Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy, widely recognized under the moniker XXXTentacion, freely mixed punk rock, hip-hop, R&B, and heavy metal textures throughout his work as a controversial rapper. Dark and emotionally intense material fueled his swift ascent in the late 2010s, which included the number one album ? in 2018. At the height of his popularity mere months later, he was shot and killed.
South Florida native Onfroy endured a turbulent childhood marked by repeated violent incidents. Unable to manage his care alone, his mother placed him with a succession of relatives. After committing armed robbery at a young age, he was confined to a juvenile detention center, where he first encountered Ski Mask the Slump God, who became both a close friend and enduring collaborator. Following their release, Onfroy and Ski Mask the Slump God committed to sobriety and launched music careers, forming the Florida rap crew Members Only in the process.
Onfroy’s initial SoundCloud upload, “Vice City,” appeared in 2014 and accumulated hundreds of thousands of streams. That same year he issued the EPs The Fall and Ice Hotel, whose wide stylistic range—spanning whispers, singing, rapping, and screams—quickly cultivated a devoted audience. In 2015 he delivered the collaborative projects Members Only, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 with Ski Mask the Slump God and other Members Only affiliates, alongside the solo EPs ItWasn'tEnough and Willy Wonka Was a Child Murderer.
Originally slated as a 2016 mixtape, Bad Vibes Forever expanded into a full studio album and faced repeated postponements caused by two separate incarcerations. The single “Look at Me!,” first issued in early 2016, gained traction as a sleeper hit and, upon its 2017 re-release, reached the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100.
While imprisoned in 2017, Onfroy secured a contract with Empire Distribution, which released the eight-track mixtape Revenge in May of that year. The collection entered the Top 50 of the Billboard 200 and peaked at number 21 on the R&B/hip-hop chart. His official studio debut arrived later on Bad Vibes Forever/Empire; the atmospheric 17 contained the singles “Revenge” and “Jocelyn Flores,” the latter a tribute to a friend who had died by suicide. Upon release, 17 rose to number two on both the Billboard 200 and the R&B/hip-hop chart while also leading the R&B albums chart. Early the following year, his second studio album, ?, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and featured contributions from Joey Bada$$, Travis Barker, PnB Rock, and additional guests. Onfroy subsequently finalized a multi-million dollar agreement with Empire Distribution. On 18 June 2018 he was shot and killed in Miami; fan mourning after his death drove ? to platinum certification.
Skins, his first posthumous album, surfaced later that year. Bad Vibes Forever followed in late 2019. Conceived originally as his debut studio project, the set remained unfinished at the time of his death and had been set aside around the release of 17. The final 25-track collection runs nearly an hour and includes appearances ranging from Lil Wayne to Lil Nas X.
