User ratings in Music are temporarily disabled. More info

Skins
by
  • Record Label:
  • Release Date:
Skins Image
Metascore
44

Mixed or average reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
3.8

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 186 Ratings

  • Summary: The posthumous release for the controversial Florida rapper features a guest appearance from Kanye West.
Buy Now
Buy on

Top Track

BAD!
[Intro] Yeah [Chorus] Shawty, heard you bad... word? So profane Somethin' like a bad, word, want your love Call me when you can, girl Goin' up,... See the rest of the song lyrics
See Full Track List »
Powered by

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 9
  3. Negative: 3 out of 9
  1. 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.
  2. The Independent (UK)
    Dec 7, 2018
    60
    SKINS is another fiery blast of catharsis, a largely metaphor-free space where depression isn't hinted at poetically but invited to throw down. ... There are no songs as refined or showing such potential as ?'s “infinity (888)” and “Moonlight”, and many of them feel like half ideas.
  3. XXL
    Dec 11, 2018
    60
    The songs are short, not mixed particularly well and--perhaps due to his untimely passing--feel unfinished. Had X been around to see this album all the way through and hash out some of its rushed wrinkles, it has the potential to have been his best project yet. But as it sits right now, Skins renders itself another opportunity for XXXTentacion's cult-like following to continue enjoying new music.
  4. The Guardian
    Dec 7, 2018
    40
    Staring at the Sky is awful, like a snarky parody of a self-pitying grunge track that’s evidently meant in deadly earnest. There are really chilling moments, not least Train Food, with its ominous piano chords and feedback-laden guitar backing given a creepy intimacy. ... And there is stuff that just seems slight, as if its disjointed brevity isn’t always just an aesthetic decision, but occasionally also a way of covering up a scarcity of ideas, a lack of material.
  5. 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.
  6. The New York Times
    Dec 10, 2018
    30
    Skins barely leaves a mark. The ideas aren’t original. The record is short--clocking it in at just 20 minutes--but feels extremely threadbare. ... The songs on Skins are shards, sketches. Even calling them demos feels generous.
  7. 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.

See all 9 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 38
  3. Negative: 13 out of 38
  1. Zyneex
    Dec 10, 2018
    10
    Easily a good album. You could really feel what way he wanted to go. It might not be as good as ? or 17, but still a nice final album.

    If    Easily a good album. You could really feel what way he wanted to go. It might not be as good as ? or 17, but still a nice final album.

    If you're a fan of X, don't listen to the haters ;)    … Expand
  2. robbingg
    Dec 23, 2018
    10
    Great project, and definitely a good project to end off X's career with. This album is very versatile like his other 2, blending multipleGreat project, and definitely a good project to end off X's career with. This album is very versatile like his other 2, blending multiple genres. The length of this project also makes it very replayable, and there's not a single song on it that I would call "bad."… Expand
  4. KaOsPro23
    Aug 15, 2022
    8
    It's perfect, it seems to me one of X's best albums, but the problem is: the album is too short, I would love if there was more content, butIt's perfect, it seems to me one of X's best albums, but the problem is: the album is too short, I would love if there was more content, but well, in itself, perfect… Expand
  5. 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 minuteInconclusive 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.… Expand
  6. 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.
  7. leumassregor
    May 24, 2021
    3
    It's unfortunate they released this obviously unfinished album. Jah is a fantastic writer, producer, and all around great rapper. This albumIt's unfortunate they released this obviously unfinished album. Jah is a fantastic writer, producer, and all around great rapper. This album obviously would of been amazing if he was still here to work on it. It is a bit disrespectful that the label and Jah's parents released his unfinished work.

    The only thing I enjoyed was the diversity of music genres on this album, which X always seems to do well.    … Expand
  8. Agrondelx
    Aug 16, 2019
    0
    This is a tremendous mess of an album which only exists because of money-greedy producers.

See all 38 User Reviews

Awards & Rankings

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

Current Music Releases

Full List »
99 Band on the Run [50th Anniversary Edition] - Paul McCartney & Wings
95 If I don't make it, I love u - Still House Plants
95 The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow - Charles Lloyd
92 COWBOY CARTER - Beyoncé
91 The Carnegie Hall Concert - Alice Coltrane
90 1989 (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift
90 Iechyd Da - Bill Ryder-Jones
90 This Could Be Texas - English Teacher
89 I Got Heaven - Mannequin Pussy
89 Black Bayou - Robert Finley
89 Tigers Blood - Waxahatchee
88 Only God Was Above Us - Vampire Weekend
88 What Now - Brittany Howard
88 Hey Panda - The High Llamas
88 Orquídeas - Kali Uchis
88 The Past Is Still Alive - Hurray for the Riff Raff
87 Filthy Underneath - Nadine Shah
87 i/o - Peter Gabriel
87 Blue Lips - ScHoolboy Q
87 Bright Future - Adrianne Lenker
All Current Music »