Xxxtentacion’s estate teases new song, ‘Royalty,’ one year after his death

The estate of the late rapper Xxxtentacion is expected to release a new track by the artist on Friday, called “Royalty,” feeding a demand that shows no signs of slowing down a year after his death. A snippet of the song has been floating around the internet since April, and an Instagram account reportedly linked to the estate teased the release on Tuesday. The track will be included on a deluxe reissue of Xxxtentacion’s album “?,” which will come out July 26.

Issued by Capitol Records, the forthcoming release will be the first major project since Xxx was murdered on June 18, 2018, during an ambush-robbery in South Florida. He was 20. A two-CD edition will feature the original album and its instrumentals, along with Xxx’s Christmas EP; a “bonus” disc includes “Royalty,” other new material, some remixes and voices memos. A booklet will include never-before-seen photos. There will also be an $80 triple LP version.

The release will likely face comparisons with another posthumous record, by fellow Soundcloud rap star Lil Peep (who was born Gustav Åhr). A few days ago on the artist’s official Instagram account, Peep’s mother asked, “Who wants a new album with amazing unreleased Lil Peep music put together by Gus’ mom and the songs’ original collaborators? You have been asking for this, and I can’t wait to get it to you!” That will be Peep’s second post-death release.

Xxxtentacion’s estate has so far only issued a few extant tracks, but his presence is all over the charts. Hitmaker JuiceWRLD just dropped a new track called “Run” that samples an unreleased Xxx track; the original version of “?” just jumped back into the top 50 of Billboard’s Top 200 album chart after hitting No. 1; it’s been on the chart for 69 weeks. Xxxtentacion’s album “17” just cracked the top 100 on that same chart, part of a 98-week run that peaked at No. 2.