Pouya Reveals XXXTentacion Helped Him During His Girlfriend's Cancer Diagnosis

Pouya is an influential figure. His early mixtapes, coupled with YouTube channel Nick and Pouya Show, influenced a generation of Florida emcees. XXXTentacion was one of these emcees, as evidenced by an interview clip that was recently posted on social media. X praised Pouya and Denzel Curry as inspirations on his sound. Pouya had never seen the interview clip prior to its resurfacing, and was so overcome with emotion that he shared his experiences with the "Sad" hitmaker on Instagram.

The rapper told followers that he was humbled by XXXTentacion's comments. "Wow someone just sent me this, I never seen this before," he wrote. " Damn man, this made me happy and sad at the same time." The real revelation came, however, when the rapper started to reflect on a difficult period in his life. A period that was alleviated, somewhat, and aided by X's presence. Pouya revealed that X was there for him when his girlfriend, Coco, was battling cancer, and offered unconditional support in the process. "I never really talk about this but when Coco was going through cancer X would FaceTime me all the time," he recalled. "[He'd] give me advice on how to get through it, sucks that he’s gone. Idk this s**t put a fire in me."

Pouya's admiration for XXXTentacion has been well-documented. The rapper penned a tribute to X on his 2019 album The South Got Something To Say. The tribute was titled "When Will I See You?" and it features bars in which X's death prompted him to consider his own mortality. "Murder, overdose, and suicide," he raps. "Am I the next one to die? Will I fly with Peep or fry? X is written up in the sky." These thoughts are still weighing heavy on Pouya's shoulders, evidently, as the rapper recently announced his plans to retire from hip-hop.

Days before his post on XXXTentacion, Pouya issued an official retirement statement. He informed fans that he will stop releasing music after his upcoming album, Album 6. "After grey day and my album, I'm going to be stepping away from music," he wrote. "It's been f**king fun but I'm exhausted. Love you f**kers though." There's no set release date for Album 6, but fans eager to listen to more Pouya can currently stream his new EP All But 6, Vol. 2 with Fat Nick.

About The Author

Danilo is a writer based out of San Diego. He graduated from the Art Institute of Tucson with a B.A. in digital media, and has since forged a career as a pop culture journalist. He covered hip-hop for Heavy.com, Rhyme Junkies and PopMatters prior to joining HotNewHipHop.com. Danilo's top five is constantly changing, but Biggie and Slug from Atmosphere remain permanent fixtures. His favorite rap album of all time is "Late Registration" by Kanye West, and that stays the same.

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