One sided beef with Drake couldn't stop him. Prison couldn't stop him. Falling out with Ski Mask The Slump God couldn't stop him. Getting jumped by Migos lookalikes couldn't stop him. Despite having pretty much every conceivable obstacle thrown his way, the divisive rapper XXXTentacion has managed to emerge from 2017 relatively unscathed, albeit under house arrest. And while he's previously teased his retirement, like any true rapper, he didn't mean it whatsoever.
Quite the opposite, in fact - XXXTentacion has been previewing songs seemingly every other day, as well as promising three new albums in 2018. X's latest offering is a bit of a stylistic departure for the young rapper, who seems to fluctuate between aggressive, lo-fi SoundCloud rap and more melodic, guitar-driven balladry. This one, however, seemingly titled "smash" or "Heartbreaker," finds X on his Travis Scott tip, drowning his voice in autotune and singing over minor key piano-trap. Overall, the track definitely sounds like it has potential, although I must say, I wouldn't mind hearing X with some more polished mixes; the crisp production was one of the highlights of 17.
At the end of the day, X remains a talented, if consistently controversial artist. His fans will defend him to death, while his haters will write off everything he does; there's very little middle ground when it comes to the young rapper. Still, with his up-and-down 2017 behind him, here's hoping X can get his mind right, correct his past wrongs, and continue to produce quality music. Check out this snippet below, and sound off - what do ya'll think?