XXXTentacion’s posthumous album “SKINS” provides fans with a bittersweet goodbye to the rapper’s strong, controversial career.
“SKINS” consists of songs that sound extremely different from each other, but uniformly include XXXTentacion’s traditionally emotional lyrics and powerful messages. The controversy of the rapper’s social/artistic life continues through this album, even after his death.
Janesh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy, known by his stage name “XXXTentacion” was assassinated on June 18, 2018. During his career, he was arrested multiple times for domestic assault towards his girlfriend and numerous other felonies. What makes this artist so controversial, is the disconnect between his powerful music and his pathetic misconduct.
Consisting of 10 unique songs, the album provides XXXTentacion fans with the closure they are looking for following the artist’s sudden passing. About half the songs, including “Train Food,” “STARING AT THE SKY,” and “One Minute (feat. Kanye West),” incorporate a fast tempo and heavier rap, contrasting to the other half of the songs which are melancholy and emotional.
“Skins,” the same as XXXTentacion’s other albums, opens with a track called “Introduction,” giving a brief explanation of the album. The first song, appropriately called “Guardian Angel,” sets the dark and depressing tone for the rest of XXXTentacion’s songs in “Skins.” The unique song has a psychedelic beat, emphasizing the lyrics about heartbreak.
“One Minute (feat. Kanye West),” adds more controversy to XXXTentacion’s reputation. West raps a lengthy verse about topics such as death, hate, and other disputable topics. Kanye West, being morally on edge in his own career, strengthens both the power in XXXTentacion’s music, but also enhances its moral strife.
The duration of each track, with the exception of “One Minute (feat. Kanye West),” never reaches above three minutes. Although this is common for the artist’s songs to be brief yet powerful, the audience feels as though they are vastly unfinished. It is up to interpretation whether this is appropriate for a posthumous album, or whether it leaves the listener dissatisfied.
“Skins” furthers XXXTentacion’s music career by maintaining his compelling and influential messages, while also adding new styles of music and sounds to the instrumentals. A few of the tracks, including “Train Food” and “One Minute (feat. Kanye West) sound closer to heavy metal, a completely new sound for XXXTentacion.
XXXTentacion’s album “Skins,” released six months after his death, does not fail to evoke emotion and leave important messages for the rapper’s fans. His traditional heartbreaking lyrics emphasize the mournful and abrupt end of the XXXTentacions life and career.
The album “Skins” by XXXTentacion, released on December 7, 2018, can be purchased on iTunes for $9.99 and is available on Spotify, Apple Music, etc.
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