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DJ Experience - BPM Supreme - June 20, 2018
20-Year-Old Rapper, XXXTentacion, Left His Mark on Hip-Hop
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Editor’s note: This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

On Monday, June 18th, the music world suffered another great loss as we learned that rapper, XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, was shot and killed in Deerfield Beach, Florida. The Florida native was just 20 years old but had already made a huge impact on the hip-hop world in his short career. 

From his first SoundCloud release in 2014, XXXTentacion’s music steadily made its way to the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Today he’s accumulated more than 16 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Hundreds of fans have mourned the rapper’s death at the site of the shooting in Florida, as well as on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, where an estimated 1,000 people gathered. 

XXXTentacion’s music sales have skyrocketed on Amazon’s Movers and Shakers Digital Music list, as well as on iTunes in the days following his death. One of his biggest tracks, “SAD!” was streamed on Spotify over 10 million times on June 19th, reportedly breaking the single-day record for Spotify streams.

Although XXXTentacion’s image was far from squeaky clean, (he was facing domestic violence charges at the time of his death and was also was one of the first artists to have his music removed from Spotify playlists as part of the now-withdrawn “Hate Content” Policy), it seemed over the past year or so that he was taking steps in the right direction.

A few months back, XXXTentacion posted a live video from his Instagram where he talked about how he’d like to be remembered if he were to die young. The eerie post has gained attention on the internet over the past few days. 

“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,” said XXXTentacion in the video post.

XXXTentacion’s passing came as a shock to many artists in the industry, including Kanye West, J. Cole, and Pusha T. A handful have expressed their condolences on social media, but one post that stood out was from Mad Decent boss, Diplo, on Instagram just after the news broke. Diplo called XXXTentacion a “genius, true artist,” and said, “he texted me this weekend it was one of his goals to get me & Skrillex to finish his next album.” It sounds like XXXTentacion was close to completing a new album or at least had some new tracks on the way.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BkLpipagGvl/?taken-by=diplo

An official statement from XXXTentacion’s management team was released on June 19th requesting privacy for the rapper’s family, friends, and loved ones. It concluded by saying:

“XXXTentacion touched the lives of millions around the globe and will forever reside in the hearts of countless fans who listened to his music, attended his concerts, and felt the glow of his uncontainable, undeniable, and unique spirit.”

Our sympathies go out to XXXTentacion’s family and friends, as well as the entire music community mourning the loss of this young artist. We will keep you up-to-date as we learn more about this developing story. Keep XXXTentacion’s legacy alive with his music found on BPM Supreme.

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