Skins
by XXXTentacion
  • Record Label: Empire
  • Release Date: Dec 7, 2018
User Score
3.8

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 186 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 50 out of 186
  2. Mixed: 34 out of 186
  3. Negative: 102 out of 186
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  1. ChrisSoTru
    Dec 17, 2018
    5
    XXXTentacion releases his first posthumous album after the polarizing releases of 17 and ?.

    On the surface, it's a continuation of a much more mature and self-conscious X, contemplating his life and the decisions he has made as an artist along the way, repeated in a cycle for most of his songs. There are highlights that perfectly capture hos aesthetic, such as Train Food and what are    XXXTentacion releases his first posthumous album after the polarizing releases of 17 and ?.

    On the surface, it's a continuation of a much more mature and self-conscious X, contemplating his life and the decisions he has made as an artist along the way, repeated in a cycle for most of his songs. There are highlights that perfectly capture hos aesthetic, such as Train Food and what are you so afraid of, empowering and raw in emotion. At best, however, it is a mixed project that appears either incomplete, or just minimalist. Skins is easily listenable, and can be praised for it's range of genres and sounds in this album. However, it is not as special as many suspect it to be.

    A mixed, but respectable project for the short-lived XXXTentacion, whose music will be celebrated by those looking forward to lo-fi and emo rap.    … Expand
  2. AntoineLeTurc
    Jun 10, 2019
    6
    Skins feels incomplete, some tracks like Train Food gives the listeners an idea of how great the project could've been if X hadn't passed away so suddenly. Unfortunately despite the potential the project had, some awful creative choices made to complete the unfinished tracks drags down the project. There is also a clear lack of vision and content to the album compared to Come over whenSkins feels incomplete, some tracks like Train Food gives the listeners an idea of how great the project could've been if X hadn't passed away so suddenly. Unfortunately despite the potential the project had, some awful creative choices made to complete the unfinished tracks drags down the project. There is also a clear lack of vision and content to the album compared to Come over when you're sober pt2, which makes us ask ourselves whether releasing these tracks together and calling it an album was really a good idea. Regardless tracks like BAD!, Train Food, Guardian Angel, staring at the sky and parts of One Minute makes the whole experience interesting enough and enjoyable.… Expand
  3. GrantD243
    Dec 11, 2018
    4
    I mean, it's not downright terrible and I probably will listen to it occasionally, but it's extremely short and quite forgettable.
  4. Retrodox
    Feb 15, 2019
    6
    Inconclusive and oddly put together incoherent at times it has boatloads of potential and I love every song on this album besides one minute but this is wildly unfinished and misdirected.As well as not really mirroring anything the Artist is typically adept to in terms of style or music making there is nothing wrong with the content it just doesn't fit at all.
  5. JordanMaertens
    Jun 19, 2019
    5
    This album by XXXTentacion felt unfinished, and it didn't quite have the "X feel". It felt as if X was half-way through making the album, but because of his death, he wasn't able to perfect the album.

    A lot of the songs feel empty, as if they were only "blueprints" for a final product that X was going to create; for example, "Whoa (mind in awe), was apparently going to have another    This album by XXXTentacion felt unfinished, and it didn't quite have the "X feel". It felt as if X was half-way through making the album, but because of his death, he wasn't able to perfect the album.

    A lot of the songs feel empty, as if they were only "blueprints" for a final product that X was going to create; for example, "Whoa (mind in awe), was apparently going to have another feature, but in the final "cut" it didn't, meaning that half the song is just instrumental. Also songs like "BAD" are way too, even for an X song.

    Although the Album feels unfinished, one song feels finished: Guardian Angel. My guess for this is that because it is his "most usual sounding song" on the album, it didn't take him as long to create, but also the fact that it is the first song on the album; he may have worked chronologically on the album, going through each song on the album, one by one improving each one each time. These speculations are the reason I think Guardian Angel was complete, and the others were not.

    I feel like X's overall goal for this album was to create an album that is unlike X's usual style, which means that it would've taken x longer to perfect the songs to a standard he likes, but due to his passing this wasn't possible; for example, if skins was an album similar to his older sound, then I feel like it would've been way more polished, due to him knowing exactly how he would've wanted it to sound, and how to do it.

    Due to his untimely death, I will give him the benefit of the doubt, and add a +1.    … Expand
  6. IlanBrem
    Jun 21, 2019
    6
    Guardian Angel 7/10 x's flows and lyrics in this are really good but the bit is not really good.
    Train Food 8/10 the story here is really interesting and the beat is fine but not really good but x's delivery and storytelling makes this song really interesting.
    whoa (mind in awe) 6/10 the beat is really good but x didn't do a lot with it, he can make this delivery work but even at its    Guardian Angel 7/10 x's flows and lyrics in this are really good but the bit is not really good.
    Train Food 8/10 the story here is really interesting and the beat is fine but not really good but x's delivery and storytelling makes this song really interesting.
    whoa (mind in awe) 6/10 the beat is really good but x didn't do a lot with it, he can make this delivery work but even at its best the delivery isn't great.
    BAD! 6/10 the beat is less good then "whoa" but x's delivery works here a lot better.
    STARING AT THE SKY 2/10 i like the guitar in this but the metal comes out of nowhere and honestly sounds like a parody.
    ONE MINUTE 7/10 Kanye works surprisingly good with this beat which is okay but no more and here x's metal delivery works better with the build up.
    difference (interlude) 6/10 it is fine but it is hella out of place after two metal songs.
    I don't let go 8/10 the beat is really good x's flow, singing and delivery works here really good easily the best song on the album.
    what are you so afraid of 7/10 it is a beautiful song but it is so out of place after a mumble rap song and it just makes me think about how good this album could've been.
    overall 5.7 this was a disappointment and the album sounds unfinished.
    RIP jah.    … Expand
  7. fhzJester
    Aug 21, 2019
    5
    The album is bad and that's a fact, I loved some songs but all the album looks incomplete and this make it bad
  8. Mellowry
    Aug 17, 2021
    4
    I think this album is still a little bit better than the "Bad Vibes Forever" Record. Songs like 'One Minute' with Kanye sounds weak, a song with a guitar riff that couldn't be any more mediocre for over 3 minutes with a funny style of X sort of breaking down in a rage, but a LOT of Kanye's lyrics on this are definitely beyond awful. 'Bad' sure had some vibe, even tho it is still the sameI think this album is still a little bit better than the "Bad Vibes Forever" Record. Songs like 'One Minute' with Kanye sounds weak, a song with a guitar riff that couldn't be any more mediocre for over 3 minutes with a funny style of X sort of breaking down in a rage, but a LOT of Kanye's lyrics on this are definitely beyond awful. 'Bad' sure had some vibe, even tho it is still the same Loop over and over, but i can understand the hype about it, like the video, the contest back then, it was all pretty cool, but this record is far from good. Nobody would've asked for this, everyone took it and liked it because it was "there" and because X just passed away a few months prior to the release and everybody wanted to know what he was working on. It is just slightly better than "Bad Vibes Forever" because it fits X's style more, BVF felt totally thrown together and had nothing to do with his style, because it should sound like his music evolved. The label misinterpretated a lot of his work, on BVF, such as with Skins, and what sense does it make using snippets to lay over some beats and stamping it as an album except making large amount of profit from it... Tentacion really deserved better.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

43
#43 Most Discussed Album of 2018
72
#72 Most Shared Album of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
44

Mixed or average reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 9
  3. Negative: 3 out of 9
  1. The Observer (UK)
    Dec 17, 2018
    40
    There’s nothing here quite as aurally arresting as Moonlight, off XXX’s ? LP, but his recasting of Slim Shady as an eclectic depressive indelibly coloured this year.
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  2. New Musical Express (NME)
    Dec 14, 2018
    60
    Some of Skins is good, some of it is not good. Musically, the tone is, mostly, consistent and effective, and the album’s overall effect is that of a sickly, vivid insight into a troubled life. And there’s not much else to say about it.
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  3. Pitchfork
    Dec 14, 2018
    30
    The album never makes a case for X as anything other than a thinly subversive figure and never even rationalizes the baggage that comes saddled with it. X’s musical legacy will forever be interlinked to violence. Skins is merely a shallow attempt to overwrite that legacy gone awry.
    Read full review
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