Rappers have it hard nowadays, with controversy following them on every step of their career. In fact, typing “rappers controversies 2020” into Google's search bar, you'll find pages and pages of rappers and all the controversies that have surrounded them just last year. But one controversial rapper would blow all of last year's arguments out of the ballpark. It would end up for0getting them like the dime that we dropped at the back of our sofas that we've forgotten about, and that's the album cover for XXXTentacion's 2015 album “Look at Me!”

But First, Who is XXXTentacion?

Jahseh Onfoy, most famously known for his stage name XXXTentacion was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter before his untimely murder on the 18th of June, 2018. His passion for music has been present since his childhood, and he tried to teach himself how to play the piano and the guitar. Although his mother and aunt have signed him up for a chorus during his middle school days, he was kicked out after punched a classmate. The rapper dropped out of 10th grade and has been in the juvie detention center to possess firearms for 9 months to an entire year. There he met fellow rapper Ski Mask the Slump God, with whom he has collaborated on several projects in the near future. 

Since then, he has seen global infamy for his tracks that he has uploaded on the now-infamous music streaming website SoundCloud. His most latest track before his untimely death, Fuck Love (feat. Tripple Redd), was uploaded 3 years ago and has garnered 2.83 million likes and hundreds of thousands of shares and reposts. His first breakout single, “Look at Me!” was uploaded on the 31st of December, 2015. It has been played an astounding 189 million times, along with having 2.1 million likes and a couple of hundreds of thousand reposts as well.

“Look at Me!”: A Weird Single Cover.

Looking at the cover itself can be considered as one hell of an acid trip on its own. I mean, a minor smoking a joint on his nose and is apparently taken from a phone camera? I'm not going to beat around the bush on this one; it took me a couple of seconds to digest the same image at first as well. But apparently, the story goes further than stirring up controversy and being weird in its own right. Admittedly, looking at the image all by itself would stir lots of questions all on its right. As Tatianna of RuPaul’s Drag Race infamy has said at one point, “we all make choices. And that was a choice.” But, just nothing in this world is completely meaningless. The story behind the image and the story of the child itself is a beautiful story of jail time, music, and inspirational stories.

Who Was That?

Although the image may look like it's been taken from the internet, the 12-year old boy personally sent the photo to X some months beforehand. Most known on the internet as KidPronto, the kid has befriended the rapper beforehand and has lived with X for a couple of months.

In an interview with Complex, Pronto has revealed that they have met at XXXTentacion's first-ever concert in Florida. “X pulled up on me with, like, 50 people on my street. Ski Mask [the Slump God] and all of them were there. We went to the show together and stayed in touch after that.” Right after that, he was invited to join a Twitter group chat where they shared photos that would be considered as over-the-top for most people. Pronto then sent the selfie of him smoking a blunt from his nose and used by XXXTentacion as the single cover for his breakout single. Hence came the infamy and the internet fame as well.

The Rise and Fall, Right Up to the Inevitable End.

Although “Look at Me!” has received an adequate amount of attention online through the years, it has really come into its own from late 2016 to early 2017. After XXXTentacion has been arrested and has gone to jail after being charged with domestic battery, aggravated battery of a pregnant victim, false imprisonment, and witness tampering.

KidPronto is not safe as well. “When he was getting in trouble, I was getting in trouble, too,” he said in an interview. Pronto does not wish to disclose further details into the legal cases he has been charged with. However, he has mentioned that some include robbery, resisting arrest, battery, and vehicle theft. After Tentacion has been released from jail, there is an active warrant of arrest for Pronto. KidPronto remembers that Tentacion was already aware of his situation and has promised that he could stay at the rapper's house for a while. Pronto described the rapper as a very “genuine and a generous person,” and where he has the best moments of his teenage life.

Getting a Following and Plays Worldwide

Just as many great things must come to an end, it all came crashing down shortly, about two months after. The police came knocking into X's house. After initially denying that he doesn't know where Pronto was, the rapper convinced him to turn him to the authorities. Tentacion was then murdered on the fateful afternoon of the 18th of June of 2018, halfway through Pronto's stay. He learned of Tentacion's death while he was in his prison stay. He has then settled on a new goal; pursue a music career of his own because of the inspiration that he got from Tentacion.  

Conclusion

As of the time of this writing, KidPronto has made a name for himself with his music. He has garnered a following and plays on SoundCloud, and his music has reached a total of 300,000 streams as well. KidPronto still couldn't get away from trouble, though. He was arrested in the spring of 2019 in Pompano Beach, Florida after he has stabbed another teenager multiple times over an argument. The child smoking a blunt through his nose on the Look at Me! video has a surprising character development that nobody has seen coming.

Date: May 20, 2021 / Categories: Getting Discovered, / Author: Joy P