Earlier this month, rapper xxxtentacion, often referred to as X, released his second full length studio album titled “?”. This is a breakdown of some of the songs on the album and background information on X himself.

My personal favorite song off the album is called “ALONE, PART 3.” This is one of the more mellow songs on the album, however, it still carries a strong message. Something that X is very open about is his struggle with depression and anxiety. This song talks about losing someone in your life and feeling as though you have no one to turn to or lean on. For example, one of the lyrics reads, “I can’t seem to find someone’s shoulder. Who will I rely on when it’s over.” X does a good job at really honing in on the feeling of being trapped inside your own head. He makes you feel what he is feeling so you can understand where it is all coming from.

As I said before, X is known for addressing his depression and mental health in his music. Although that is his strong point, he still manages to add some more upbeat songs to his album. Two songs that are more uplifting and less depressing is “Moonlight” and “i don’t even speak spanish lol.” Both songs have a very distinct beat with heavy drums. “Moonlight” opens with a psychedelic beat that continually fades in and out with an increasing and decreasing volume. How I described it to my friends is a “brief trip through time.” It sounds like a mixture between time travel and elevator music.

X is often perceived negatively in the media because of his past. His music, however, is a much better reflection of who he truly is. On both of his albums, “17” and “?”, he has an introduction segment that explains some of his inspiration for the album. In both intro’s he tells the listener that we are “literally entering my mind.” Listening to his music is a much more accurate depiction of who X is as a person.

In “I don’t even speak spanish lol” you can hear the playfulness in the beat and the lyrics that he is trying to portray. This song shows a different side to X that people who don’t follow his music wouldn’t normally see. One of the lyrics says, “dance with me through the night.” And let me tell you, you will have no problem doing that while listening to this song.

X is also a big activist for the youth. His song “Hope” is dedicated and written about the tragedy that took place in Parkland, Florida. X is from Broward County so this cause obviously hit home for him. In this song he talks about envisioning and creating a better life for the future youth and “the rest of us.” It’s a very simple song with not a lot of background noise but rather he relies on his words to make a difference and portray his message.

One thing that seems to be a trend with almost all of X’s songs is that they are very short in time. None of the songs off of this album is longer than 3 minutes and 30 seconds. With that being said, I think that it is an interesting custom especially when typically all the radio hits are almost 4 minutes long. He doesn’t try to just fill empty space with meaningless lyrics or background music. He doesn’t waste time with including more to a song than there needs to be. Every single second of his album, every drum beat, every word and rhyme means something. There is no portion of his music that is worthless.