XXXTENTACION, ? (Album Review)

~ I'm going to skip right to the point and avoid as much fluff and bullshit as I can because honestly no one really wants to hear all that extra shit. XXXTENTACION is a figure in Hip Hop who leaves people sitting on one of two sides of the fence. They either love him because of his rawness, emotional vulnerability, hellraiser attitude, and his vastly versatile music which can channel multiple genres with impressive ease. Or they hate him because of his numerous rap feuds, rash behavior, and the accusations he currently faces.

Now if you're someone who has never heard of him or might be curious to see what all the hype/hate is about "?" is DEFINITELY the album to start with if you don't feel like going through hundreds of his tracks on SoundCloud (You should do this though....SERIOUSLY you should do this!!!).

With "17" XXXTENTACION's freshmen album, he chose to use the record to display his vulnerabilities, demons, and darkest inner thoughts that he struggles with on the daily. The album, while it was short in length, was raw and overflowed with real emotions. In the end, this led to praise from artists such as Kendrick Lamar and others who chose to avoid the grandstanding being done by older hip-hop heads and those who can't seem to fathom that ACCUSATIONS do not equal CONVICTED.

Enter his sophomore album "?" and XXXTENTACION this time around sends all preconceived notions about what this album was going to sound like flying right off a cliff (Unless you've been acting like a fiend and listening to all the leaked snippets trying to figure out which ones were going to make the final cut...that was most of us though) with the track selection. With this album, versatility is at the forefront in every shape and form. Emotional ballads...CHECK, Mosh Pit bangers...CHECK, Tracks to stunt to...CHECK, Punk, and Screamo influenced cuts...CHECK!!!!! Shit, there's even a track for the Latin music lovers out there. But what really makes this feat something to admire Is even with all this versatility the quality of the music never suffers. There may be songs you don't like as much as others but believe me, no one song Is just terrible. SMASH! ft PNB Rock, In my opinion, Is the most skippable of all the tracks but even then It isn't terrible.

Tracks like ALONE, PART 3, Moonlight, Floor 555, the remedy for a broken heart (why am I so in love), Pain = BESTFRIEND, infinity (888), and NUMB are cuts that when they come on will have you doing your best Crash Bandicoot "WOAH" impression.

At the end of the day, people are going to feel how they want to about XXXTENTACION as a person based on accusations and second hand knowledge. And sadly a lot of people will choose to not give him a chance and continue to not listen to his music due to whatever "fake because" they can pull from their ass (guaranteed they'll say either he's a woman beater or he's fake deep. But these same people probably love Logic's corny ass suicide song and probably love Mr. Pistol whip his wife Big Pun OR love Shake Ya Ass by Mystikal even though that Boi got TWO ACTUAL RAPE CONVICTIONS!!!). However, if you have an open mind and want to see what Florida's finest has to offer "?" is the perfect album to check out.

Score: 4.5/5

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