Meaning of “Sad” by XXXTentacion

“Sad” is a song by the late American hip hop artist XXXTentacion. The lyrics of “Sad” see the singer struggling with severe depression, which is brought on by issues in his romantic relationship. The singer, who fears that his relationship with his girlfriend might come to an end, goes as far as telling her that he would take his own life should she ever leave him.

It is noteworthy that this isn’t the first song of the singer/rapper to deal with the issue of suicide. His 2017 song “Jocelyn Flores“, which is dedicated to a female model friend of his who committed suicide, also deals with this topic.

But are the lyrics of this song autobiographical?

While many suspect the depressing lyrics are autobiographical, the rapper never confirmed or denied that during his lifetime. Based on this, we cannot safely conclude whether the lyrics are about something real in his life or not. But what is 100% certain is that throughout his short life, XXXTentacion battled severely with mental health issues. And studies have shown that most people who have suicidal thoughts tend to suffer from a variety of mental illnesses ranging from depression to schizophrenia.

For example, in a 2017 interview he had with presenter K. Foxx on 103.5 The Beat in Miami, he confessed to have attempted committing suicide but was too afraid to do it.

Facts about “Sad”

• The song was co-written by XXXTentacion and his longtime collaborator John Cunningham. In addition to co-writing the song, Cunningham also produced it.
• “Sad” was released on March 2nd, 2018 as one of the two singles from XXXTentacion’s second studio album titled ?. It is worth taking note of the fact that ? was also the last album of XXXTentacion to be released during his lifetime.
• “Sad” remains one of XXXTentacion’s most successful singles. On the US Billboard Hot 100, the track peaked at number 7, making it the rapper’s first top 10 song and his highest charting song in his home country. On the UK Singles Chart, the song peaked at number 19.
• In the wake of his death, the song rose from number 52 on the Billboard Hot 100 to hit the number 1 spot. This made XXXTentacion the first deceased artist to hold a posthumous number one song as a lead artist on the Billboard Hot 100 since the late American rapper Notorious B.I.G. achieved this with the single “Mo Money Mo Problems” in 1997. FYI: XXXTentacion was shot and killed on 18th June, 2018. He was only 20 years old.
• No official music video was released for “Sad” during XXXTentacion’s lifetime. The official music video, which was shot before the rapper’s passing, was released on June 28th, 2018. The posthumous music video of “Sad”, which is very haunting, sees the young rapper attending his own funeral at a church and having a very violent physical fight with his “former self”/dead body. The music video was both written and creative directed by the late rapper. JMP directed the video.
• On 19th June, 2018 (a day after XXXTentacion was killed), the song made history on Spotify when it was streamed 10.4 million times to become the most streamed song in a single day on Spotify.

Below is the posthumous music video of “Sad” released a day after a public memorial service was held in Florida for XXXTentacion: