By Micha Green, AFRO Washington, D.C. Editor, mgreen@afro.com
20-year-old rapper, Jahseh Onfroy, better known as XXXTentacion was fatally shot leaving a motorcycle dealership in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on June 18, according to police. So far there is no known motive and police have no suspects.
The rapper, who had initially been most popular on Soundcloud, had begun to gain momentum and recognition, particularly following his song “Look at Me!”, which hit the Billboard Top 100 in February 2017 and peaked at 34 in April of that year, after being released in December of 2015.
In June of last year, XXXTentacion was named to XXL magazine’s Freshman Class and even featured on the publication’s cover.
In August 2017, his first album, 17, debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart.
As he continued to emerge in the game, well-respected and established artists publicly endorsed the young rapper.
Grammy award winning rapper Kendrick Lamar had been a supporter of XXXTentacion. When Spotify pulled XXXTentacion’s music after assault charges were brought against him, Lamar criticized the music streaming company’s decision.
According to People, because of the advocacy from Lamar, artists and even some Spotify employees, XXXTentacion’s music was added back to the streaming service’s catalogue in recent weeks.
Despite such a young life and career full of controversy, such as the assault charges and his own beef with rapper Drake, XXXTentacion was beloved in the music industry. When news of his shooting first spread, artists from various mediums immediately began honoring the young rapper.
“Although I don’t not side with the decisions he made in the past, he was an amazing influential artist and touched many people that I know. He inspired many live more positively and did a lot of good for this world,” comedian Grayson Dolan, of the famous Dolan Twins, wrote on Twitter.
“Notwithsanding personal demons, he was a huge talent and bringing a new feel to hip hop. So sad,” filmmaker and writer Louis Theroux, wrote on Twitter.
“Enormous talent and limitless potential and a strong desire to be a better person. God bless his family, friends and fans,” rapper J. Cole wrote.
Even Kanye West weighed in on the sad news of the 20-year-old’s death.
rest in peace 🙏🙏🙏 I never told you how much you inspired me when you were here thank you for existing pic.twitter.com/QU7DR3Ghbw
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) June 18, 2018
“I never told you how much you inspire me when you were here,” West wrote. “Thank you for existing.”