he would cut out her tongue.
- XXXTentacion is arrested for his 2015 robbery and assault charges. He is held at Broward Regional Detention Center in Fort Lauderdale on August 9, 2016.
- Between October 6–8, 2016, a couple episodes of domestic violence allegedly occurred. According to XXXTentacion’s ex-girlfriend, he threatened to kill her and her unborn child. Then he proceeded to elbow, punch, and kick her. He is arrested on October 8th, 2016 for aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, domestic battery by strangulation, false imprisonment, and witness tampering.
- XXXTentacion is knocked out onstage at a show in San Diego on June 7, 2017. One week later on June 14, 2017, XXXTentacion punches a fan during a Salt Lake City show.
- XXXTentacion gets jailed on December 15, 2017 ahead of his abuse trial. To make matters worse, seven new charges were added.
Music Career after SoundCloud
XXXTentacion had many career highlights during his short 20-year life:
- Adam22, journalist, record executive, and creator and host of the rap podcast No Jumper, announces that he is managing XXXTentacion on January 1, 2017.
- XXXTentacion’s single “Look at Me” enters the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 95. It reaches its peak position at No. 24.
- XXXTentacion releases Revenge, his debut mixtape on May 17, 2017, through Empire Distribution, which is eight songs previously released on SoundCloud. It peaks at No. 44 on the Billboard 200.
- XXXTentacion gets featured on XXL’s 2017 Freshman Class cover as the “10th Spot” winner, which happens to be the only place on the list selected by fans.
- XXXTentacion Ski Mask the Slump God release their Members Only Vol. 3 EP on June 26, 2017.
- XXXTentacion’s song “Look at Me” is certified platinum.
- On August 25, 2017 XXXTentacion’s first album 17 is released via Empire Distribution and debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart.
- XXXTentacion signs a deal, estimated to be worth $6 million, with Caroline, a subsidiary of Capitol Records.
- On March 16, 2018, XXXtentacion releases his second studio album, ? through his label Bad Vibes Forever with distribution handled by Caroline Distribution/Capitol Records. It debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.
- “Sad,” one of the two singles from ?, hits the No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and becomes XXXtentacion’s first song to find placement in the Top 10.
- SKINS, the first posthumous album by XXXTentacion, was released on December 7, 2018. The album included a feature from Kanye West.
- X’s final posthumous album was titled Bad Vibes Forever and came out on December 6, 2019.
Murder of XXXTentacion
On June 18, 2018, XXXTentacion’s life came to a tragic end at age 20 when he was shot to death in Deerfield Beach, Florida after exiting a motorcycle shop called RIVA Motorsports. According to police reports, the men that robbed XXX and killed him had been plotting on his demise, shooting him in the neck after demanding his money. The Broward County Sheriff’s Department in Florida later confirmed his death on Twitter.
In what some fans considered to be XXXTentacion predicting his own death, X posted described how he wanted to be remembered on Instagram several months before his unfortunate death, including the statement:
“If I’m going to die or ever be a sacrifice, I want to make sure that my life made at least five million kids happy or they found some sort of answers or resolve in my life regardless of the negative around my name, regardless of the bad things people say to me…”
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