XXXTentacion Documentary “Look at Me” Trailer from Hulu

XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy.
Photo: Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Filmmakers were already trying to make a documentary about rapper XXXTentacion before his death. In 2017, Fader Films began work on a film about the controversial character who had become one of the most popular artists of the SoundCloud rap boom while facing abuse allegations from ex-girlfriend Geneva Ayala. Now, five years later, a XXXTentacion documentary, look at me, premiered on March 15 at South by Southwest. The version of the doc that played SXSW and then went to Hulu on May 26 (previously June 10) is still produced by Fader Films, but has changed several times since 2017. The first trailer for the documentary has just been released, featuring new footage from XXXTentacion, along with interviews with his mother; his former manager, Solomon Sobande; and Ayala. “It was a bit like a fairy tale, but a really dark one,” says Ayala.

Per Pitchfork, which reported on the so-called “XXXTentacion Documentary That Never Was” in 2019, the first documentary was directed by Robert Semmer and included interviews with Ayala as well as XXXTentacion, née Jahseh Onfroy. An early version of the film stalled over concerns over the portrayal of their relationship and the rapper’s allegations of abuse, as well as alleged intimidation by XXXTentacion employees. But on the anniversary of the rapper’s death in 2019, the estate of XXXTentacion released a teaser for an untitled documentary. Pitchfork later reported that after his death, the XXXTentacion estate had begun working with Fader Films on the documentary after Semmer stopped working on the project. The documentary, teased by the XXXTentacion estate, was never released.

look at me is now being directed by Sabaah Folayan, who previously directed the 2017 documentary Whose streets? about protests in Ferguson, Missouri. Sobande is listed as executive producer, and a Hulu representative confirmed to Vulture that the rapper’s estate was involved in the project. The documentary features interviews with XXXTentacion and Ayala, along with musicians who knew the rapper and other commentators. A Hulu description calls the film “a sensitive portrayal of an artist whose acts of violence, raw musical talent, and open struggles with mental health left an indelible mark on his generation.”