XXXTentacion, a US Rapper who quickly rose to fame with two consecutive hit albums, has been killed aged 20.
He was leaving a motorcycle dealership in south Florida on Monday, June 18, 2018, when a gunman shot him.
Police in Broward County said XXXTentacion, whose real name is Jahseh Onfroy, was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
#BreakingNews The adult male that was taken to the hospital has been pronounced dead.
— Broward Sheriff (@browardsheriff) June 18, 2018
He was often described as one of rap’s most controversial artists and was facing domestic violence charges.
On the same day, Jimmy Wopo up and coming rapper was also killed in a shooting in Pittsburgh. The 21-year-old’s manager, Taylor Maglin, confirmed on Facebook singer had been one of the victims of a drive-by shooting on Monday evening.
Wopo started making music at the age of 14, but had yet to see a breakthrough hit.
Maglin paid tribute to the rapper, calling him a “great person” and pledging to “do everything in my power to make his memory live on forever”.
XXXTentacion first found an audience by uploading songs to the website SoundCloud. He had been hailed as a breakthrough talent and tributes have been pouring in from hip-hop luminaries in the wake of his death.
Onfroy was leaving the dealership shortly before 16:00 local time when two men approached him, officials say.
At least one of them shot him before both fled the scene in Deerfield Beach, 43 miles (69km) north of Miami, in a dark-coloured SUV.
A witness told celebrity news website TMZ that multiple shots had been fired outside the dealership.
The rapper, whose hit songs include SAD! and Moonlight, quickly rose to prominence following the release of his debut album 17 last August.
His follow-up ? debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart in March and has been listened to hundreds of millions of times online.
Tributes quickly poured in on social media from Kanye West and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs among others.
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1008839504902307840
https://twitter.com/Diddy/status/1008978389334745093
R.I.P @xxxtentacion sad day for music. He was a real talented musician, only 20yrs old. 😪
— Daniel Sturridge (@DanielSturridge) June 18, 2018
Read more at CNN
