Birthdays are usually that time of year in each of our lives when we get to reflect and celebrate our personal journeys. We look back to the day that we were born and trace it to the current age that we have grown into. Being happy to be alive is typically part of the party.
But what if life and death played more intense, dramatic, emotional roles in our lives like they did for rapper XXXTentacion, also known as Jahseh Onfroy?
The troubled late rapper was shot and killed on June 18, 2018, as he was leaving RIVA Motorsports in Deerfield Beach, Florida in an apparent robbery. On this horrific day, XXXTentacion would only live to have celebrated 20 birthdays in his short lifetime.
Suicide, depression, social media, SoundCloud, and anguish were all key elements in XXXTentacion’s music like his song “Look at Me”. So much so that he felt that an early death was a real possibility for him. He took to an Instagram Live video and shared a message that included the cryptic statement:
“If I’m going to die or ever be a sacrifice, I want to make sure that my life made at least 5 million kids happy, or they found some sort of answers or resolve in my life.”
When is XXXTentacion’s birthday? Close to a month after it would have occurred in 2020 RapTV’s Twitter platform reported that “XXXTentacion’s “?” has now spent 100 weeks on the Billboard 200.” Imagine having a studio album like “?” spend almost two years on the hip-hop music charts, even when most of that time the artist has been deceased and unable to celebrate the achievement.
Let’s take a look into XXXTentacion’s birthday, the moments in his life that shaped his painful perspective, and quotes he shared about life and death while he was alive.
Born and Raised
XXXTentacion’s very first birthday occurred on January 23, 1998, when he was born as Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy in in Plantation, Florida to Jamaican parents and with three siblings.
Unfortunately, when he was only 6-years-old, in an attempt to protect his mother who was being attacked, the young Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy stabbed the man hurting his mother and was sent away to a youth center.
Raised by his grandmother, he was kicked out of the school choir and middle school all together due to physical altercations. High school was a domain where he has said to have felt depressed and insecure, eventually dropping out during the tenth grade.
Including serving prison stints, domestic abuse cases, and robberies, there has been a wide range of painful events that have either been fueled by his life of trauma or have further expanded it.
Dealing with Depression
XXXTentacion has had no shortage of words to share about the impact that depression has played in shaping his short life. He has talked about how pain is not just a negative reaction, but something to explore as a badge of honor that you are overcoming the obstacles and pitfalls in front of you.
“Do not let your depression make you, do not let your body define your soul, let your soul define your body. Your mind is limitless. You are worth…more than you could believe. All you have to do is dream…Pain is a sign of progress. When you feel pain, it’s a sign of progress.”
When we lose people that we love or lose things or situations that we feel made our life better, accepting that new normal can be a really rocky road to travel. XXXTentacion has spoken about loss publicly and lyrically.
With the massive amount of loss that he has experienced during the course of his 20 birthdays, it becomes hard for XXXTentacion to see a bright side to it all, even as his music career was beginning to benefit him monetarily.
“Lost in the pessimistic state of perception It’s been hard to participate in natural instances and due to my history, I don’t know what’s next for me but keep my composure.”
The Subject of Death
XXXTentacion had an interesting perspective in the connection that he made between death and fear. Was death something he personally feared? Was he questioning why we all fear death to begin with, especially considering we will all have to face it at some point?
“If death is what it seems, why is it so vividly portrayed within our dreams? Fear of understanding the devils running its course, fears not a factor its coming straight from the source, remorse.”
Live for Your Dreams
XXXTentacion the motivational speaker was not an image that was portrayed in the media very often. But, there are plenty of attempts on XXX’s part to present a more nurturing, caring message to his extensive fanbase.
There appeared to be a responsibility that he felt deep down inside that he was pushing to express. In some quotes he made it known that he didn’t want hopelessness to consume and dominate people.
“Follow your dreams, and know that even though you have lost, you have guardian angels watching over you, day in and day out, the last thing they want is for their lives to be lost in vain, make them proud! live full, healthy, genius lives!”
Love and Loyalty
Loyalty and love were interchangeable concepts to XXXTentacion. He felt that if you love someone, prove it to them by showing your dedication.
“Make sure you are being healthy in mind, being caring, compromising for the ones you love, being loyal to the ones you love. If you love someone, you’re supposed to be dedicated to them, right.”
XXXTentacion’s Age
We have answered the question, when is XXXTentacion’s birthday already. But oddly enough, age wasn’t something that he liked to talk about publicly. Typically, it is older people that don’t like to share their age for fear that they will be looked down upon for not being young. In the case of XXXTentacion, his reasoning for avoiding the birthday conversation was similar but really different.
“I don’t like to speak about my age because people try to use my age to determine my knowledge.”
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