Look at Me!

The XXXTENTACION Story

By: Jonathan Reiss

Narrated by: Jonathan Reiss

A compelling biography of SoundCloud sensation and rising star XXXTENTACION - from his candid songwriting and connection with fans to his tragic death.

At the age of 20, rapper Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy - aka XXXTENTACION - was gunned down during an attempted robbery on the streets of Deerfield Beach, FL, mere months after signing a $10 million record deal with Empire Music. A rising star in the world of SoundCloud rap, XXXTENTACION achieved stellar levels of success without the benefit of a major label or radio airtime, and flourished via his passionate and unfettered connection to his fans.

In Look at Me!, journalist Jonathan Reiss charts the tumultuous life and unguarded songwriting of the SoundCloud sensation. Unlike most rap on the platform, XXXTENTACION's music didn't dwell on money, partying, and getting high. He wrote about depression, suicide, and other mental health issues, topics that led to an outpouring of posthumous appreciation from his devoted fanbase.

It was XXXTENTACION's vulnerability that helped him stand apart from artists obsessed with being successful and "cool." Yet these insecurities also stemmed from - and contributed to - his fair share of troubles, including repeated run-ins with the law during in his teen years, a disturbing proclivity towards violence, and a prison sentence that overlapped with the release of his first single.

Through the memories of the people who knew him best, Look at Me! maps out the true story of an unlikely cultural icon and elucidates what it was about him that touched the post-millennial generation so deeply.

©2020 Jonathan Reiss (P)2020 Jonathan Reiss

Fun read & very interesting

Since 2014 XXXTENTACION (I will be referring to him as ‘X’ throughout this review) has been my favorite musician since I found him on a vacation to Florida in early 2014.

This book did a fantastic job with the work that went into. Accurate information non-biased narrator.

X’s life was full of trouble since he was born (being born with a hole in his heart). But that isn’t even close to other troubles later on. His whole life he wanted to make his mom proud. He grew up with a complex of him ‘not being enough’ for his own mother. Though X doesn’t blame her and he has frequently stated “she had it hard I do not resent my mother. She did the best she could in her tough situation.

Even though X didn’t resent her, he clearly changed because of her. His drive to impress his mom and get attention from her trumped everything.

My only problem with the book is how little the author talked about his growth and progression musically. There are some brief mentions about it and there are a few paragraphs but I feel what X became as an artist deserved at least 3 chapters (I would do one for ‘17’, ‘?’, and ‘SKINS’ and a follow up breaking down his progression in music with a correlation to his changing views on life and attempting to better himself).

Our author talked to much of the bad side of X (in my opinion). Yes I know X had a very troubling past and I’m not dismissing that. This being said, I was just alittle disappointed.

X’s music had one of the biggest impacts on music in the shortest amount of time ever. His first official solo album ‘17’ was 2nd on billboards top 100. The only artist beating him was an already successful artist and the 2nd part of an already successful album (Lil Uzi Vert - Luv Is Rage 2). X was one of the fastest growing artists we have ever seen.

I also wanted more on how his music changed as he did. Look up ‘unreleased XXXTENTACION’ and listen to some of the music. It all starts off like X is screaming or yelling. This is because X was an angry artist. He was angry with the life he lived. As X searched for enlightenment we see him progressively use sad and creative beats reflecting on things that happen to him causing change. Jocelyn Flores for example; when she took her life X changed permanently. We see this is all sorts of projects by him.

All in all, it is a fantastic read. If you’re not a massive X fan like myself this is the read for you. It takes you in a roller coaster of one of the most misunderstood artists we have ever seen until we got projects like 17 & ?. This gives you a great brief history of his past. My only problem was the lack of celebrating X as an artist rather than trashing him as a person.

Long Live Jah

Have a open mind when coming into this no matter if your a hater or fan of his

LLJ

Impressive content

I did not expect this book to expose me to such a vast array of historical goods. Facts about Jamaican culture, the music industry and many a countries’ political culture(s) are immense and properly cited simultaneously . Im excited to read into many of the trivia facts learned while reading and Im only on chapter 5!

long live jah!

loved it. was a good read for sure.i do recommend this. it was written well.

The story of Jahseh

The author did a great job at capturing story and characters. This book goes deep into Jah’s past covering his impulsive violent behavior, his interactions with friends and family, and even a little bit of the traumas Jahseh faced early as a child. It’s important to acknowledge the bad things Jah did just as much as the great, and this book does that well.

Great detail, a deep dive into the artist's life

What I liked most about this book is the context that it provides through well researched deep dives: into the artist's roots and culture, personal relationships, and references to other music. The book should come with a mixtape bibliography of all the songs referenced. Understanding the artist helped me appreciate his music even though it's not a style that would otherwise be on my playlist, so in other words it expanded my music world.

AMAZING!

I’m not much of a reader but this book intrigued me due to my heavy interest in hip hop culture and the figure that the book is based around. The author did an amazing job going into and providing explanations to the background of rapper XXXTentacion and goes into great detail in explaining different aspects of his life. The author has a full objective approach to X and is non bias, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Amazing

I love this Book LLJ May you rest in peace
Probably would listen again just amazinf

Good book

Listening to this book was the best ten hours ever I Learned so much about x stuff I didn’t even know about him some times the book tells some fax that’s not need but it makes the book better I felt like I was x some times like I was there witnessing some of the stuff that was happening if you love x you will love this well the middle of the book made him seem like a bad guy I would have reworded some of the stuff

First Review. RIP X. Pain Never Ends 💜

First Review. RIP X. Pain Never Ends 💜
Your legacy continues, as well as your energy