Virginian rapper drops dedicative visuals for the track off of his 2022 debut album, Virality.
It was just XXXTentacion‘s heavenly birthday week. The MC whose life was tragically cut short at the age of 20 would’ve been 25 last Monday. The circumstances surrounding his passing contributing to the ongoing story of a hip-hop artists losing their life too soon. It’s truly one that has become all to common these days. So much so, that rapper A$AP Rocky even chose to unveil a new song called “Same Problems?” and dedicated the live performance by honoring a list of lost lyricists. Pictures of almost every creative that we’ve lost were shown on screens behind the Harlem, NY native. The track is a somber sonic sequence that attempts to address how issues can often go unaddressed if no conversation is really had.
Yvngxchris is a representation of a generation of young people who gravitated toward X’s raw talent, and brutally honest messages about the internal battles he faced. This track came about because of Chris’ A&R’s knowledge of how much of an inspiration the Broward County native was to the Virginian MC. In an unreleased conversation with Rolling Stone, he stated “[XXXTentacion’s] greatness was his versatility and not just his music, it was the message he was trying to put out along with the music. Being positive, positivity, being all one people all loving each other. It was the message that went along with the music that resonated with me and millions of other people.” In the song Chris reflects on the moment when he found out the tragic news, then recounts everything that he felt X taught him and his generation through his music and overall pure outpouring of energy. “He taught us to distribute positivity. He taught us to protect the energy.”
The cut for “Serenity” opens up with a frame that mirrors how X was seen in a mid-visual scene of the music video for “SAD!“. Chris sits on a chair while isolated and surrounded by darkness. The landscape then transitions to yvngxchris being seen in a sanctuary, with pews, candles and crosses present. The feeling it gives is one of reminiscence, purity, sadness, but overall it should give hope for the future for those who really knew X, and other fans of him. Because in such a short period of time he had such an impact that artists like yvngxchris are now proud to carry the torch with good intent, purpose, and care.
Watch the visual for “Serenity” below and let us know how it makes you feel in the comments!