MIAMI – Lines started forming before the break of dawn Thursday in anticipation of killed rapper XXXTentacion’s “Bad Vibes Forever” album release event in Wynwood.
“He cared a lot about his fans. He put his fans ahead of himself,” Keidy Vega, who showed up around 5 a.m. to wait in line, said.
Starting at 11 a.m., a multi-sensory museum put together by the estate of the platinum recording artist was opened to the public as part of the day-long release event already at max capacity, event organizers said.
Memorabilia ranging from handwritten notes to baby pictures to life scale statues depicting moments from music videos of the artists more popular songs adorned walkways and walls outside and inside the venue.
Parked outside was the 2017 black BMW i8 sports car that XXXTentacion, whose real name is Jahseh Onfroy, was driving when he was gunned down in June 2018 outside Riva Motorsports in Deerfield Beach by masked gunmen in a targeted robbery.
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The event was scheduled to transform into a party around 8 p.m. with surprise performances by some of the artists featured on the fourth, and presumably final, studio album.
“This is closure, it’s more of an appreciation of the artist,” fan John Harris said. “That’s why I’m here.”
The rapper released his last album, “Skins,” nearly one year ago to the date in a similar Art Basel-timed release party at the RC Cola Plant in Miami.
This year’s album release party was expected to wrap around 2 a.m. Friday.