XXXTentacion’s death reopens the debate on the separation between art and the artist

*Trigger Warning* – this article contains details of abuse, rape, and suicide.

By Elly Savva

Following a shooting in Miami on the 18th of June, the 20-year-old ÔÇÿup-and-comingÔÇÖ Floridian rapper XXXTentacion (born Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy) has died. The rapperÔÇÖs rapid rise to musical success has been concurrently overshadowed by his criminality and multiple allegations of violent abuse. His previous arrests include charges of aggravated battery, home invasion, assault, domestic battery, false imprisonment, and witness tampering. Despite these incidences of violence, XXXTentacion garnered a huge fan-base and notable chart success, with his second album titled ÔÇÿ?ÔÇÖ topping charts in the United States and reaching 3rd position in the UK.

At the time of OnfroyÔÇÖs death, he was awaiting trial for charges of aggravated battery of a pregnant woman and domestic battery by strangulation. Although the rapper would have pleaded not guilty, he faced a significant amount of jail time. The victimÔÇÖs testimony reveals a pattern of abusive, cruel, and sadistic behaviour. His pregnant ex-girlfriend claims that he kicked, punched, stamped on her head, drowned her head under running water in a bath, threatened to cut out her tongue, threatened to penetrate her vagina with sharp barbecue instruments, and threatened to kill her and the unborn child she carried.

His victim has started a GoFundMe page for help with her medical bills, as she now requires orbital surgery after being so brutally beaten to the point that fractured bones in her eye socket are piercing into the back of her eyeball. Her GoFundMe includes photographic evidence and doctorÔÇÖs reports of the injuries that she alleges were at the hands of XXXTentacion. It is clear that his alleged violence wasn’t exerted towards equal rivals, it was exerted on the vulnerable. In an interview, Onfroy also spoke proudly and in detail about beating a cellmate he believed to be gay nearly to death during his time in juvenile prison.

XXXTentacion began his success amongst the wave of SoundCloud rap, a new sub-genre of hip-hop with emo and punk influences. The online SoundCloud service has created a platform easily accessible for a new generation of young artists to publish music independently without the involvement of record labels. The removal of gatekeepers in this way has resulted in an unpolished, nihilistic sound with honest lyrics that are largely emotional and confessional about mental health and drug abuse. SoundCloud rap has created a distinctive subculture in which music has become intrinsically connected with contemporary fashion and sometimes the abuse of the powerful benzodiazepine Xanax. The prescription drug is used in the treatment of anxiety but is taken recreationally to create floating feelings of disconnect, numbing all unpleasant emotions.

XXXTentacionÔÇÖs music expresses feelings of isolation and insecurity with lyrics centred around numbness and mental illness, themes central to SoundCloud rap. It is easy to see the appeal of his music to a generation of youth battling with feelings of alienation and rising numbers suffering with mental illnesses. His track SAD! reveals the rapperÔÇÖs dark internal monologue on the loss of love, suicide and depression. His song Jocelyn Flores is a sensitive dedication to a friend of XXXÔÇÖs who committed suicide. It is a delicate and contemplative soliloquy, a world apart from the artistÔÇÖs alleged acts of violence.

Recently, the debate over whether it is possible and right to separate the art from the artist has been reignited. The ÔÇÿMeTooÔÇÖ movement has exposed many prominent modern cultural figures including musicians, comedians, and producers as abusers. The discussion over whether you can separate the art from the abuser is complex, divisive and sometimes provokes instinctive arguments imbued by personal affections for the art in question.

Even if you believe that the two can be rationally separated, the case of XXXTentacion stands out as different because his alleged violence and abuse weren’t exposed after his rise to fame, they were what helped to propel him to stardom.

As reported by Pitchfork in 2017, when he was arrested on domestic abuse charges, google searches of his name spiked. His art can be seen as reflective of his violence, with crude lyrics such as ÔÇ£rape a b-tch, that’s my fetish ayeÔÇØ and ÔÇ£shots in her body until she is a stumpÔÇØ reflect an aggressive misogynistic mindset which fetishises brutality against women.

XXXTentacion was undoubtedly a talented young artist with a promising future in the music industry. However, his violent personal life is inextricably connected with his art and is impossible to overlook. Although a violent death is never something to be celebrated, his passing means that his victims are now free of their abuser. The talent he possessed and the legacy of his music can’t excuse any of his abuse towards the vulnerable.