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Ultimately, the legacy of any celebrity is up to the fans that remember them. I had a discussion with my friends Christine Zhang (’19), Catherine Tanidjaja (’19), and Lexie Freeland (’19). Out of them, Christine Zhang (’19) only listened to X after hearing about his death, Catherine Tanidjaja did not listen to X’s posthumous release and Lexie Freeland (’19) has been listening to X since his debut album 17 and continued to listen to Skins after his death.

I asked them about their thoughts on Skins and Christine Zhang (’19) and Lexie Freeland (’19) both expressed that they did not like the album. Catherine Tanidjaja (’19) did not feel the need to listen to X’s work if it was not truly his own. Christine Zhang (’19) said, “I thought that they were worse. His old songs were full of emotion and there’s just no artistry behind Skins. When it came out and I listened to it, it didn’t feel like he was dead it felt like he made it and it was just bad.”

Lexie Freeland (’19) added, “Sometimes I don’t even feel like he’s dead people still talk about him so much that I feel like he’s still alive. He has become a part of our culture and that carries on with us even if he is really gone.”

Interestingly, the theory that X is still alive, and his death was somehow an elaborate publicity stunt still widely circulates amongst fans. The theory shows the denial and hope from X’s large and loyal fanbase that he built at the young age of 20. However, the proliferation of this theory rests on the accepted idea that the death of a rapper will make them more famous and that it would not surprise fans if a marketing team orchestrated the tragedy to for profit. This theory reveals that fans notice the underlying exploitative nature of all posthumous releases and almost expects it from large record labels.

When confronted with the moral conflict fans felt with the album, Lexie Freeland said, “He should have just left it at his old albums that were complete, but I also feel like he owed it to his fans to release what was left. I feel like if artists have unfinished music, especially if he died at such a young age, their fans deserve to hear it. And with so many teens that loved him so much. He contributed to the whole simp generation. He lowkey started the trend.”