'Look At Me: XXXTentacion': Documentary About Late Rapper's Last Years Debuts at SXSW
On March 15, 2022, "Look At Me: XXXTentacion" debuted at SXSW. Named after the late rapper's breakthrough hit, the documentary seeks to explore XXXTentacion's last years before he was shot multiple times in Deerfield Beach, Florida in 2018 at 20 years old. The documentary has been in production for five years.
Directed by Sabaah Folayan, the documentary shines a light on a complicated figure. Diagnosed as bipolar at a young age, XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, has been lauded for being open and supportive of mental health issues. An introspective lyricist, Onfroy was a rare voice in rap who allowed his listeners in on his struggle.
However, at the same time, Onfroy is also known for violent outbursts, including battery charges in 2016 when he was 18 years old, and other legal altercations, such as stabbings, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, and home invasion charges. In an interview with Deadline, Folayan addresses this aspect of XXXTentacion's legacy as being part of an unforgivable, but ultimately understandable history of violence that was inflicted on Black people and passed down generationally.
Folayan said, "Cleo and I talked about the idea of ancestors and what is an ancestor, and in a lot of Black and African traditions, we consider an ancestor to be someone whose life offers us lessons that we can learn and be better from," Folayan explained as she stopped by Deadline's SXSW Studio. "We felt like having lost Jahseh so soon, the best thing that we can do was find a way to pull out the lessons of his life and to try to continue his mission."
Perhaps it's because of Onfroy's complicated, multifaceted nature that audiences who see "Look At Me: XXXTentacion" will find plenty to learn from. Both an inspiration and a cautionary tale, the young rapper's life ultimately ended in tragedy as his life was brought forcibly to an end way ahead of his time.
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