The Boy with the Fangs: XXXTentacion’s Faustian Confession

If Juice WRLD was the fighter trying to invert his pain ("999"), and Lil Peep was the observer ironically curating it, Jahseh "XXXTentacion" Onfroy was the vessel consumed by it. His artistry was defined by a chaotic, abrasive spirituality through a constant oscillation between seeking redemption and succumbing to his own darkest impulses. In "I Spoke to the Devil in Miami, He Said Everything Would Be Fine," X strips away the distortion and aggression of his harder tracks to deliver a chilling, piano-laden allegory about the cost of emotional numbness.

The song is a modern Faustian narrative, but with a crucial twist: the protagonist isn't trading his soul for fame, wealth, or knowledge. He is trading it for relief.

The track opens by establishing a psychogeography of absolute despair: "And I'm always where the / Sun don't shine, the tears don't show." This isn't just sadness; it is a purgatorial state where emotion is stifled and light is absent. X describes his internal landscape with a cynical numerology: "It's ten for the wolf and three for the shepherd." In his worldview, the forces of predation and violence (the wolf) vastly outnumber the forces of guidance and protection (the shepherd). Innocence, represented by the "sheep," is not led by a protector but "led by your leopard" a predator in disguise. It is a vision of the world where corruption is the natural order.

Desperate to escape this "changing maze" and "control the pace," the protagonist seeks an intervention. He takes a "bite of your apple," evoking the original sin not as an act of rebellion, but as a necessary transaction to survive. He approaches "Baphomet", an occult icon often associated with equilibrium and heterodoxy, begging to be saved. The tragedy here is the nature of the request. He pleads for salvation, but the context implies that "salvation" simply means the cessation of pain, regardless of the spiritual cost.

The song’s literary brilliance lies in its outro, which upends the traditional deal-with-the-devil trope. As the protagonist attempts to finalize the bargain ("What is this thing? I pleaded"), the entity reveals a horrifying truth. X writes: "And as I spoke, my fangs were shown."

In this moment, the distinction between the boy seeking help and the demon offering it dissolves. The devil smiles not because he has tricked a pure soul, but because he recognizes a kindred spirit. "What I crave is already mine," the entity declares. He doesn't need to take X's soul ("Anima vestra"); the soul has already been transformed by the bitterness, the "recklessness," and the "heartless" nature of his pain. The protagonist thought he was making a transaction to escape his hell, only to realize he had already become a creature native to it. The "fangs" were there all along, hidden by the very tears that wouldn't show.

And I'm always where the
Sun don't shine, the tears don't show, won't
Hurt me now 'cause heart's been broke, I
Hate myself, but it won't show, I
Constantly lose all my remorse, and it's
Ten for the wolf and three for the shepherd, and it's
One for the sheep who led by your leopard, often
Gave his perception as a handle of weapon, took a
Bite of your apple, give me all you can offer, now I'm
Trapped in a changing maze, settin' my soul ablaze
Couldn't control the pace, where is this going, hey?
Heartless is recklessness, it's word of a pacifist to
Word of a masochist, I'm off of the map, my Lord, I
Spoke to a Baphomet, he said he would save me if I
Gave him one thing he needed, "What is this thing?" I pleaded
Boy, it's the key to even, yeah

[Outro]
And as I spoke, my fangs were shown
Taken aback, he smiles and tells me
"What you crave will soon be yours
But what I crave is already mine"
Anima vestra
Anima
Anima vestra
Anima