Born Jan. 23, 1998, in Plantation, Florida, XXXTentacion was the stage name of rapper and singer-songwriter Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy. A versatile performer with obvious influences of emo, punk rock, hip hop, R&B, trap, trap metal, nu metal, indie rock, and lo-fi in his music, XXXTentacion built a young cult following with records themed around alienation and depression.
In his short career, he released four studio albums, a compilation album, two solo mixtapes, four collaborative mixtapes, 10 EPs, 25 singles as the lead artist, and nine singles as a featured artist. He worked with the likes of Trippie Redd, Lil Peep, Lil Pump, Vybz Kartel, Kodak Black, Noah Cyrus, and Lil Wayne.
Sadly, his short life was tainted by a series of controversies and legal issues. As a juvenile, he was charged with marijuana possession and gun possession and attempted to take his own life by running into oncoming traffic.
As an adult, he escaped punishment for stabbing Dylan Turner, known professionally as Tablez, when Tablez dropped the charges. However, he was charged with robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, home invasion, domestic violence, and witness tampering — some of which resulted in his music temporarily being removed from streaming platforms — and that’s not even the full extent of the trouble he found himself in.
On June 18, 2018, XXXTentacion’s life was cut short in Deerfield Beach, Florida. He was only 20. But what happened?
How did XXXTentacion die?
At 3:56 p.m. EDT on June 18, 2018, XXXTentacion was leaving Riva Motorsports Motorcycle & Marine Superstore in Deerfield Beach, Florida, when he was blocked from driving out of the parking lot by a black Dodge Journey SUV. What followed was a deliberate and pre-planned attack that ended his life.
As per Sky News, two hooded men armed with guns exited the vehicle and approached XXXTentacion while a third man remained inside it. A brief struggle followed, and the armed men reached inside the rapper’s car. They stole a small Louis Vuitton bag containing $50,000 and shot him multiple times before fleeing the scene. Despite a rapid response from paramedics who drove him to the nearby Broward Health North hospital, he was pronounced dead on arrival.
It took a while to convict them, but as of March 2023, his killers are in jail for life. Michael Boatwright, Dedrick Williams, and Trayvon Newsome were found guilty of first-degree murder by a Florida jury.