The Legacy of XXXTENTACION: How His Music Continues to Influence Modern Artists

26 September 2025, 16:35

XXXTentacion is an artist whose music lives on after his early death. He has inspired many other artists and continues to influence how artists make music. Here is a look at the impact he has had on music.

XXXTENTACION, whose real name is Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy, is an artist whose impact and sound have lasted long after his death in 2018.

Now, 7 years on, there are new artists who have popped up that have taken clear influence from the rapper’s unique sound, as well as rappers he collaborated with that continue to reference X’s style.

He is known for creating the blend of the lines between hip-hop, rock, emo, and lo-fi, creating a sound that still sounds fresh to this day.

His expression of raw emotion and vulnerability is why he connected with so many people across the world, with him having over 32 million monthly listeners on Spotify, despite not releasing new music.

XXX had a lot more to come, but his legacy lives on through artists who have taken inspiration from him, and of course, physically in his son, Gekyume.

So, who has taken influence from XXX?

Here are all the details.

Juice WRLD and XXXTENTACION

These two artists are very similar in sound, aesthetic, and lyrical content.The ‘Jocelyn Flowers’ rapper first started releasing music on SoundCloud in 2013, Juice following in 2015.

They unfortunately have the same path as legacy artists, both dying before the age of 22, their music now having more of an impact than when alive.

Whilst Juice was alive, he spoke about how heavily inspired he was by XXX, their music often falling in the same category because of the newly carved emo-rap genre, with hard and raw lyrics.

When the former rapper passed, the ‘Lucid Dreams’ artist released a track in his honour, ‘Legends Never Die’, reflecting that despite their lack of a one-on-one relationship, the rapper was influenced and had a lot of respect for XXX.

Tracks like ‘All Girls are The Same’ and ‘Lucid Dreams’ live on with the distinguishable sound.

Trippie Redd and XXXTENTACION

Trippie was creating music when XXX was still alive, the two even collaborated on the track ‘F**k Love’, which introduced lots of X’s fans to the other.

The same theme of expressing pain and heartache was a common thread between the two, with the ‘Hurts Me’ rapper being open about how the Florida-born rapper’s drive to push creativity was what pushed him to experiment with his style.

Trippie now continues to push the sound further, continuing the genre in XXX’s honour.

The ‘Miss The Rage’ rapper is one of the few inspired artists who had a relationship with the late rapper whilst he was alive, the pair seemingly having a brotherly relationship, X warning the latter about the threats and bad energy in the music world.

Redd said: “We had good words for each other. At the end of the day, we always used to argue and s**t. We was like some little a*s girls. [laughs] But we always made up from our arguments.”

He is often given credit by fans as best replicating the sound of XXX.

Rod Wave and XXXTENTACION

Both Florida-born artists have links that go beyond their hometown.Whilst XXX was known for his angry rap, one of the few awards that he won was for Best R&B album in 2018.

Rod Wave leans more into the R&B sound that can be heard in XXX tracks like ‘Changes’ and ‘Skin’, but takes influence from the raw and emotional lyrics.

This style can clearly be heard on Rod’s tracks ‘Heart on Ice’ and ‘Tombstone’, connecting with fans because of the ‘pain music’ style where the singer’s heartache can be heard.

The ‘25’ singer continues to carry the torch of emotional openness on, and has even mentioned X in his song ‘Chip On My Shoulder’.

iann dior and XXXTENTACION

A newer artist, iann carries the same influence of emo-rap and emotional vulnerability through his music with a mainstream twist.

The 26-year-old is very reminiscent of the late rapper with songs like ‘emotions’ and ‘shots in the dark’, very similar to that raw energy given by XXX.

Iann’s music shows how far the emo-rap genre has come, as he charts on pop charts while still remaining true to the more underground sound.

The ‘Mood’ rapper has been pictured in X’s merch and with album posters in his pictures, proving the connection.

Ski Mask The Slump God and XXTENTACION

This is one of the few in-life connections on this list, with these two calling each other best friends and brothers.

They grew up together after and started making music together, Ski often crying on stage when paying tribute to his late friend.

Their music both played with experimental flows and sounds, although Ski has a lot more of a playful nature.

Whilst X was alive, the pair collaborated quite a lot on tracks like ‘Take a Step Back’ and ‘RIP Roach’, carving more space for their unique sound.

Whilst his music feels a lot more unserious, the ‘Nuketown’ rapper is often viewed as the closest connection to X him carrying on his legacy through his continuous domination of the genre.

So, it is clear that XXXTENTACION’s legacy has continued to inspire and live on through multiple artists.