Music

11 year old Alexander sent us his thoughts about XXX rapper’s murder

“XXXTentacion lived a fulfilled life. Today, he passed away. According to TMZ, he was in Miami when someone shot him. He died and was carried away by firefighters to a near hospital. At 5:30 he was pronounced dead, murdered. Gone forever. Fans (like myself) freaked out.

X loved his fans, unlike Drake, he actually cared about his fans. I first heard about him one day when he had released the famous song “Look at me”, back in 2015. I heard about him on the radio during a talk show. I told myself that I wouldn’t ever listen to his music about his horrible childhood. I was wrong. When I first heard his single, I loved it. I remember going to school with my retro ipod playing it. I was in love. That year, I went to summer camp for the first time. We were allowed to bring electronics. At the time, I brought my IPad. I had his song “Look at me.” on it. I remember playing color switch and listening to it. I became hyped. At this point, I fell in love then the album “?”, with his mellow singing but then also with his rap. I fell in love with “Soundcloud rap” or “Cloud rap”. He had recently released “Jocelyn Flores”. It was about a girl he had loved. She had commited suicide. This song changed my life. I realized what it was like to grieve.

This is what’s happening now with X. When I first heard he had been shot, I immediately googled it. I was greeted by a plethora of videos showing him laying limp. I immediately thought it was a troll. I was so wrong. At first, I was not showing any affection. I learned what it was like to be shocked. Then I realized. He had shot him. It felt like my chest swelled up. I felt trapped in horrible emotions. My favorite artist was gone. Gone because someone shot him. It is unacceptable. I saw people being happy. They called him “abusive.” I started being defencive. I remembered my iphone setups based all around him. I always listened to his music. While doing homework, while sleeping, all the time. I just don’t understand how messed up someone has to be to do something like this. It’s just sad”

Words by: Alexander Antelman