The late rapper XXXTentacion has released a new posthumous album entitled Skins.
The rapper tragically died in June aged 20 after a violent robbery in Florida. He was shot and pronounced dead soon after. Four men have been charged with his murder. Read about the case here.
Following XXXTentacion’s death, there was an outpouring of grief from the hip-hop community and from fans. His second studio album titled ‘?’ topped the American charts and is certified platinum. The single “Sad!” went to number one on the American Billboard 100 shortly after the rapper’s untimely death.
Skins follows ‘?’ and again mixes hip-hop and trap styles with rock and heavy metal influences. The track “Staring at the Sky” uses a rock instrumental and sees the artist offer vocals in the style of bands like Evanescence and Paramore. Perhaps even the influence of Marilyn Manson can be heard, an artist which XXXTentacion sampled early on in his career on the 2015 track “Netherack!”.
Kanye West is the only artist to feature on the album, a contrast to the feature-heavy nature of XXX’s previous release ‘?’. Kanye offers a verse on the track “One Minute” which incorporates rock music sounds in a similar way to Kanye’s own hit “Black Skinhead”. Kanye’s verse has generated lots of controversy due to its alluded reference to XXXTentacion’s past issues with accusations of sexual assault. XXXTentacion has been teased to appear on Kanye West’s upcoming album release Yandhi.
The ten-track long release follows a string of recent posthumous releases from the artist including the track “Don’t Cry” taken from Lil Wayne’s highly anticipated album Tha Carter V and “Falling Down” featuring Lil Peep.
Listen to Skins below on Apple Music and Spotify.