The Twitterverse is often unkind to Alicia Keys. Back in the day she was labelled a homewrecker. Then she was hated on because of her #nomakeup vibes. Now she’s being slammed for praising late rapper XXXtentacion in a tweet she has since deleted.
Complex reports that the backlash began on Friday when the singer posted a video of herself with her son Egypt playing the piano and singing X’s song “what are you so afraid” with the caption, “Such a vibe!! Big love to the talented @xxxtentacion !! Gone too soon.” The track is from the rapper’s posthumous album “Skins,” which dropped last month.
While some of those who chimed in gave Keys props for sharing the clip, others were not feeling her praise for someone who reportedly had a lengthy record of abuse.
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“oh man alicia . we believed in you,” wrote one Twitter user, while another said “we lost her”.
The rapper was fatally shot in Florida last June. At the time of his death, he was awaiting trial for domestic violence charges against his then pregnant girlfriend. Excerpted transcripts from his October 26 2016 prison phone calls were previously published, during which he is heard discussing his domestic abuse case.
“I already got what I wanted, I already bashed her face-her face on the internet, bruh, I done made her look bad on the internet, bruh,” XXXTentacion said of his former girlfriend.
Elsewhere, he told a woman on the phone, “I guess the detective was asking you questions and I guess you didn’t answer ’em right.”
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Read Pitchfork’s full report on calls here.
Michael Boatwright, Robert Allen, Dedrick Williams, and Trayvon Newsome were charged with killing XXXTentacion in June 2018.