Rapper XXXTentacion condemned, reprieved and killed, and still no answers

When Spotify announced a policy against artists responsible for ‘hate content’ last month, Jahseh Onfroy was in its sights.

XXXTentacion performing in Miami last year. Picture: Mega Agency

When the music-streaming service Spotify announced a policy against promoting artists responsible for “hate content and hateful conduct” last month, one of the stars in its sights was rapper Jahseh Onfroy, 20, who performed under the stage name XXXTentacion.

“We don’t censor content because of an artist’s or creator’s behaviour, but we want our editorial decisions — what we choose to program — to reflect our values,” Spotify said in a May 10 statement. “When an artist or creator does something that is especially harmful or hateful, it may affect the ways we work with or support that artist or creator.”

Onfroy was killed yesterday in an apparent drive-by shooting outside a motorcycle dealership in Miami, Florida. Photographs taken by witnesses and posted to social media showed the rapper motionless in the driver’s seat of a sports car.

Onfroy’s rise to become one of the most controversial figures in hip-hop occurred at a rapid clip, and reflected the network effect enabled by music-streaming services, where tastes can change on an hourly basis and artists constantly jostle to be included in a small number of highly trafficked playlists.

Soon after news of Onfroy’s death had been reported, a Spotify playlist named RapCaviar — which has more than 9.7 million followers — had been updated to begin with two of the rapper’s songs, SAD! and Moonlight, while a message at the top read: “Rest in peace, XXXTentacion.”

Early last year, his first hit, Look At Me!, climbed from web obscurity on its original release in late 2015 to No 34 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Yet the rapper was in jail as the song’s popularity soared, after being arrested in October 2016 on charges that included aggravated battery of a pregnant woman — his then girlfriend — and domestic battery by strangulation.

Another of the performers whose music was pulled from Spotify’s influential curated playlists — which often appear on the service’s front page, and are therefore seen by potentially millions of global listeners each day — was R. Kelly, the multi-platinum R&B singer who has faced lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of young girls and women. Kelly has denied these accusations, and is not facing criminal charges.

Three weeks after announcing its policy, the Swedish technology company backtracked.

“While we believe our intentions were good, the language was too vague … we created confusion and concern,” Spotify said in a statement on June 1. “Across all genres, our role is not to regulate artists. Therefore, we are moving away from implementing a policy around artist conduct.”

In taking its initial stand, however, Spotify opened an important discussion that will be refreshed and reconsidered as often as some of its most popular playlists.

The first draft of its policy asked at least two significant questions, which remain unanswered: To what extent are digital platform owners responsible for policing content? And should artists be judged apart from their art?