XXXTENTACION, or Jahesh Onfroy, was a controversial rapper. He broke out last year with songs such as Jocelyn Flores and Look at Me!, the latter of which made the year-end list, and both of which sucked. Then news stories started coming out about how he was a terrible person for reasons I won't get into here. This year he returned with his big hit, SAD!. The song debuted high, and stuck around long enough that it was locked to make the year-end list. Then X was shot at the tragically young age of 20. The Hot 100 was a mess after this. Moonlight and changes both returned high, and managed to sneak on to the year-end list. But the big story was that SAD! went to #1. Now I don't really like X's music, or as a person, but I don't think he deserved to die. No one should die that young. But I will still be judging this objectively, separating the art both from the artist and the morals of label that released it.
And here we are. XXX has had many posthumous samples since his death, including Falling Down (with the late Lil Peep), Don't Cry (with Lil Wayne), Arms Around You (with Lil Pump), and most recently Scared of the Dark (with Ty Dolla $ign and Lil Wayne again). All of these cracked the top 30 (save for the last one as it hasn't had its tracking week yet), and theres still more coming. Word on the street is that Kanye West, Rihanna, and even The Weeknd have XXX collabs coming up. So prepare for the worst, we're going to have quite a bit of posthumous X to deal with in the coming months.
Also I literally just found out this is the first posthumous #1 album since The Very Best of Prince hit #1 back in 2016. Thats just disappointing.
Overview
So I may have not liked XXX's past music, but maybe the stuff he hadn't released was better? Maybe he just had such terrible taste that he chose to release all his terrible songs instead his good ones?
.
....
.........
hell no.
Individual Song Reviews
1. Introduction: This isn't even a fucking song! It's thirty seconds of a voice that sounds weirdly similar to Billboard Boi talking. I don't know how to judge this, so I guess I'll examine the "lyrics". This is BTS levels of fan manipulation. It talks about how you, the listener, wants to get away from it all and find a new place, and apparently we've found said place in X's mind. Yeah this sucks, but it's still the second best thing on the album. 1/5
2. Guardian angel: We get some nice off key instruments with a beat that actually hurts my ears. Like I'm not kidding its genuinely making my ear hurt. XXX just kinda croons over most of this song, until he starts rapping and he's.... not terrible? Like he's not special, but he's way better as a rapper than as a singer. I think the lyrics are about Jocelyn Flores, XXX's friend who committed suicide and let's just say he had some untimely comments after the fact. Like seriously what the fuck dude? Still though that production makes this a 0/5.
3. Train Food: Theres a train in the intro. Along with people eating. And then XXX goes into his "12 year old lowering his voice to seem older" voice over a production made up of one note. I get that it's supposed to seem amateur, but can't you do better thank talking over one note? A bit later into the song we get *oh my god* an actual synth. And then XXX decides to stop talking and we get him half-screaming and trying to seem relatable. But I don't think this is awful. Its probably one of the better songs on the album, so a 0.5/5 sounds about right.
4. whoa (mind in awe): This is the "big hit" off the album, and yeah its Moonlight 2.0. Weird production mixed with XXX trying to sing. I actually think this is a half-way decent synthy-piano melody, but its all ruined by XXX's crooning over it. And then even the part I kinda liked falls apart when the rinky-dink trap beat is thrown on top of it. But still that basic melody is good, so I'll give this a 1/5.
5. BAD!: God his voice here. He sounds so whiny. Like seriously I can't understand anything he's saying. The production here isn't even that terrible, its just generic. But holy shit his voice. He's so damn nasally its hard to listen to. This song follows the tried and true XXX formula of barely having a verse and making the song all hook. 0/5
6. STARING AT THE SKY: Phew this one's just over a minute so I don't have to sit through too much. XXX sing-screams over the most basic guitar line I've ever heard. The first part of the song is dominated by XXX quietly singing. Then he starts screaming so much it genuinely terrified me the first time I heard it, because it was just such a stark contrast. 0/5
7. One Minute (feat Kanye West & Travis Barker): The bass here is way too loud. It totally drowns out Kanye, not like he sounds good otherwise. The drums here are also mixed way too loud. I'm seriously not sure Kanye is actually rapping here, or if he's just some other part of the production since I literally can't hear him. Then we get XXX trying his hand at screamo, which god its awful. Now I'm thankfully the drums and bass drown him out because I don't want to fucking hear him. This is probably the worst track here. 0/5 (if I did negative scores, this would get one)
8. difference (interlude): I'm pretty sure this is just changes but with a guitar instead instead of a piano. Also the audio quality here sounds like it was recorded on his phone. And judging by how he goes "let's play it back" with the sound of things moving around at the end, I think this may be from his fucking voice memos app. 0/5
9. I don't let go: More off key instruments with XXX whispering the whole time. Seriously though, these instruments are so damn off key its not even funny. I think even the trap beat somehow managed to be off key. 0/5
10. what are you so afraid of: Alright heres the closer to the 19 minutes of hell this has been. It's just a guitar line with XXX muttering, questioning what this girl is so afraid of. Though I will admit, while the guitar is basic, it kinda works for this vibe and I really don't mind this song at all. XXX does sound terrible and I assumed if I were to look closer at the lyrics I would hate it, but the guitar is pretty nice so I guess I can give this a 2.5/5 and call it the best one here.
Final Thoughts
I genuinely expected to be giving every track here a 0/5 and giving the whole album a 0/10 so uhhh.... color me impressed? But I wouldn't say I was impressed because this album still sucked, and I probably only like the last track as much as I do since the rest of the album is so god damn awful. So yeah no recommendation for this album.
Rating: 1/10 (Awful)
Best Song: what are you so afraid of (and it's still barely decent)
Worst Songs: Holy fuck theres a lot.... Guardian angel, BAD!, STARING AT THE SKY, One Minute (feat Kanye West & Travis Barker), difference (interlude), I don't let go
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