Honestly, i started to completely not give a fxk about any of this rap shit already in like 2018... and it was probably a couple years overdue at that point... The last real era when this shit was still mostly about the music, the subject matter, the rapping and being yourself was from 2010-2015... Once the Soundcloud/Instagram era started it went downhill quickly... The focus shifted to who can make the most braindead formulaic bite size reel type music while doing antics all over social media to promote it. Even though i think there was some interesting ideas sonically that spawned in that timeframe that had potential for further exploration and optimisation, the 'fast food' style music consumption of today's zeitgeist just killed most of it... Unless you're like Kendrick Lamar or something, artists no longer have the incentive to sit on a project from 3 to 5 years and really develop their own sound, what they want to say and master their craft... You just need to keep putting stuff out and keep doing antics to stay relevant, because the internet has a short memory, and if you take your time you lose momentum and might not get back to where you were.
But here's the thing carti did his Cypher already in 2017 which to this day is still my favorite freshman class just cause both Him and X were on it and is lowkey iconic/nostalgic atleast for me for I was in highschool
@@GDSprodifydon’t listen to them, kendrick fans have literally turned into drake dunking bots, to the point where it’s not even funny and they just sound like a jealous ex
The problem with XXL is they got away from their original formula. They used to select hard working individuals who had bodies of work and were on the cusp of being mainstream. XXL was then the platform to get them exposer. Those people all had something to gain so they came with the mindset of bringing their best. But at some point it became a popularity contest and industry plants. People that have one semi-hit song. So of course these people don’t care about XXL fr. They are already popular before even being selected. What made the 2016 freshman class so legendary is because unless you were deep into SoundCloud most of those guys people didn’t know. With the exception of guys like Lil Dicky, Anderson, Desiigner Dave East and G Herbo. Now they are just getting a bunch of Desiigners (people with one break out song and a mid to non existent catalog) and expecting them to take XXL seriously. Most of them got a Drake co sign already. Most aren’t good rappers are singers outside of a studio mixed and mastered format
Its sad we got this jokers who dont understand hip hop, they trying to turn it into something that fits their life better instead of understanding it for what it is
@@TheandY408everyone clowns xxl these days rapping is just gonna bring u hate and if u do bad it’s gonna ruin ur career people get scared and back out of stuff all the time it’s just classic human nature
You said that like Saba, Denzel Curry, IDK, JPEG, Earthgang, JID, Tyler The Creator, Kenny Mason, BigXDaPlug, Mexican OT, Smino, Lil Simz, Noname, Reason, Fenix Flexin, Babytron, CashKid, ain't all out there being young for most of them. Y'all just want to complain instead of giving your attention to the good ones. All I hear is that you still counting on mainstream media to give you some good rappers while you cab easily find better on Spotify or RU-vid alone
You said that like Saba, Denzel Curry, IDK, JPEG, Earthgang, JID, Tyler The Creator, Kenny Mason, BigXDaPlug, Mexican OT, Smino, Lil Simz, Noname, Reason, Fenix Flexin, Babytron, CashKid, ain't all out there being young for most of them. Y'all just want to complain instead of giving your attention to the good ones. All I hear is that you still counting on mainstream media to give you some good rappers while you cab easily find better on Spotify or RU-vid alone
Even Coi Leray had the confidence to do the freestyle and Cypher, these other rappers are actually 🐈. Central cee also didn’t do the freestyle or cypher...
Idc what anyone says, 2016 and 2017 were the last xxl classes that mattered. Everything after was just a yearly group of wannabe rappers and rappers that were already blown up but didn’t really bounce off one another or freestyle to prove that they belong
@@dajuanvera-byers6788 2018’s class was good too. Ski, JID, and arguably Trippie(Despite him not doing a cypher) were the highlights. But even that class didn’t have the energy the two classes that came before them did
That goes for mainstream though, for the most part. Actual Rappers have been coming up, I mean they're smaller but Rome Streetz, Eto, RJ Payne & all the Griselda/dj muggs/boom-bap affiliates....there's a good bit, new or abit older, but I mean it isn't mainstream like that. Only Benny, Conway, Westside Gunn have made it mainstream & ug at the same time. Rome Streetz should have been on cover, he isn't new, but he's the likeliest out of New Griselda to go mainstream...
Because these new artist that blew up all of a sudden didn't master they craft they just there cause the kids bumping music like they hot, and some of them not. Big X Da Plug deserves it he's actually hard.
@@Opin10n Half these ninjas ain't rapping about nothing special even though i do the rapping shit i just don't click on other rapping ninjas anymore. It is dead on god.
Literally all you have to do is have a nice flow in the cypher, thats it. XXL should drop people from the list if theyre not gonna participate, the list has been around for over 10 years, fans expect a level of effort from the people who make it onto the list. NYC has tons of rappers who would drop everything to come spit a freestyle & cypher at the drop of a pin, but XXL needs to have some integrity when these things happen. They seem to believe the rappers are bigger than the magazine (kinda facts) but TONS of people tune in for the freshman cyphers.
This is the product of this generation blowing up rappers that can't actually rap. Because that's not what they care about. Stop blowing up these rappers that can't rap just because the beat is cool. Ijs.
You said that like Saba, Denzel Curry, IDK, JPEG, Earthgang, JID, Tyler The Creator, Kenny Mason, BigXDaPlug, Mexican OT, Smino, Lil Simz, Noname, Reason, Fenix Flexin, Babytron, CashKid, ain't all out there being young for most of them. Y'all just want to complain instead of giving your attention to the good ones. All I hear is that you still counting on mainstream media to give you some good rappers while you cab easily find better on Spotify or RU-vid alone
@@paquinraino8180 Your comment has nothing to do with what this man said lmao. He said stop blowing up people that can't rap and then you go listing people that can obviously rap outta nowhere. Nowhere is this man complaining about there not being good rappers out there.
You said that like Saba, Denzel Curry, IDK, JPEG, Earthgang, JID, Tyler The Creator, Kenny Mason, BigXDaPlug, Mexican OT, Smino, Lil Simz, Noname, Reason, Fenix Flexin, Babytron, CashKid, ain't all out there being young for most of them. Y'all just want to complain instead of giving your attention to the good ones. All I hear is that you still counting on mainstream media to give you some good rappers while you cab easily find better on Spotify or RU-vid alone
Because these are the ones who “play ball”. It ain’t about talent it’s about products (“artists”) moving their product (images/consumer goods/ideologies) …not art.
Sadly this is what this generation wants and it sells phenomenally and makes lots of money for executives… not the rappers though they stay broke with the illusion they’re rich because they drive a dodge… 🤦🏽♂️ foolio just went out in his dodge… sad
And they wonder why hip hop is falling off, these new rappers are getting weaker and weaker, they barley chart, no lyrics, and shows be less than 500 people. Drake, Kendrick, Cole, and Nicki are pushing 40, and it looks like thier is going to be nobody to take thier place. Smh
You said that like Saba, Denzel Curry, IDK, JPEG, Earthgang, JID, Tyler The Creator, Kenny Mason, BigXDaPlug, Mexican OT, Smino, Lil Simz, Noname, Reason, Fenix Flexin, Babytron, CashKid, ain't all out there being young for most of them. Y'all just want to complain instead of giving your attention to the good ones. All I hear is that you still counting on mainstream media to give you some good rappers while you cab easily find better on Spotify or RU-vid alone
Blame the new generation with that “I’m an artist not a rapper” “a freestyle doesn’t have to be written” they kept dumbing it down for these bums and hyping them up. It’ll get worse too
“It feels like they should be able to get through a verse, but as the years go on, more and more artists struggle with this part Freshman” …. Jeez idk. Maybe if they got rappers that actually RAP **cough** Kenny Mason **cough** then this shit wouldn’t happen.
Number 1.....4Batz is NOT a rapper. Hes a singer......Number 2 the XXL list is so bs now im not surprised rappers are not enthused by it anymore. It doesn't mean anything. I wish they would just take the list more serious. Every year there's like only 1 or 2 mfs on the list i care about.
XXL has now become a representation of where modern mainstream rap started (2011) and the sad state it's in now (2020's). The new freshman class shows it best, with little to no original aesthetic, materialism, industry plants, etc. All that matters to some listeners and the industry is making simple, catchy music.
classic yassine L. PHUCK XXL lmao. we dgaf about them anymore anyway. n to be a professional "reputable" magazine then try to try to throw shots is crazy lmao. editor needa get fired. 😂 dis whole thing is hilarious. ps: hating da way somebody types when everyone has a specific way they talk is even more HILARIOUS 😭
Problem fucking solved have every artist send in a verse put it together to make different songs & have each other perform with their respective partner(S)
if people hop on the freshman and dont do the cypher you are shooting yourselves in foot, as a avid listener of rap/hip hop i just watch the cypher anything else is filler I WANNA SEE YOU AT YOUR BEST AND DO IT WITH HEART
Honestly when I first came across XXL Freshman I always looked forward to it. But now, I don't. Like I think slowly but surely XXL freshman list will die out because some rappers don't want to prove themselves to gain a bigger audience. So walking out for no VALID reason can really damage his career, if he's now getting recognition.
The problem is these new artists can make hits repeatedly until one catches on... Then make the XXL. That doesn't mean they're a good rapper. Just made a hit or two and bagan trending.
You think that double xxl should maybe change how they do things because a lot if not the majority of there picks can’t free style so why not have them do different thing that could play to there strengths have the more lyrical rapper freestyle and the more melodic rappers do something else
Bro most of these guys aren’t gonna have a career anyway because they’re just one hit wonders but choosing not to rap post Kendrick beef is crazy. You have to actually be talented now.
He's calm, he's ready to drop bombs But he keeps on forgetting the rhymes that he wrote down, vomit, sweater, mom's spaghetti. Snapback to reality CLARENCE
"Nobody expects bars". Bro, rap is so watered down. XXL freshman cyphers was something I used to look forward to. The last good class there was with actual talented rappers was probably the year Chance n them were on, that was a great class. I still want lyricism. That's why I haven't felt a single cypher since then. Rap is so saturated right now.
I mean it’s like asking rnb singers to do a dance routine while they sing. There’s just new and more personalized styles to all genres now that they’ve evolved
Faygo just dropped a really good single called Life So Crazy last month, and he's working on his next album. He was at Summer Smash last month with Cactus Jack.
a lotta artists like to show their recording process on social media. they defintely dont write. but they dont freestyle either. from what ive seen, they punch in one line at a time and can take 7-8 mins mumbling until they finally come up with a line they like. ion think i ever heard one of them come up with two lines at once, definitely not three. we know most these people arent real artists. more like internet personalities
1:10 highkey this just makes XXL seem salty nobody cares enough not to back out anymore. They have no pull anymore and everyone knows it so now even when 1 person pulls out they feel some type of way
This is what happens when too much of a whole generation hasn’t truly practiced their craft. 12 years ago, almost every rapper would have grown up doing cyphers and/or battles. That’s a place where you get your bars up and learn to adjust to beat changes, mic handovers etc..
It's funny, they reject actual artists that can rap / will come prepared but want people who straight up don't even want to be a part of the culture just a part of the game.
10:10 “where is sofaygo right now? I don’t know . That’s a genuine question. It’s not rhetorical, please somebody let me know! WHERE IS SOFAYGO RIGHT NOW ? “ bro I was rollin when he said this 😂😂😂
I respect mfs dropping out and not giving us 10 seconds of whack ahh lyrics followed by a 3 minute dance session honestly. Props to those who know better if you ask me
Does that mean they have ghosts writers? Even then, I’m realizing ppl have been taking the path of least resistance. WE HAVE TO STRUGGLE TO EVOLVE/IMPROVE
It’s because Amiri aware of being botted more than any other artist, knows this was not something he was ready for but rushed, so had anxiety. Literally. From insider.
I don't know how much being on the list can help you anymore, but it still has the power to make you a complete joke if you do bad. I don't know why you would even accept the placement if you're not ready to face that possibility.
