Critic’s Picks: XXXTentacion’s 10 Best Songs

It’s been nearly seven years since XXXTentacion was tragically shot and killed during an armed robbery in Deerfield Park, Florida, in June 2018 at the age of 20.

Throughout his meteoric rise, X — born Jahseh Onfroy — established a deep connection to millions of fans as one of the leaders of the SoundCloud generation of rap while also vulnerably opening up about his mental health and battles with depression.

X committed full-time to rap in 2016 when he moved in with fellow Florida rapper Denzel Curry and exploded onto the mainstream scene in early 2017 with the re-release of his hostile “Look At Me!” single, which blew up on SoundCloud before hitting DSPs.

The Rojas on the Beat and Jimmy Duval-produced hit launched X’s career into another stratosphere as his mugshot cover art was seemingly inescapable on social media with “Look At Me!” reaching No. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was one of Billboard‘s Songs That Defined the Decade for the 2010s.

He even attempted to feud with Drake over allegations that the 6 God imitated his “Look At Me!” flow on More Life‘s “KMT” track in 2017. Before his death, X released a pair of studio albums with 17 and ?. In the week following his murder, “SAD!” rose to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 to posthumously give X his first chart-topper in June 2018.

While his talent as a musician is undeniable, XXXTentacion’s legacy remains a complicated one due to the myriad of mounting legal charges against him including domestic violence, assault, witness tampering and robbery. At the time of his passing, X faced 15 felonies originally stemming from an arrest in 2016.

Thursday (Jan. 23) marks what would have been XXXTentacion’s 27th birthday. From the melancholy to the rage, there was no telling how far X was going to push his artistry in his 20s. Check out our list of what we feel are the late rapper’s 10 best songs below.