The 2021 Freshman List
It’s back! The XXL’s 2021 Freshman List. Seemingly the most accurate depiction of hip-hops hottest upcoming talents. After reducing almost 100 artists down to merely 12 freshmen the list has been unveiled with a few surprising appearances… XXL has the responsibility of introducing the hip-hop community to the newest talents of the year.
What is XXL’s Freshman List?
First introduced in 2017, the magazine XXL annually releases a list of 10-11 “fresh” faces, or artists to appear on the cover of the magazine. The majority of the artists are selected by XXL. However, one of them the “10th spot winner” is voted on by the community. Being on this magazine cover allows artists to grasp significant attention from the hip-hop community, allowing them to showcase their talents during series of marketing events including interviews, freestyles as well as he famous XXL Freshman Cypher, that are all uploaded onto the XXL YouTube channel. The cypher is where the artists are grouped and freestyle over the same instrumental truly showcasing their style and ability. Notably, this is the most highly anticipated part of the whole event and is quite often make or break for these artists. If they perform well, they gain new fans and respect, however disappointing the masses can lead to their career growth being stunted: becoming an internet meme. The XXL Freshman List varies with its inclusion of mainstream and underground artists that are on the rise. Although, it’s not always an accurate reflection of the current music industry…
The list has been noted to be problematic due to XXL seeming to shy away from popular artists. But it’s unclear as to why; perhaps to allow lesser-known artists to gain some attention that they may need from the list. This means mainstream rappers are ignored., which are the artists that the hip-hop community expect to appear on the list. Leading to, previous lists to be seen as “wrong” by the public or has led to artists declaring their unavailability to the list, therefore snubbing the lists.
Various huge mainstream artists have rejected the option of being on the cover due to a number of reasons. The likes of Drake and Nicki Minaj had respectfully turned down the offer in 2010, as they felt they should’ve been on it during the previous years and when they were selected, they felt that they graduated into stardom. Therefore, surpassing the magazine.
In contrast, to Drake and Nicki some rappers have outright rejected the magazine disrespectfully. In 2018, Lil Skies had explained his reasoning for declining the invitation on his Instagram Live telling his fans that he was invited prior to the voting system starting; declaring that the list was in fact rigged and unfair. In response to this XXL had attempted to replace him with Rich the Kid who had also declined as it seemed very clearly disrespectful.
During the same running artist Nav had displayed his displeasure with the magazine through a song named "The Freshman List" and took to social media to further his opinion, ultimately declining an invitation that may have followed.
Some of the artists that appear on this magazine cover have progressed into long-lasting music careers, including the likes of Lil Uzi Vert, Kendrick Lamar and J Cole: proving how the effects of the magazine cover can kick start these artists careers. Previously, in 2020 XXL presented a strong list with many rappers still relevant and popping today such as the What’s Poppin rapper Jack Harlow and Polo G a rising star.
Let’s have a look into who made the cut this year…
XXL's 2021 Freshman List
42 Dugg
Breaking through last year as feature on Lil Baby’s hit track “We Paid”, 42 Dugg made a huge impact of the bat, peaking at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. At the time of writing, the 21st June 2021, the song has 200 million streams on Spotify. Born in the rap city Detroit and signed by Lil Baby and Yo Gotti, 42 Dugg is recognised for his unique sound, where he utilises heavy auto-tune and already has a signature adlib that’s already acknowledged by his fans as he starts every song with this whistle.
Verdict: An obvious choice, I don't think anyone would be surprised thaat 42 Dugg is on the list, definitely deserved.
Coi Leray
"He call me big purr", one of the most viral lyrics in 2021. Coi Leray has taken the internet by storm blowing up on tiktok. The New-Jersey rapper took over tiktok with her song "BIG PURR (Prrdd)" with fellow freshman Pooh Shiesty. The song debuted at number 69 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, seemed to be more successful on Tiktok and Instagram.
Verdict: Coi Leray has drastically improved over the course of the last year, and has gained a lot of popularity. It's clear that the hard work she's put in during her career has pulled off, ultilising platforms like tiktok to get her name out there. This one makes sense.
Iann Dior
Iann Dior already seems established in the hip-hop community and perhaps may have graduated from being a freshman. Establishing himself in 2019 To this date he’s released three projects, “nothings ever good enough”, “I’m Gone” and “Still Here”. Iann Dior is mostly known for his “emo rap” or “pop” due to his authentic sad lyricism that has similarities to the late Juice Wrld. Mostly known for his hit collaboration with 2KGoldn on “Mood”, Iann Dior had gained his first ever charting song peaking at number on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s widely thought that Iann Dior should’ve been on the previous freshman list.
Verdict: It's surprising that Iann Dior is in this specific freshman list, I personally feel like he should've been in last years list. Perhaps there wasn't a space for him last year...
Flo Milli
Similar to Coi Leray, Flo Milli found success on tiktok with two songs "Beef FloMix" and "In The Party". Flo Milli is known her for energetic styled music with loud instrumentals, generally speaking dance/club music. The Alabama rapper is known for her highly positive music her single "Beef FloMix" accumulated over 79 million streams on spotify and appeared in over 20,000 tiktoks whereas "In The Party" has 96 million streams.
Verdict: Personally I haven't heard a lot of Flo Milli's music, although i quite enjoyed her feature on $not's "Mean". I feel like it may be too soon for Flo Milli, 2-3 songs may not be enough music for the amount of attention she'll get.
Blxst
Who is Blxst? Blxst pronounced as Blast is a versatile artist that sings and raps, he sways in and out of hip-hop and R&B. In 2020 he released his debut mixtape "No Love Lost" which included his hit single "Chosen" featuring two hip-hops finest artists, Tyga and Ty Dolla $ign.
Verdict: Blxst was an unexpected choice to the list, although it's unclear whether he reallly fits into the rapper stereotype. It'll be interesting to see whether he'll rap or sing in his freestyle, as singing isn't exactly unheard of on the XXL Freshman List as we've seen the likes of rnb singers before.
Morray
Representing North Carolina, Morray. Morray seems to share with last years freshman Rod Wave, a soulful singer/rapper with lyrics that come from the heart. You may have heard him in J Cole's highly anticipated album "The Off Season", featuring on "m y. l i f e" with 21 Savage. New to the scene Morray seems to have made great connections in the industry already and has established himself with a well-recieved mixtape.
Verdict: Morray's is definitely someone to look out for, as someone that seems to be more of an underground artist and is genuinely underrated. I feel like he has so much more to contribute to the music industry. Stay tuned.
Pooh Shiesty
"Back in Blood", has been on of the hottest songs to make it out of 2020's lockdown with over 100 million streams on Spotify, peaking at number 6 on the Hot Billboard 100. It was rapped by none other than Memphis' Pooh Shiesty. Pooh Shiesty has been on of the most exciting US gangsta rap artists to surface. Signed to Gucci Mane's 1017 Records, Pooh Shiesty has already colloborated with a handful of huge names including Lil Durk and Lil Baby. Known for his aggressive lyricism and free flowing caedance Shiesty has been killing the game lately: releasing Shiesty Season 3 earlier this year.
Verdict: Not a surprising pick, along with Iann Dior and 42 Dugg, Pooh Shiesty is one of the bigger names on this list and may be considered mainstream already.
Lakeyah
Lakeyah would've been one of the lesser known artists to appear on this years XXL magazine cover. But 6 months ago Lakeyah had dropped "Female Goat" featuring the City Girls which propelled her into this freshman class. Lakeyah used this song and released new music while she had the spotlight, breaking 1 million views on all of them on her YouTube channel.
Verdict: Lakeyah already has a loyal fanbase clearly with almost 1 million followers on all of her platforms, with this stability. Based on her numbers she's been very consistent over the course of the year, this may be the opportunity to really get her name out there.
Toosii
Toosii is another rapper but this time representing New York. Known for his songs "Red Lights", "Love Cycle" and "Truth Be Told". Similar to Blxst, Toosii seems more for an rnb artist than a rap artist. When Toosii raps he uses a lot of autotune but doesn't seem to stand out too much from other rappers. However, he really seems to shine as a singer which is where he seemed to make his name.
Verdict: Like Blxst I think its somewhat weird having Tootsii on this list, on the other hand Tootsii has more relevancy in hip-hop than Blxst, with a few rap songs to his name. If there was an Rnb alternative to the Freshman List he'd probably appear on it.
Rubi Rose
Rubi Rose is probably one of the most surprising additions to this list, and isnt too known her music but mostly known her for social media pages, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.
Verdict: There isn't much to judge on her music wise. I think somebody else could've had this slot.
DDG
Darryl Dwayne Granberry Jr, better known as DDG or PontiacMadeDDG is the 10th freshman and so the voted pick by the community. As a former YouTuber turned professional rapper DDG has an extermerly loyal fanbase with over 2 million subscriber. His most notable song "Moonwalking in the Calabasas" has over 130 million streams on Spotify featuring last years freshman Blueface. DDG featured in the popular YouTube vs TikTok undercard. Where he capitlised on this with a "iCarly Freestyle" which had over 5 million views on YouTube.
Verdict: DDG is a great pick as a youtuber turned artist he already has a loyal fanbase, being on XXL should allow him to break out of the dreaded YouTube rapper bracket and into a hip-hop regular.
This XXL Freshman List is fairly strong, however there's a few names here that maybe could've been replaced with the likes of The Kid Laroi. It'll be interesting to see where these names will be in a year or so. Maybe on the radio or even in your local club, keep an eye on these names.