17 REVIEW

XXXTENTACION — 17

A Misunderstood Diary Of Confusion & Pain.

XXXTENTACION was known for having a distinguished sound. He stepped on the rap scene by being a big part of the sub-genre called “Screamo Trap”. He had a disconnect from that sound to make this album filled with heartbreak, confusion, and pain.

17 is an album in which X tries his best for the listener to have an emotional connection with his thoughts & emotions. It’s a dark & edgy collection of tracks that feel like rough drafts coming from the troubled mind of a teenager experiencing depression & suicide around him. The production on this album sounds nothing similar to what X sounded like on his early SoundCloud days. He went from the distorted bass boosted beats to acoustic & piano ballads & lowkey trap beats. A good amount of these were produced by himself, along with other collaborators. I’m not saying that my breakdown will change your opinion on how different it sounds to you, but I want you to understand the place X was coming from when recording 17. I know this isn’t the best album of all time & I know many people dislike it. That’s why I’m making the thread.

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1. The Explanation

It starts with X trying to convince his fans that they need to enter his world & listen from HIS perspective. Just so you can understand the lyrics that he carefully detailed throughout the album, so the fans can sympathize with his depression while listening.

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2. Jocelyn Flores

This is a tribute for his friend Jocelyn, who unfortunately committed suicide. The song serves as letter to her. A letter about the PTSD that X had to go through after losing her. She was one of his best friends, and this was X’s first experience with suicide.

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3. Depression & Obsession

X has always dealt with depression & had obsessive amounts of paranoia & anxiety throughout his teenage life. X talks about how mixing both of those things may‘ve influenced his violent behavior that brought him the allegations that affected his career.

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4. Everybody Dies In Their Nightmares

Love has always affected X. Even more when he’s emotionally attached to a woman. Thats why it was hard for him to be in relationships. He says that not being with a woman didn’t make him feel alone, because his pain was always there for him.

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5. Revenge

This is another song about Jocelyn. X has always felt guilty about his friend committing suicide. He talks about how he was the only one that could’ve saved her, but didn’t. He describes how he’s made graves for the both of them, because he thinks he deserves to die.

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6. Save Me

At this part of the album, X has hit a point of no return. He realizes that he’s by himself. Not even his own demons can make him company. He’s asking for a friend & for someone to love him. He’s finally experiencing loneliness & is asking for salvation through love.

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7. Dead Inside (Interlude)

X doesn’t trust in love anymore. All he was asking for was affection & a woman who genuinely cared for the person he was. The only time that he thought he accomplished that, he got destroyed. He went through infidelity, which made him feel dead inside.

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8. Fuck Love (feat. Trippie Redd)

This is X & Trippie coming to terms with themselves by admitting that they need this person in their lives even though they’ve caused so much harm to them. They know their hearts have been destroyed by them, but they can’t be alone without them.

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9. Carry On

X is done with this woman. He’s been accused for everything & he can’t cope with the pain that she brought to him. He tries to continue his life step-by-step without ending it all. He acknowledges that she hates him but knows that it’s not gonna stop him from living.

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10. Orlando

Back in 2016, he was arrested in Orlando for aggravated assault. Geneva was his girlfriend back then, and she cheated on him while he was in prison. So this is a song about X sharing the pain that a man goes through when being cheated by the person you love the most.

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11. Ayala (Outro)

X closes 17 by saying the relationship he talked about throughout the album was the #1 regret on his list. Saying how he’ll never forget about what she did & how the pain she caused him will torment him for the rest of his life.

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I know that 17 isn’t a perfect album, nor is it amazing. The only thing I dislike about its critiques is how they say it’s boring and fake-depressing. I don’t think it’s fair for other people to call it fake-depressing when they haven’t been in the artist’s exact same scenarios.

A lot of these songs feel incomplete. In fact, there’s not a single song in here that surpasses the 3 minute mark. I think the incomplete feel to the tracks resembles X’s state of mind when making 17. He was a confused kid when he made this. It’s okay to be confused at that age. The people that try to look at this album from a way deeper POV than what it actually is, are the ones that have a problem with 17. It isn’t trying to be something that it’s not, nor is it trying to be something for the mainstream. X used his music as therapy for his depression.

He wrote this album when he was 17. At a young age he already had to deal with death, cheating, crimes (that he obviously caused to himself), suicide within his social circle, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and so many other things a teenager doesn’t have to deal with at that age. I don’t personally agree with any of the things he did, but it’s expected for you to share your feelings through your music if you’re an artist & if you have a platform of kids that look up to you so you can help them deal with depression through your songs & experiences with it.

17 hasn’t aged all that well for me, but that’s probably because I first heard it when I was 16. I’m gonna turn 20 in a couple of months. I don’t need this type of music anymore, but I’d be lying to you if I told you that this album didn’t help me get through my middle school…

XXXTENTACION wasn’t the best person, and neither was 17, but it deserves to be recognized for the things it accomplished in terms of touching the hearts of millions of teenagers going through tough times. 17 is an unique album, wether you think that’s a good or a bad thing.

RATING: 6/10