When it comes to his interactions with fans, both on social media and in real life, XXXTentacion may have turned a corner when it comes to injecting some levity and positivity into his grim public image. For example, this past weekend, the young rapper took to Instagram to share some words of wisdom with his followers, with the underlying message being that of love and acceptance, instead of negative energy of divisiveness. "Today I wanted to tell my fans to wake up with a purpose," he said. "Whether it be something small, whether it be something that is only ideal to you, as long as you wake up with a purpose, you will be in positive energy today." Stressing the words "peace, love and positivity," X also reminded his fans that any and all put-downs should be left at the door. "Don't think it's cool to be an asshole," XXXTentacion continued. "Or that positivity does not see the light, because it does. Don't think that being negative is going to make you famous or a cool person - it's not cool."
Thankfully, the emcee seems to be practicing what he preaches, with a new video clip of a fan interaction proving this point. The footage, which has been passed around social media today (October 10th), shows him sharing the camera with a young supporter, who simply asks him "What's up?" To that, X coyly responds: "I don't like pictures," before chuckling to himself after the fact. It's a moment of good-natured fun that is not often associated with the artist, a man who has been previously linked to gruesome accusations of sexual assault and holding a former girlfriend captive in their house. Of course, it would be premature to say that those impulses are totally behind XXXTentacion, but observing his social media content over the past week or so has led to some believing that he's doing his best to clean up his public image and, at least on some level, succeeding in doing so.
However, there's no denying that he can still make some purposely obtuse choices when his name is thrust into the spotlight. At this year's BET Hip-Hop Awards, he wore a black-and-white mask on the red carpet, giving his presence an eerie, Eyes Wide Shut feel to it. For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure his password isn't "fidelio."