On вЂњ17,вЂќ a track is dedicated to a 16-year-old girl who committed suicide during a trip to model for him.

вЂњIf death is what it seems, why is it so vividly portrayed within my dreams,вЂќ he wonders on вЂњVice City,вЂќ an early SoundCloud offering. He channeled the pain and trauma he experienced in his life into his music, tackling heavy subjects like his struggles with mental illness, abuse, suicide and incarceration (he was charged with committing home invasion, robbery and aggravated battery with a firearm in 2015, according to court records). Within that purpose, I became able to display my pain for others.вЂќ вЂњMusic saved me as an individual because I was literally haunted by myself,вЂќ he said. He joined his school choir and discovered genres like nu-metal, rock and rap by listening to Papa Roach, Eminem, Nirvana and the Fray.Д«y the time he was 16, he was recording and posting his grungy confessionals to SoundCloud. It didnвЂ™t take long for Onfroy to turn to music himself as an emotional outlet. I really connected with artists that displayed real emotion.вЂќ IвЂ™ve found that music can silence the brain altogether and alter your thought process to where you reach a meditative state. I felt alone, so I would use records as my company. During work, she used to leave me with people to take care of me.

вЂњWhen I was younger, it was hard on my mom, because she didnвЂ™t have my father around or her mother around to even remotely help her,вЂќ the rapper said in press notes for вЂњ17.вЂќ вЂњWhen she would sing, I saw how her mood changed. He was expelled from middle school for fighting and tossed out of several more schools before he landed in juvenile detention over a gun charge. He claims to have fended off a man attacking his mom by biting and slicing him with a glass shard as a 6-year-old. вЂњHe was always living with other people вЂ¦ for years,вЂќ said half-sister Ariana Onfroy, in a video she posted online.

His mother struggled to care for him and as a child he was shuttled around to various caregivers. Cole and Chance the Rapper and Onfroy scored a distribution agreement to the tune of a reported $6 million between his own imprint and Caroline Records (part of Capitol Music Group).Д«ut his soaring success was a case study in separating art from artist as listeners, critics and some of his fans grappled with the real-life troubles he sang about.Д«orn in Plantation, Fla., with вЂњa melting pot,вЂќ as heвЂ™s put it, вЂњof Jamaican, Syrian and ItalianвЂќ heritage, Onfroy had a rough upbringing. His music had amassed a billion streams on Spotify he was selected for XXLвЂ™s highly coveted Freshman List last year, following the likes of Lamar, J. Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar and A$AP Rocky were among his fans, and his debut album, вЂњ17,вЂќ reached No.

He collaborated with Diplo and Noah Cyrus and sold out shows across the country, with fans eager to get close to the enigmatic performer who rarely gave interviews. вЂњHeвЂ™s got his own issues, but itвЂ™s safe to say he didnвЂ™t get the fairest hand.вЂќ вЂњKnowing he had all this potential, I was sad for the kid,вЂќ Sobande continued. вЂњI looked at him, and IвЂ™m seeing someone who literally got dealt a bad hand in life,вЂќ OnfroyвЂ™s manager, Solomon Sobande, told The Times of the first time he met the artist, the two separated by a thick glass partition. Onfroy was also accused of false imprisonment and witness tampering and faced up to 30 years in prison. But as he was becoming a name, Onfroy was sitting behind bars in a Broward County jail, charged with multiple felonies for allegedly beating and strangling his then-pregnant ex-girlfriend in 2016.

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