Review Summary: Under the assumption love is dead
XXXTentacion is one of the most Controversial artists of the past decade. While massively popular online, accusations of domestic abuse and his very public struggle with mental health issues tended to overshadow his work. It’s difficult to talk about X given his very polarising image, and since his music is so tied to his personality and life, it’s important to stress that we must separate the art from the artist here. 17 is a personal work, from a human being and I will treat it as such.
While X’s early songs were brutally bass boosted screamo/lo-fi rap, X slowly began to expand his sonic palette with the release of tracks like ‘Revenge’ and ‘Jocelyn Flores’, the first a bitter acoustic number and the latter a murky trip hop emo rap track. His debut album ‘17’ is an interesting mix of styles. The two tracks mentioned make an appearance on the record, which also branches out into RNB, grunge and emo folk. It’s an oddly diverse record, for one that only clocks in at just over 20 minutes and for one made by a man previously known exclusively for essentially meme rap.
The album’s beginning track is a short spoken word opener entitled ‘The Explanation’. Here, X explains to the listener that the album is a portrait into his mind and the like. It’s cheesy, cliche but still earnest, and it help sets a tone. ‘Jocelyn Flores’ is a short but melodically soothing emo rap song about a friend of X’s that sadly took her own life, which unfortunately ends just as it takes off. The short length of the songs is noticeably one of the record’s main flaws. Tracks sometimes last as little as just over a minute and as such, the album overall feels decidedly unfinished and rough. If X were to record another verse and elongated the rather beautiful and mellow beats and instrumentals, it would certainly add some meat to the record. However as it stands, 17 feels unfinished and unfortunately underwhelming. Regardless, the melancholy beat of Jocelyn Flores leads into ‘Depression and Oppression’, a chilling song featuring only X and an acoustic guitar and one that helps represent another bulk of the record. Emo folk/RNB. The shambling ‘Save Me’, the hopeless finale ‘Orlando’, the short interlude ‘Dead Inside’ and the haunting outro ‘Ayala’ all delve into soul crushing piano led emo ballads. X pours his soul out onto these tracks, and they still feel complete, regardless of the length and the rough feel of the record in general.
The album isn’t all Piano and guitar though. ‘*** Love’, ‘Everybody Dies In Their Nightmares’ and ‘Carry On’ are all cloud rap esq tracks that sound as if they’re falling apart at the seams. X’s flow is fast and blunt of ‘Everybody Dies In Their Nightmares’ and soaring and passionate in ‘*** Love’, backed with guest artist Trippie Redd. Interesting how an artist known exclusively for explosive bass rap would make his debut an RNB emo record. All the hip hop tracks are well
Produced with murky, whispy keys and chattering high hats mixing with X’s bitter and biting delivery. Again, I wish they were longer but what can you do? All in all, 17 is an interesting beast to tackle. While it’s definitely far too short and underdeveloped, there’s a sense of warmth in the tracks that makes them fit their lo-fi beats and the overall feel of the record. Lyrics are incredibly Downbeat and often a tad over dramatic
And cliched but still naturally relatable. It’s no wonder X built such a sizeable fan base with his style. That being said, 17 is an imperfect but perfectly pleasant debut and one of the most unique debut albums to come from the Soundcloud rap scene. A sad beginning to a tragically short story.
Standout tracks:
Jocelyn Flores
Everybody Dies In Their Nightmares
Revenge
Save Me
Orlando
