Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy (born January 23, 1998), known professionally as XXXTentacion (/ˌɛksˌɛksˌɛksˌtɛntʌsˈjɒ̃/; stylized as XXXTENTACION and xxxtentacion), and often referred to as X, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Lauderhill, Florida.
Born and raised in Plantation, Florida, Onfroy spent most of his childhood in Lauderhill, Florida. He began writing music after being released from a youth correction center and eventually released his first song on the audio distribution platform SoundCloud in 2014. He is a pioneer of "SoundCloud rap", a microgenre that was inspired by trap and lo-fi music.
Onfroy released his debut album, 17, on August 25, 2017.[14] The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and was supported by the lead single, "Jocelyn Flores" which debuted at 31 on the BillboardHot 100.
Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy was born on January 23, 1998 in Plantation, Florida to an American mother and a Jamaican father.[17] Onfroy was mainly raised by his grandmother — due to his mother's[clarification needed] financial situation — in Pompano Beach, Florida and Lauderhill, Florida. He is of Egyptian, Indian, German, Jamaican and Italian descent.[18] When Onfroy was six years old, he stabbed a man attempting to attack his mother[19] and was eventually put into a youth program before being forced to live with his grandmother.[17]
Onfroy's interest in music initially started after his aunt persuaded him to begin attending school choir and later church choir. He was soon kicked out of the school choir, after attacking another student.[20]Onfroy was later expelled from middle school after a series of physical altercations. He was subsequently enrolled into Sheridan House Family Ministries by his mother for over six months.[20] Onfroy began to listen to nu-metal, hard rock and rap during his time at Sheridan House Family Ministries, which led to him attempting to learn the piano and guitar.[19]
Onfroy attended Piper High School until he dropped out in the tenth grade.[21] He described himself as a "misfit" during that time, citing how quiet he was despite being popular and regularly involved in physical confrontations.[22] Onfroy wasn't the athletic type and has said he was insecure and depressed during his time in high school.[17]
2014–16: Career beginnings and success with "Look at Me"
Onfroy's career as a music artist began in 2014 after he spent a year in a juvenile detention center for gun possession charges.[20] Whilst in juvenile detention, Onfroy met Stokeley Clevon Goulbourne,[23] better known as Ski Mask The Slump God. During their time together, Onfroy and Goulbourne became good friends and began freestyling as an outlet.[24] Recalling his time in detention, Onfroy said that he was respectful to the officers and staff and used to protect people from other inmates, including a homosexual cellmate, whom Onfroy later beat for being "suspicious".[20]
That same year, following his release from a juvenile detention center, Onfroy and Goulbourne met up again under the belief they were going to commit a string of home invasions for monetary gain[25] though Onfroy eventually bought a Blue Snowball microphone and began recording music[24] which convinced Stokeley to do the same. After Onfroy adopted a moniker XXXTentacion, he uploaded his first official song, called Vice City on SoundCloud.[8] Speaking on his decision to abandon the life of criminality for music, Onfroy said that he felt like music was a better outlet for his feelings and then-girlfriend, Geneva Ayala was someone who helped him realize that.[17] He would then continue uploading a small snippets of his songs that would either soon release or remain unreleased. Onfroy eventually joined fellow Southern Florida rapper and close friend Ski Mask The Slump God's group Very Rare, before breaking off and starting the Members Only collective, which Ski Mask joined.[7]
Onfroy released his first official extended play (EP), called The Fall on November 21, 2014.[26] Onfroy released one collaboration album with Ski Mask the Slump God, called Members Only Vol. 1 before releasing Members Only Vol. 2, in 2015 with several members of the growing Members Only collective. In 2016, he released the EP Willy Wonka Was a Child Murderer,[27] with music heavily inspired by heavy metal and indie music. In 2016, Onfroy quit his job as a call center operator due to his then growing music career.[21]
In July 2016, Onfroy was arrested and charged with robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.[28][29] After posting $10,000 bail, Onfroy continued to work on his debut independent album, Bad Vibes Foreverwhich had a slated October 31, 2016 release date.[17] The album missed the release date and was delayed due to Onfroy being arrested in early October on charges of false imprisonment, witness tampering, and aggravated battery of a pregnant victim.[30]
2017: Release from prison, Revenge, 17 and Bad Vibes Forever
In 2017, Onfroy re-released his song, "Look at Me". The song peaked at number 34 on US Billboard Hot 100 and the Top 40 of the Canadian Hot 100.[32] The single helped him gain more popularity due to accusations of Canadian rapper Drake using a similar rap flow in his then unreleased song, "KMT" that he previewed at a concert in Amsterdam with feature guest appearance from a British rapper Giggs.[33][34]
On April 18, 2017, after his release from prison, he released three more songs on SoundCloud.[35] In an interview with WMIB, Onfroy announced that he was working on the studio albums Bad Vibes and 17; as well as mixtape, I Need Jesus.[36][37][38] In an interview three days after his release from prison, X said to XXL, saying “I got this really really, really good album called 17. That’s more of an alternative, R&B sound — Then I’ve got this mixtape called I Need Jesus, which is mainly rap and the underground sound I did."[39]
Onfroy announced his first nationwide tour on April 28, 2017. The tour, titled "The Revenge Tour" had 26 tour dates overall and was widely publicized due to numerous controversies which included a rapper being assaulted,[40] Onfroy was being involved in an altercation on stage that led to him being knocked unconscious[41] and an audience member stabbed,[42] Onfroy being thrown into a barricade by security[43] and Onfroy punching a fan.[44] He announced the cancellation of the rest of the tour dates due to his cousin being shot on June 24, 2017[45] though the final tour date in Broward County, Florida still went ahead[46]and was later streamed on the watchthemusic (WAV) app.[47]
Onfroy was named as the tenth pick on XXL's "2017 Freshman Class" after being voted in.[48][49][50] In his XXL freestyle (which is regularly done by freshmen where a rapper will rhyme a cappella), it was speculated that he verbally insulted a fellow American rapper J. Cole.[51]
On May 16, 2017, Onfroy released his major-label debut commercial project, called Revenge. The mixtape consists of eight previously released songs.[52] The collaborative mixtape, Members Only, Vol. 3, with Members Only, was released on June 26, 2017.
Onfroy announced that he will be taking a small break from social media on July 20, 2017[53] until he came back two weeks later to announce the release date for his upcoming debut album, called 17.[54] Rapper D.R.A.M brought Onfroy out at a concert in the Staples Centre during Kendrick Lamar's DAMN. Tour, being the first time that Onfroy performed at the arena and the first time he was brought out as an opening act by a mainstream artist.[55] This was following Lamar's comments about rappers using ghostwriters for song lyrics[56] which may have been directed at Drake, whom Onfroy was in a rap feud with earlier that year.[57]
On August 25, 2017, he released his major-label debut album, 17.[58] The album debuted at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200, selling 86,000 album-equivalent units first week.[59] The album received a positive response from critics, some of which lauded the album for its personal narratives and diverse musical style.[60] On September 3, 2017, Onfroy announced that Bad Vibes Forever, his second album, is still in production.[61] 17 gave Onfroy's seven songs — "Jocelyn Flores", "Revenge", "**** Love", "Everybody Dies in Their Nightmares", "Depression & Obsession", "Save Me" and "Carry On" — that debuted in the Billboard Hot 100 at number 31, 77, 41, 54, 91, 94 and 95, respectively with "Jocelyn Flores" becoming XXXTentacion's highest charting song since "Look At Me" that peaked it at 34.[16] Onfroy then received his ninth song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, after featured on Kodak Black's song, "Roll in Peace" taken from Project Baby 2. The song debuted at 52.[62]
On September 12, 2017, Onfroy released his first official music video for his 2016 song "Look at Me!"; as well as sharing a music video with his 2015 song "Riot".[63] The song generated controversy hours after being posted due to the video depicting a white child being hanged by Onfroy, as another black child observed.[64] Onfroy signed with Capitol Music Group subsidiary Caroline on October 19, 2017. The deal, worth 6 million dollars, is for one album only.[65] Shortly afterwards on October 25, 2017, Onfroy announced he was terminating his contract with Caroline[66] despite a representative confirming he was still signed.[67] Two days later, he announced that he will be retiring due to negativity and backlash[68] though some publications noted that Onfroy has made similar pleas before and not followed through.[69] On October 30, 2017, Onfroy announced that he will make music again if fellow Broward rapper and "former best friend", Ski Mask the Slump God was his friend again.[70]Later, Onfroy answered a fan's question on Instagram live about his retirement, saying, "Am I quitting? Yes, I'm quitting — I don't know for how long, but I'm just not going to make music right now."[71]
Onfroy previewed new music on November 2, 2017, signalling a return to making music.[72] Onfroy announced a new album titled Bad Vibes Forever on November 17, 2017[73], speaking on the album, Onfroy said "It will be a mix of genres you have seen me dabble with, if you are not a fan of me this is not an album for you, it is for core fans only".[74] The album title shares its name with his label.[75] On December 11, 2017, Onfroy released the A Ghetto Christmas Carol EP on Soundcloud.[76] A day before his hearing for witness tampering charges, Onfroy announced that he was preparing three albums to be ready for 2018.[77]