XXXTentacion | Photo: Look at Me artwork
Rapper XXXTentacion was shot dead outside a motor sports store in Florida yesterday.
The news was confirmed by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office Twitter last night.
It is believed the star was the victim of an armed robbery. He was inside his black BMW at the time of the attack when approached by two armed suspects.
The homophobic singer often charted his troubled life in his music. He served two spells in juvenile detention before he became famous.
By 17 he had been charged with possession of a firearm, armed robbery, resisting arrest and Xanax possession, according to The Guardian.
‘I had to crack his head open’
During his second detention, it was reported he violently beat a cell mate he believed was gay for looking at him.
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In a 2016 interview with the No Jumper hip hop podcast, he says: ‘Do you think I can tell the story about that faggot I beat up?’ [16:22]
He explained: ‘They came to me and asked me if they could put him in my room. I laughed and said “Ya’ll can put him in my room. But if he does anything I disapprove of, I’m gonna kill him, and I’m not going to give you any warning. I put it on my life.”‘
He furthermore continued: ‘One day he just got “suss”, […] started staring at me throughout the day.’
He said that after taking a shower, ’I saw this n**** staring at me while I was putting on my jumpsuit […], I started beating his face in. You want me to be graphic with it? I grabbed his face and put it on the corner type-shit – we have these concrete slabs of beds – I threw his head on the corner and started stomping. I tried to strangle him. Long story short, I was gonna kill him.’
He went on: ‘I’ve got his blood all over my hands, all of my chest, literally… I was going crazy. […] I smear his blood on my face, on my hands, I got it, like, in my nails, I got it all over me.’
When XXXTentacion’s first big hit Look At Me! started to gain him national attention in 2017, he was still serving time in jail following arrest on charges of aggravated battery of his pregnant girlfriend and false imprisonment.
He was awaiting trial on charges of battery, false imprisonment and witness tampering at the time of his death, reports NYT. He had pleaded not guilty.
However, his crimes did nothing to stop his popularity.
In fact XXXTentacion, real name Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy, scored a number one album in America this year with ‘?’.
It was led by the single Sad!, which reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100.
‘Thank you for existing’
Following news of his death, many big names in rap posted tributes to the star.
Kanye West tweeted: ‘Never told you how much you inspired me when you were here thank you for existing.’
At the time of writing nobody has been arrested for XXXTentacion’s murder.
