Actually put in effort to look for underground artists with unique styles generating their own buzz that could use the boost, not someone that’s catching hype on TikTok
The problem with XXL is that it started off as a way for UNDERGROUND rappers to take off using their platform. A shout out where they themselves prove to others they are worth investing in. After 2018, it just mainly became a meet up of people that were ALREADY famous thru radio or TikTok hits. XXL then just began to bring in artist that were bigger than XXL themselves. That’s how they fell off
With what you described, I'd say that COLORS is the one doing a great job in using its platform to help people take off (and it's for more than just rappers)
No I feel the problem is that they aren't hitting the right points for who they're picking, you want someone on the come up just on the verge of being main stream, central cee and DC the don I felt were good picks on this aspect everyone else is "I only heard you on tik tok" or "I've never heard of you at all"
@@jeremysimpson569 I don’t think central cee is a good pick because he again blew up off of TikTok. He was already know for that “my bitch is gay” song along with that freestyle he did comparing uk to usa slang. Bro went mad viral and got on XXL
it wasnt just for underground rappers bcuz if you look a bunch of people were mainstream when they was put on the list. Wiz Khalifa, Oj the Juiceman, Meek Mill, YG, Kendrick Lamar, Future, Macklemore, MGK, Roscoe Dash, and the list goes on. They been putting on people who were already famous for radio
2016 cypher got so much hate when it happened. I remember so many people clowning on Uzi and yachty and almost all of the artists as being mumble rappers. Sometimes it just takes time for an artist to prove themselves
I was 27 years old in 2016 and I remember everyone I knew in my age group absolutely TRASHING the 21/Uzi/Yachty, etc. cypher. I was lowkey feeling like it was the "death" of hip-hop, lol. Seven years later, and you got people saying that it was the best Freshman class ever. It's super interesting for me that we're starting to hear the perspectives of younger people who were shaped by this music.
I never thought about it like that I was 13 when it came out all my Homies are replaying it over and over during the summer I still think it’s fire but it definitely wasn’t as good as the first time it’s still the best xxl freestyle imo
@@artistaccount their selection sucks because they only pick already established artists with gold records, major collabs, major industry connections, tiktok hits, instead of picking people who could ACTUALLY RAP like kenny mason, mavi, redveil, MIKE, or reason. even if they dont pick "real rappers" they still duck artists that are making waves in the underground for already established artists*
DC the don is my favorite rapper and I've been following him for years. I voted for him like ten times so I was really happy when he was 10th pick. But yeah it's pretty sad how much XXL fell off because at one point being a freshman was a real indicator that the artist was going to be big. X was 10th pick for 2017.
@@CheeseyMilkshakeslisteners dont mean a thing its just people that listen not total streams look at numbers not listeners people like lawsy have more than him and whos lawsy???? no one knows
@@CheeseyMilkshakes he has 500k followers on instagram. A lot of people know about him, a lot less consistently listen to him. Also his sound cloud numbers are crazy.
@@CheeseyMilkshakes A lot of people know him. I don't really listen to him but I know who he is because just how well known he is in the underground scene. I don't really listen to his music but he's well known enough for me to know that he was literally the only name I recognized on this year's freshman cypher.
I think what also happened is that back then xxl was THE source to get known as upcoming artist but ever since social media got a bigger and bigger artists started blowing up on they own alot of artists started realizing they don’t need xxl anymore in fact it’s the opposite
What I think could freshen up the XXL freestyles: 1. Make sure EVERY artist you put on the list participates in the freestyle and cypher, there’s nothing more disappointing then seeing an artist you like ending up not doing shit besides the ABCs then dipping, if they agree to be on the list they’re agreeing to rap/ sing on it period. 2. With all these decorated talented ass producers, to combat the beats and the style of rap the artist brings clashing, make groups of 2-4 depending on how big the list is of artists with the same style, and have them vote on a beat. BETTER YET, have them and the producer come together in a studio setting to craft a beat that they all can personally mess with, something like Kenny beats the cave. This not only bonds the rappers with each other more, but also let’s them show much more of who they are and what their personality is so the audience and people new to their music can connect with them more. 3. Let them sub in and sub out for each other, like an actual song, let them go back and forth, sing a hook if they want, let the artists you brought on there have a blank canvas without being heavy restricted and feeling like they’re put on a island because their style of music doesn’t match up with everyone else and they feel forced to do something they can’t. That’s why a lot don’t go on XXL, for a lot of artists especially new ones it’s just way too intimidating to hop on a beat you’re not familiar with and try to keep up with it. That’s just my take personally on how they could switch it up sorry for the long read but this has been in my head since 2018 🤷🏽♂️
great recommendations; 1 should should be mandatory fs; 3 reminds me of when august alsina did the singing hook for isaiah rashad kevin gates and chance, that was hard
@@standardbrahYeah when i read 3 i instantly remembered that 2014 verse, shit was hard AF & they all had a good time Lil pump did the same thing but it was pretty trash even tho they had fun
XXL used to showcase the underground scene to a mainstream audience, but now it seems that their knowledge and standards became dated and they're falling to keep up with the underground. They should chill out with the label suckdickery and really dive into who's making noise without any outside forces other than themselves. The underground nowadays is much more accessible than back in the day due to all the diversity in sounds and genres that now exist in the Hip Hop space, so it seems dumb when they seem to miss the mark as hard as they do every year.
they missed out on the whole slayworld and opium scene they coulda put on yeah now they just using label plants like idc bout xxl anymore autumn shoulda been on in 2021 they just put faygo on cuz of travis there was wayyy more talent and then they keep picking mid so xxl fell off
Iv been a dc fan for a long time i think its great that he finally made it to xxl but at such a declining time makes me sad about it too he should've been on soo long ago now it just feels wasted :/ he did great imo tho
“Who tf picked this lil sorry ass beat” still my favorite line ever bro and “ I just smoked them woods b*tch I’m from the hood zone 6 boulder crest road you can’t go there”🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥😂😂😂
@@gamingbytetv665 thank you for the insight but they were just joking around and 2016 cypher is literally the best one it has over 200 million views that’s more then any of the rest for a reason.🙂
@ExoticEio just cuz it has alot of views doesn't mean it was the best kid youtube likes and views font determine who rapped the best this is a CYPHER WHO HAS THE BEST BARS yall just have low standards just like with women
It's cool when they pick lesser known artists like JID in 2018 before he was really huge but dude they pick the most generic people most of the time. They need to try and pick different sounding artists.
@@mkphasard3026 I mean I guess? I reffered to bar about farting and not knowing how to properly take a shit. I feel like thats a hard one to take serious
the end of the day, the freshman list is supposed to give fresh artists a platform. Kinda defeats the point if you’re doing giant name acts on it. But idk if it’s on them or on the artists for not being as talented or creative as previous generations. Or it’s just XXL not being on top of scouting as much as they should
6:57 - LMAO 🤣!!! But the reason why 2016 XXL cypher was so iconic and memorable was because it literally the start of the new wave. It was fresh and unorthodox but in a good fun way. It went down hill after that cause it seems like they're trying to catch that spark again and never works and it never will. XXL is doing nothing but adding to the problem and that's promoting an image instead of actual talent
Lil mosey so corny for dissing the Producer like bro was trying so hard to be like Kodak and just dissed the Prod for no reason like as if he would rap better if he chose a better beat
Al them beats besides like 4 of them over the years are not good so yeah he didn't win any points and bro caught a R@pe case that was the end of his career
Dc the don is really good and it is unfortunate that XXL is not very good anymore, because I was talking to my friend and I had mentioned that maybe Dc will get more popular and might get that push that he needed from the cypher, but instead it did practically nothing. Back in 2018- 2019 if Dc was in a cypher he would definitely be pulling a lot of numbers. Hopefully XXL somehow manages to pull around next year and actually do something of value.
DC carried this cypher for me, ive been following him for about a year now and i was happy to see him get more recognition and honestly he had the best verse.
I still am interested in it every year, because I tell myself "they can't possibly mess up the list again" xxl does not know there fan base and that will be there biggest downfall.
Rappers today think they are too cool for rap. The road was paved for them so they don’t have to work hard to do a song. Two Years Ago it started falling off. They Don’t respect the Art? Its about BEING COOL now.
It was always about being cool, wdym? Only now, instead of trying hard and succeeding at "being cool", they can't seem to know the right way to being cool. Remember back in the tail end of the soundcloud era? Literally everyone tried hard asf to be cool. Most did terribly at it, but then you had notable artist now who did "cool" the right way.
june always making the most entertainig contnet for us. The XXXtetnacion one gave me a clear understanding abt him , and this music. Thank you for your hard work toward your content and us. W vids, appreciate your hard work and content.
7:30 crazy how they turned down Don Toliver cause he only wanted to be on the cover yet allowed French Montana in 2012, Gunna the year before, and Central Cee and Glorilla this year when they did the same thing
@@gamingbytetv665for real, 2016 was only popular because everyone was showing how bad it was. And somehow it's gotten worse. If people say they like 2016, they probably think glue is a delicious appetizer
What’s crazy is I can go back and find a video just like this about that freshman class. It’s odd. I don’t wanna be a hater, but even back then you could tell there was a change coming. The only difference from the recent class and the current one is the effort they put into making songs. It’s weird to explain.
I think they just happened to have struck gold in 2016 & I have a feeling that it's actually the artists' labels & managers telling the artists to decline XXL as they don't want their artists to look like newbies
And these people in the comments saying that they were spitting bars. Hip hop is truly lost if that talentless garbage is what passes for good these days.
Only 4 still have careers for the 2009 one 2010 was the best because everybody on that list still raps the only that didn't make it was Nipsey but rest in peace to that man
Now do I think this years was trash? Absolutely, however, I actually really mess with DC the Don and have kept up with him for the last 8 months now. His last two projects (Sacred Heart & Funeral) were actually really good.
Tbh I used to hate the XXL with lil uzi vert and them, besides denzel I thought they were all pretty mid. BUT, listening back, I miss that performance aspect. It just feels weird to watch now.
Skipping past Lola Brooke, Megan, AND Doechii is insane. Like sorely missed chance to shout out those rappers. Also, popularity doesn’t equal quality. 2016 line up wasn’t that fire, they were just popular.
When he says 2016 was the best, he clearly must be talkin about just views and clicks.....cuz most of that including what he claimed was good, was just trash ass raps from who was popular. Mans talking bout 2016 was having more fun, like that somehow helped those wack ass freestyles.
@@splinter1psi99 nah fr! Like there were so many more artist outside of 2016 who have created a long career for themselves! Coi’s rap was trash last year but, Lakeyah smashed her freestyle. This is the first video I watched from this channel and I’m already getting wonky vibes.
I think it has less to do with XXL falling off and more with rap is falling off in general. Soundcloud is as popular as it was in 2010, which isn't popular at all. Tiktok has stolen the grind aspect of music away, leaving the real talented people to scrounge for views. And most importantly, all the artists who would've been alive and kicking, making it to the top charts all the time are dead. Juice WRLD, X, Pop Smoke just to name a few. Hip-hop is back to being a niche thing, that only people in that culture understand. There isn't any huge artist right now either in rap. Ice Spice is the only "rapper" to be huge this year. And she's already moving into pop. Juice WRLD dying specifically has taken out the life of hip-hop. There isn't anybody talking to their fans, connecting, dropping albums consistently, shit even making real billboard hits. There is no more energy left in hip-hop. Thats the answer i think.
@@granddidit fax. that is also the problem. the real talented rappers don’t even NEED xxl to get recognition nowadays. u blow up on social media from ur songs and that’s all u need.
I definitely remember everyone trashing the 2016 cypher when it came out and to this day the only people I've seen/heard say its good are people that dont even really listen to hip-hop/rap or joke about it being good. It got a lot of views because people were clowning on them not because it was good. Also not saying that the artists themselves weren't decent just the cypher in general was trash
It’s so funny seeing how the 2016 era of music and cypher was considering “mumble rap” even tho non of them mumbled and had fire verses 💀 NOW you can actually say that cause this new cypher is weak and nonsensical 💀
Hearing you list off the names of the rappers in each cypher as the years went on sounded like a list of new Pokémon in a game taking place in the ghetto.
the peak is when it begin to decline greatly too, this was the first time rappers weren’t taking it serious then everyone else copied it, so trash became the trend but trash isn’t good for long term success
One thing that is disappointing to me is, a rapper will go on XXL but not perform with everyone else during the freestyle. Thats the best place to showcase your versatile and put yourself outside the box with a off the dome freestyle. The problem these days, these younger crowd wants it to be hype. They just want something "lit" or "turnt"😅 like bfr i just want to see some realness. Thank God they put DC the DON on here bc i have been following him for years. That was the peace i got from 2Raree. Who tf even is that guy?? 😂
The genre just became too saturated if you ask me, and these rappers aren’t prepared or necessarily caring about longevity. Not saying every years the rappers were, but the newer generation of rappers just appear more concerned with popularity rather than the artistry
seeing dc was cool, and the people on this years cypher really weren’t that bad (minus 2rare😭😭) i just hope xxl can start to do well again, bc the og cyphers were A1
lmao. You made me realize that i didn't watch the xxl 2022 cypher. They have been so uneventful for me since like 2020-21. So i kinda watched them outta habit. It's hilarious that I missed one and was completely fine with it.
Honestly if you do decide to watch it, Nardo wicks whole group cypher was pretty good tbh Babyface rays group was all good except Cochise don’t even bother with Sofaygos group (altho they did have fun at least)
See this is how I know that I'm in a parallel universe cause that old freshman freestyle with Kodak I remember everyone said that one sucked now it's fire yeah this isn't my timeline bruh bruh
i think leaving out years before 2016 misses context. before that it was more rappity rap. 2016 was a big impact bc mumble rap just started, the freestyles were very controversial at the time bc it was like they weren’t trying. as “rap” goes more to melodies & production than lyrics, the format doesn’t make sense anymore.
I was 19 years old in 2016 ik darn well Twitter clowned them all for the mumble rap but now you see how far it's fallen that this is considered good now..... damn 😅
I'm afraid so for both 2016 & 17 are the two of the most iconic years for XXL and after that it just went downhill with 2020 being the last year where I actually knew who most of em were and really watched every rappers freestyle, interview and cyphers and since then I've couldn't care anymore who's on there for most I barely even know or have know idea who they are
I actually think you misinterpreted what Trippie was saying in that clip. He wasn’t saying the other guys weren’t on his level, just saying there were too many stylistic differences for it to work, which is true. No one else in that 2018 group really sing raps like Trippie. We saw what happened in 2019 with YK Osiris, only reason that man didn’t get clowned off the face of the Earth is because Lil Mosey exists and had an even worse verse
I never liked when rappers get on the list and decline a cypher it defeats the purpose of even being on the list xxl should completely remove them if they’re act like that
