Every year I look forward to XXL's Freshmen Class. I've seen a lot of rappers I like become famous off these spreads.
Lupe, Kendrick Lamar, Cudi, K.R.I.T., J. Cole, Wale, Wiz and so many more have graced these covers year after year- and for the majority, they all deserved to take those spots.
This year? Ehh, mixed reviews on some of the choices, BUT I can definitely see a few of these rappers following some of the greatest out right now.
Now before I go in, I have to say that when I first saw this cover, I had only heard of 6 out of the 10 rappers on here (one of them is even on my blog header). So for the ones I didn't know much about, I gave each of them a few listens on some of their hottest songs:
Danny Brown- His flow reminds me of Tech N9ne buts its a lot different at the same time. I like it, but compared to other people on this list, he's just okay to me. Gotta listen to him more to really give more input, but he's alright.
Hopsin- Saw the video "Sag My Pants" and automatically thought "Odd Future and Hopsin would get along great." He's that blunt rapper that surprises us with what comes out of his mouth (think Eminem). Again, another rapper I haven't heard of before but I won't sleep on him, y'all shouldn't either. Thumbs up.
Macklemore- I wanna go for Alternative Rap but because I haven't heard more than a handful of songs from him, I won't judge- yet. His producer Ryan Lewis is raw. Macklemore is smart and tells stories, which gives him my utmost respect already. Thumbs up for dude.
Don Trip- Already signed to Interscope and a song featuring the soulful Cee Lo Green, Don's rap career already looks pretty promising. His accent makes his flow sound better, especially on songs like "The Life," his "Oh Let's Do It" freestyle and his "I'm On One" freestyle, all three of them in which he goes in on. This Memphis rapper gets compared to Wayne a lot- and you can see why- but his style is unique in its own, enough to where I can see why he's already signed. He just may be the next to blow up. I stand by the man. Big ups to him. Might just be my favorite '12 Freshmen so far.
Now honestly, I don't feel I need to speak much on Roscoe Dash...Why you ask?
If you live in or anywhere around the Southeast then you know R-O-S-C-O-E Dash been out for a long ass time. And he's not even a decent rapper compared to these other dudes (and Azalea)- he's a club rapper (a rapper that makes songs for the club). Yeah he got hits, but I doubt we'll ever here a banger from guy that will make us think "OMG we got the next Tupac!!!"
So on that note, I'll move on to French Montana. This my man right here- and he's been out for a hot little minute, but if you not from New York or the surrounding areas then you might not know of him. Although, unless you've been sleeping under a rock, you've had to have heard his hit "Shot Caller," and the remix and remix video that came out not too long ago. French first grabbed my attention with his song "So High" with Curren$y released back in '10, and I still play it like it just came out. He's signed with Diddy now, *long sigh* so if Puff don't push him to the side like the rest of his artists then I expect great things from him.
Moving right along...
Iggy Azalea is the truth. A lot of people have been giving her dirty looks for her "runaway slave- master" line on her song "D.R.U.G.S.," but if you tried to understand it and looked past it, this girl has a lot of potential. T.I. caught on quick and is now the executive producer on her upcoming album (also on Interscope with labelmate Don Trip) "My World," due to release in June. Her mixtape "Ignorant Art" is hot- make sure you download that. I'm really hoping the best for this Australian bombshell, who is dating the hot up-and-coming rapper, A$AP Rocky- the female rap games NEEDS it. And until Eve and past female rappers decide to make the comeback that is wayyy past due, Iggy can hold down the throne in the mean time.
Machine Gun Kelly won my heart when he made "Wild Boy" with my main man Waka (joke, guys- but I do love this man for the hype he gives me with every one of his songs). Now honestly, right now I'm sleeping on dude because his other songs aren't the greatest, but I'm rooting for him. He deserved a spot in the mag.
Kid Ink is another person I've heard but am sleeping on right now. He's another rapper that loves to talk about all the weed paraphernalia he consumes on a daily basis. Yeah his song "Stank in My Blunt" is poppin' but, more subject in your rapping, pretty please? :D
Now lets talk about the one person who deserved this more than anyone on this year's cover. Yes suh', I'm talking about the Astronaut Kid, Atlanta's finest-
Future. If you didn't follow my last
blog where I described my love for this man, I'll let you know here that this guy is FIRE. Now I admit, I did say that I didn't consider him a rapper but after listening to him since early last year, I can say dude has some bars. This past year he has blown up all over the South, making us beef it up and jig our hearts out to "Watch This," "Tony Montana," "Jordan Diddy," "Gone to the Moon," and countless others. He had the biggest hype to me in 2011, and he definitely earned his spot on XXL's Freshmen list. FREEBANDZ!
Now that you know how I feel about the list this year, now its your turn. What's up? Leave a comment below.
Oh yeah, and make sure you go to your local market or newsstand and pick up a copy of XXL's April issue to read the exclusives of this year's class, out March 20th.
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