XXXTentaction’s Best Songs: 10 Essential Tracks

XXXTentacion reveals off the vary of his artistry as he delivers one in every of his most heartbreaking songs over icy piano keys, whereas singing in regards to the ache placing a gap in his chest. “Woman you’re making it exhausting for me,” PnB Rock croons in agony to help on the refrain. PnB and X teamed up on many events, nonetheless, the Philly native was additionally tragically murdered 4 years after XXX in 2022.

X takes listeners on a two-minute house expedition all through “Moonlight.” He flips the trippy instrumental in a robust rap music, which finds him opening up a couple of turbulent relationship with a woman falling sufferer to the toxic mentality of these round them. It’s emotive tracks like this that really feel potent and likewise nonetheless easy from the Florida native.

XXXTentacion and Joey Bada$$ appear to be an unlikely mixture on its face, however the duo put their bars to the take a look at as X tapped extra into his rap facet whereas teaming up with Brooklyn’s lyrical savant. X was clearly impressed by Joey and introduced his A-game on “Infinity (888)” whereas declaring himself the “realest since Kennedy” over P. Soul’s thumping drums. X and Joey even deliberate to finish a joint challenge earlier than this demise.

The psychological warfare X handled made music a cathartic launch for him. “All people Dies in Their Nightmares” delves into the depths of Triple X’s psyche. He peels again the layers on his excessive emotional swings. “Solely time I really feel ache, after I’m feelin’ love/ That’s why it’s tatted on my face that I’m rattling numb,” he speedily raps over the ambient manufacturing. The darkish observe showcases one other weapon in X’s creative repertoire on 17.

X’s present was having the ability to flip his ache and feelings into poetry in movement. And he did it in a method that the common fan couldn’t spell out themselves, which endeared the Florida rapper to thousands and thousands throughout the globe. A fantastic instance of that is “Jocelyn Flores.” The 17 standout — an album that grabbed Kendrick Lamar’s consideration and prompted him to run to Twitter — noticed X look inward and wrestle with romance and horrifying ideas of suicide, which he poured into a robust music.

One other hidden gem from a neophyte XXXTentacion, who launched “Amy Winehouse” to his SoundCloud in 2015. The devilish observe follows X bragging about having intercourse with one in every of his pal’s girlfriends. X’s muffled movement sounds possessed as he slowly speaks immediately into your soul, whereas piano keys play out like a scene from a horror film.

“SAD!” was X’s solely prime 10 hit whereas he was alive and the week following his passing in June 2018, the poignant observe launched to No. 1 on the Billboard Sizzling 100 as followers celebrated the lifetime of Jahseh Onfroy. It grew to become the primary posthumous chart-topper since The Infamous B.I.G.’s “Mo Cash Mo Issues.”

The John Cunningham-produced music cuts deep, as X grapples with shedding a lover and coping with the depths of despair whereas coming to phrases with the severed relationship. “Suicide if you happen to ever attempt to let go, uh/ I’m unhappy, I do know, yeah,” he warbles on the refrain.

A pure look into X’s early inventive course of. “Vice Metropolis” is a crown jewel that followers maintain close to and pricey to their hearts. It was the primary observe made out there on X’s SoundCloud account in 2014 earlier than ultimately discovering a house on streaming companies eight years later.

A teenaged XXXTentacion discovered the free “Logic Kind Beat” on-line and sped it up a bit earlier than pouring his feelings out. “For those who acknowledged opinions, then bones would start to shatter,” he raps about his outspoken nature. How was a child working at this stage as a 16-year-old?

XXXTentacion and Trippie Redd have been a deadly mixture. “F**okay Love” is the most effective instance of their fruitful chemistry and the see-saw battle with a nauseating romance stays a number of the most prolific work from both of the duo’s careers. It’s eerie each time listening to that X’s demise anniversary can be Trippie’s birthday. The SoundCloud pioneers’ anthem went diamond in 2023, as X helped welcome his shut collaborator into the diamond membership from the afterlife.

The abrasive “Look At Me!” smacks listeners within the face. X’s breakout hit was a lightning rod for dialog and match together with his polarizing nature. Launched in 2015 and rising to SoundCloud fame earlier than being repackaged for streaming companies two years later, “Have a look at Me!” served as a distorted anthem for a rebellious era of rap followers.

The dialog broke down Florida’s regional limitations and have become a nationwide hit that left an indelible mark on the hip-hop panorama whereas cracking the Sizzling 100’s prime 40. Wanting again, it’s one of many signature tracks that outlined X’s DIY artistry.

“The most important lesson out of that music is to show children you don’t want anyone and you are able to do it your self,” co-producer Rojas on the Beat advised Billboard in 2019. “You don’t want an enormous studio, combine, and grasp, or spend massive cash on a mic to make successful.”