That moment Hip-Hop lovers anticipate came about a week ago (week agooo — sorry, I couldn’t resist). The 2015 XXL Freshman Class has been released, and personally, I’m slightly pleased. Some of my fave up and comers have made the list. The 10 Freshmen are DeJ Loaf, Fetty Wap, GoldLink, K Camp, OG Maco, Raury, Shy Glizzy, Tink, Vince Staples, and Kidd Kidd.
I love when XXL releases the Freshman Class. Like others who have a love for Hip-Hop, it gives me a chance to experience new music, good music, new personalities, and it exposes me to new markets. I’m not going to sit here and lie, saying I know each artist below — I don’t. But I do know or have heard of, about half. Plus, I’m getting familiar with one or two as I type this.
What I love about this specific list is that it isn’t limited to Hip-Hop. Yes, the basis of it is Hip-Hop, but artists like Tink and Raury add hints of R&B-ish flows to the bunch.
New Orleans native, Kidd Kidd, snagged the number 10 spot, which is also the spot voted by fans. Shouts out to him. I think the position is well-deserved and a long time coming. Not bad having the fan-voted spot held down by a NOLA native. In my opinion, that’s an honor because he was actually placed there by people who love his music and saw him worthy.
The Freshmen have two upcoming shows: Tuesday, June 30 @ The Best Buy Theater in NYC and Monday, July 13 @ The Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. Peep the Behind the Scenes footage of the shoot and the list of the 2015 XXL Freshman Class.
Left to right, from top to bottom:
Vince Staples
Kidd Kidd
K Camp
Goldlink
OG Maco
Gold Link
Tink
Shy Glizzy
Dej Loaf
Fetty Wap
Raury