XXXTENTACION died tragically at the age of 20, and to honor his legacy on the fifth anniversary of his untimely death, his estate has shared a new song by the rapper.
Sunday (June 18) marks exactly five years since XXX (real name Jahseh Onfroy) was shot and killed outside a Florida motorcycle store, and “I’m Not Human” has been released in his memory. The posthumous track was originally teased for a January release to commemorate the Florida star’s 25th birthday but was then held till his death anniversary.
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The minimalist acoustic cut features vocals by Lil Uzi Vert and production credits by longtime collaborator John Cunningham, with the latter sharing a note along with the song’s release.
“When I was living with Jah in Florida in 2018 we would spend most days in his room, me playing guitar and him singing,” Cunningham wrote. “The day he first sang ‘I’m not human’ as I was playing that guitar part we both looked at each other and cracked a smile, knowing it was special. We listened back to the voice memo he recorded and talked about finishing it.”
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He continued: “the few times that we tried recording vocals in the studio the feeling was never the same and he always preferred the original voice memo which is why we chose to keep it in the official version of the song.”
Listen to “I’m Not Human” below:
About timing the song’s release, Cunningham said: “The conversation with Uzi about finding the right time and the right song for a posthumous release with Jahseh dates back to late 2018 before the release of SKINS.
“Uzi came to Florida, played basketball with X’s little brother Aidan, listened to the album with Cleo and I, but eventually they felt it wasn’t the right time for a song and it was agreed that we would rather wait for something to feel right rather than force it. Year later I’m happy to say the right time and right song aligned after Cleo and Uzi reconnected in late 2022.”
Cunningham then detailed the process of bringing the song to fruition with Uzi. “I met up with Uzi at the studio and after one of the few heartfelt conversations we’d have that night, I played the song — which hadn’t been touched since May of 2018 — and after seeing Uzi’s reaction to the song it felt as though the past few years of conversations and back-and-forth song ideas had all led up to this,” he explained. “That feeling was echoed after hearing Uzi and Jahseh’s voices together in a way that neither of them have ever sounded.”
He concluded: “As complicated and conflicting as posthumous releases can be, I feel I’ll hold this one in a special place due to the fact that I was able to have some small part in connecting two of the most pure and loving people I know.”
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XXXTENTACION was murdered during a robbery in Deerfield Beach, FL in 2018. The three men charged with the killing were sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole earlier this year.
