Posthumous XXXTENTACION singles continue with the co-headlining Lil Pump record “Arms Around You,” also featuring Maluma and Swae Lee.

Amazingly, not even death inhibits the process of releasing new music. Since his untimely murder, there has been plenty of new music courtesy of XXXTENTACION.  The latest offering comes by way of “Arms Around You,” in which X is listed as the co-headlining artist alongside Lil Pump.  The collaborations don’t end there though, as Maluma and Swae Lee also appear on the record.

“Arms Around You” features smooth, rhythmic production work. The sound is a blend of Latin, pop, urban contemporary, and hip-hop.  A brief intro features shout outs by Lil Pump (his name, of course) and Maluma (“Maluma, baby”). XXXTENTACION is given the recurrent role of the record, performing the chorus posthumously:

“Arms around you

Te amo, mami, let me hold you

Got me arms right around you, girl, ooyy

Put me arms all around you

To make sure no one could harm you

Mami mai, let me have you, ooyy.”

Lil Pump follows with the first verse, rapping about shallow matters such as material and sex.  A perfect example: “Spanish bitches love to talk / Put my dick straight down her throat.” Charming. Notably, his performance embraces pop-rap as opposed to straight, un-pitched rhymes. After the return of XXXTENTACION on the chorus, Swae Lee performs the second verse, with clarity and finesse, amazingly eschewing profanity: “Come, let me, woah-oh-oh / Your body is just for me / It was like sorcery / She left me like an alcoholic.” As for Maluma, he adds the Latin flavor singing smoothly in Spanish.  Would we expect any less from “Maluma, baby?”

Final Thoughts

All in all, “Arms Around You” is an enjoyable collaboration between these four artists.  It’s by no means game changing or transcendent, but worth a listen.

XXXTENTACION & Lil Pump • Arms Around You (Ft. Maluma & Swae Lee) – Single • Warner Bros. Records / Bad Vibes Forever / EMPIRE • Release: 10.25.18

Photo Credits: Warner Bros. Records / Bad Vibes Forever / EMPIRE