Last week I was scrolling through Twitter — avoiding responsibilities, procrastinating — and all I saw was people complaining about others' opinions on this guy who they called X.
Being the curious self I am, I decided to investigate a little.
Jahseh Onfroy — popularly known as XXXTentacion, or simply X — was shot to death last Monday 18th. He was a 20 year old rapper with a troubled past who, according to many, was trying to fix his life through music.
Now, I didn't know anything about him until I googled his name. I'm not his fan nor hater. I'm a fresh perspective, a new point of view, one that's not biased.
The debate on whether or not people should feel sorry for his death started after many twitter user took the platform to express their condolences.
Some say he had it coming his way, that he deserved it.
In the past years he had physical confrontations, both with other artists and with his own fans. There are a couple of restraining orders against him. He physically abused his pregnant girlfriend. And was in an out of jail a couple of times.
Others said that he didn't deserve to die.
After all, no one deserves to lose their life in front of a gun. Not ever, but specially not at 20 years old. He was trying to fix his life. Dedicate himself to music and forget about the negative things that seem to follow him wherever he went.
Me? I don't support either.
I do believe in the world's equilibrium, and I believe that everything you do comes back to you. Whether it's positive, or negative.
Yes he did some awful things. But that does not mean his death should be celebrated. It only means he should be punished. It means he should be sitting behind bars. Not buried because someone decided they had enough power — they didn't — to take his life.
I respect the fact that he was trying to turn his life around. And as a creator and musician myself, I believe he was an amazing artist. But that doesn't mean he was an amazing person and should be forgiven for what he did just because he died young and tragically.
I'm neutral.
I don't celebrate his life, but I don't celebrate his death either.
Only a monster would be able to celebrate something like that.
