Jahseh Onfroy, the rapper and singer known as XXXTentacion, whose surge in popularity in the past year and a half – including a No. 1 album – came as he was facing accusations of violent crimes against a woman, was shot and killed outside a motor sports store in Deerfield Beach, Fla., on Monday afternoon. He was 20.
The Broward Sheriff’s Office confirmed the victim was Mr. Onfroy. Videos taken at the scene on Monday and shared on social media showed the rapper’s slumped body in the driver’s seat of a black BMW sports car as a bystander attempted to take his pulse. TMZ first reported the news of the shooting.
Rapper XXXTentacion performs during the second day of the Rolling Loud Festival in downtown Miami on Saturday, May 6, 2017. XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy was shot and killed in Deerfield Beach, Fla., on Monday afternoon.MATIAS J. OCNER/Miami Herald/TNS via Newscom
Mr. Onfroy had been approached by two armed suspects shortly before 4 p.m., in what appeared to be a robbery, the sheriff’s office said. At least one of the suspects fired a gun and struck the rapper before fleeing in a dark-coloured SUV. Mr. Onfroy was transported to a local hospital. Just after 5:30 p.m., the authorities said he had been pronounced dead.
In the past 18 months, XXXTentacion quickly became one of popular music’s most controversial and, in some circles, reviled figures. In early 2017, Look at Me! – a bratty, caustic, distorted song – became the first breakthrough hit of the SoundCloud rap movement. But at the time it was soaring in popularity, XXXTentacion was in jail following his arrest on charges including aggravated battery of a pregnant victim and false imprisonment. By the time he was released from jail in March of last year, Look at Me! was climbing the Billboard Hot 100; a month later, it would peak at No. 34, cementing the rapper’s place as a disrupter whose serious personal issues only led to more attention and, for some, shored up his outlaw mystique.
Mr. Onfroy was born on Jan. 23, 1998, in Plantation, Fla. He was raised primarily by his grandmother and had multiple scuffles with the law. In 2013, he began recording and releasing music in earnest following a stint in a juvenile detention centre. Over the next two years, he self-released several projects, both as a solo artist and also as a member of the Members Only collective.
His debut album, 17, was released last August and has been certified gold. In March, he released his second album, ?, which made its debut at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.
At the time of his death, Mr. Onfroy was awaiting trial on charges of battery, false imprisonment and witness tampering. He pleaded not guilty.
Mr. Onfroy’s onetime girlfriend alleges she was a victim of frequent domestic abuse from him. “His favourite thing was to just backhand my mouth,” she told the Miami New Times. “That always left welts inside my lips.”
She said the violence culminated in an attack in October, 2016, while she was pregnant, during which Mr. Onfroy punched, strangled, kicked and head-butted her. She said Mr. Onfroy then took her cellphone and moved her to an associate’s home for two days before she escaped.
Mr. Onfroy was arrested the next morning and ultimately charged with aggravated battery of a pregnant victim, domestic battery by strangulation, false imprisonment and witness tampering.
XXXTentacion rarely gave interviews, but he often used social media to communicate directly to his fans. In a video posted to Instagram’s live feature, he spoke about what he hoped his impact would be: “If I’m going to die or ever be a sacrifice, I want to make sure that my life made at least five million kids happy, or they found some sort of answers or resolve in my life, regardless of the negative around my name, regardless of the bad things people say to me.”
XXXTentacion was also at the centre of an industry uproar last month when Spotify, the leading music-streaming service, said it would stop promoting artists whose real-life conduct it found to be “hateful.” Along with R. Kelly, who has faced decades of allegations regarding sexual abuse, Spotify cited XXXTentacion as someone whose songs would be removed from the company’s influential playlists.
But following backlash, Spotify rescinded the policy three weeks later and restored XXXTentacion’s hit Sad! to its prominent placement on the playlists. Sad!, with its deceptively bouncy chorus about suicide, has been streamed more than 270 million times on the service (and another 174 million on YouTube) and currently sits at No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 after peaking in the Top 10 earlier this year.
Rapper Kendrick Lamar, who won a Pulitzer Prize last month, was one of many older, establishment artists who expressed admiration for XXXTentacion’s music, despite his charges. “listen to this album if you feel anything,” Mr. Lamar wrote on Twitter last year. “raw thoughts.”
Following news of XXXTentacion’s death, the rapper J. Cole wrote on Twitter: “Enormous talent and limitless potential and a strong desire to be a better person. God bless his family, friends and fans.”