Regardless of whether you liked XXXTentacion or not his presence in the new age rap game was vital. In my opinion, of this “new class”, he was one of the first rappers to open up and be super emotional on the mic while rapping. There are certainly other rap artists who do this, but XXX did it well and developed a cult following because he helped so many people through dark times with his emotional music. His death takes a big toll on the ever-growing emo rap movement. Lil Peep, who also helped move the needle of the emo rap sub-genre, died last year of an overdose. XXXTentacion and Lil Peep were pioneers of a certain style of music that will live on forever.

The rap game is the most important place in the world because there is no other music genre or culture like it. The coverage of rap artists, the beefs, the music that is constantly released for free. Everyday we get to see coverage of artists doing interesting things and new music because of media outlets like DJ Akademiks and Adam22. It’s these people that provide a platform for these artists to blow up and get famous, enhancing their stardom. If you get an interview with DJ Akademiks or Adam22 people are going to know about you, just like if Cole Bennett of Lyrical Lemonade does your music video, people are going to hear your music more through a wider platform. The interview with Adam22 and XXXTentacion is a pivotal interview because for the most part XXX stayed out of the lime light and didn’t do a ton of interviews.

XXXTentacion did some bad things, some really bad things. Those couple of bad things don’t define the entire existence of the young man. Kobe Bryant raped a woman in Colorado and people still love him because that one act doesn’t define his whole body of work. At 20’s years old being murdered by some coward is just flat out sad, no one likes to see someone young die, but especially someone who helped so many young people going through tough times. When musical artists die young, they most of the time become legends just because they died early, but XXXTentacion will be remembered for his music and his distinct style. Another young artist gone way too soon, RIP XXXTentacion: The Rap Game will miss you.

 

-Johnny Rambos