The 2017 XXL Freshman class was unveiled on Tuesday (June 13), leading to the annual handwringing over the selections. While many observers have unleashed their criticism, HipHopDX noticed that a surprising amount of the response was complete unfamiliarity with some of the class members. In an effort to solve that, we decided to provide our readers with a crash course on all 10 of the artists featured in this year’s class.
Check out 10 of the songs that helped this year’s class blow up below and read about why these artists were even up for consideration in the first place.
XXXTENTACION
XXXTENTACION went from just another underground rapper on SoundCloud to one of the most talked about artists in the game due to his single “Look At Me.” The track was originally released in 2015 but really gained momentum in 2016. The song got on the radar of a whole new audience when it became the source of XXXTENTACION’s beef with Drake. X accused Drizzy of biting his style on the More Life cut “KMT.” Ultimately, “Look At Me” received its biggest push upon X’s release from prison and in April 2017, it peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 34.
Playboi Carti
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgbxbSSybmM
Playboi Carti’s “Magnolia” is the hottest song in Hip Hop right now. The A$AP Mob affiliate attained ridiculous amounts of hype over the past few years despite his relative lack of music. That finally changed in April when he unleashed his self-titled debut mixtape, which featured “Magnolia.” The hypnotic record quickly took off, hiting No. 40 on the latest Billboard Hot 100 and helping Carti land a placement in TIDAL’s latest TV commercial.
A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie
A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie is the newest star from New York and made a name for himself with a sound that’s far from what most associate with the city. A Boogie’s “My Shit” was his breakthrough record, establishing him as a major player in 2016 and reaching No. 86 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2017. The Bronx rapper has released higher charting songs since then, but it all started with “My Shit.”
Kamaiyah
Kamaiyah arguably has the most impressive body of work in the entire 2017 XXL Freshman class. The Oakland MC’s 2016 mixtape A Good Night In The Ghetto was critically acclaimed and showed listeners exactly why Interscope Records signed her. Her debut single “How Does It Feel” was fans’ first introduction though, arriving in late 2015 and eventually racking up 2 million views on YouTube. Kamaiyah got a big boost thanks to her guest appearance on YG’s “Why You Always Hatin,” but her solo discography is impressive enough to warrant recognition.
Aminé
Aminé climbed up the ranks of the Portland Hip Hop scene before hitting a home run last year with his single “Caroline.” The song blew up in a major way, attaining the top spot on Spotify’s Global Viral Top 50 chart and leading Aminé to his network television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The success did not stop there as “Caroline” reached No. 11 on Billboard Hot 100 in January 2017 and went triple platinum in June.
Kap G
Kap G established himself on the mixtape scene and flirted with a major breakthrough in 2015 via his single “El Chapo.” One year later, the Atlanta rapper finally made his mark with the catchy tune “Girlfriend.” The 2016 record got extra recognition thanks to a remix featuring Ty Dolla Sign and Quavo, which dropped last fall. “Girlfriend” hasn’t attained the same heights as other songs mentioned here, but it did top out at No. 22 on Billboard’s Rhythmic Songs chart.
PnB Rock
PnB Rock might be stretching the “rapper” label as far as it goes, but XXL has proven it will include singers with past selections like August Alsina and Ty Dolla Sign. Regardless of what label best classifies PnB, the Philly native’s rise in the music industry is undeniable. After a few years of grinding on the mixtape circuit, PnB stepped up to a new level by releasing the single “Selfish” in 2016. The track would be certified gold by the RIAA and peaked at No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Kyle
Kyle doesn’t have an SEO friendly name, but fans are finding his music in droves. The West Coast MC released his debut album Beautiful Loser in 2013, so he’s not really a rookie. Still, there’s no denying that much of the world was introduced to him courtesy of his smash hit “iSpy” featuring Lil Yachty. Two videos for the song have been published on YouTube, combining for an astounding 144 million views. With such popularity, it should come as no surprise that “iSpy” found similar heights on the charts. Kyle’s single cracked the Top 5, hitting the No. 4 spot in April 2017.
Madeintyo
Before Uber became a PR disaster, Madeintyo created the perfect anthem for the driving service. “Uber Everywhere” debuted in 2015 and turned into a viral sensation. A remix with Travis Scott created more awareness for the Atlanta rapper’s record, and the online popularity translated into plenty of traditional accolades. “Uber Everywhere” peaked at No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 2016 was certified platinum by the RIAA in December.
Ugly God
Ugly God is the class clown of the 2017 XXL Freshman class. Much like Lil Dicky last year, Ugly God is just as much a comedian as he is a rapper. The Houston rhymer does not take things seriously, which is more than evident on his breakthrough single, “Water.” The cut has been streamed over 90 million times on SoundCloud and its music video boasts nearly 30 million YouTube views. The massive digital listenership helped “Water” crack the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 80 in February 2017.
2017 XXL FUCKBOYS
Nobody cares
No Westside Gunn —> This list is irrelevant
The dude is 34. His career almost over
What a joke. No talent at all. XXL should be ashamed.
Go check XXXTentacion – riot, X has talent he just dosnt use it all the time. Riot is a lyrical song with a message.
I understand that XXL Magazine is trying to be relevant in this new era of hip-hop magazines. However someone correct me if I am wrong. None of these rapper have out an album right now that is on the top 20 list right now.
That’s not the point, the point is that they are the next generation, the people who will be putting albums on the charts, not the ons that are. Its rather stupid to think that every artist has to be a top 20 artist.
Maybe i am an old head but i the only person i heard of on here is XXTension or whatever is name is….and that was only cuz he (in smokie voice) GOT KNOCKED THE F*** OUT
damn son. you need a new profession. your eardrums are yelling suicide. listen for a change.
What about NAV?
A boogie wit da hoodie is the only one that stands out for me, the rest are so meh and are doing shit that has been done over and over and over.
Claiming Drake stole his flow, which was actually Lil Uzi’s, and serving jail time, are the only reasons anyone knows who XXX is. He literally only has one song and it didn’t start getting radio play till a couple months ago. He has no body of work that proves he deserves to be on this list. Even if he received the fan vote, he still hasn’t proved himself enough to earn a spot. XXL is ruining what it means to be a hip hop artist by celebrating people like him.
Check riot out. All of his songs have over 2 million plays, there is hype around him all the time. He is by far the most varied artist on here.
Riot – Lyrical, King- Metal/Post rock, Look at me – trap, Sippinteainyohood – aggressive trap, King of the dead – Mumble trap,
IspoketothedevilinMiamiandhesaidevreythingwouldbealright – RnB.
Now tell me how he dosnt deserve to be on here?
You have a good point, but when you compare XXX’s short catalog to artists like Saba, who dropped his lyrically dense Bucket List project this past year, Tee Grizzley, who XXL ironically posted “When Tee Grizzley raps, you listen” the same day the freshman cover dropped, or any of the other true MCs that got snubbed, it’d be hard for even the biggest XXX fan to make a convincing case that he deserves it more than those guys.
I agree but X isn’t the one that should of been excluded, Kap G should of been replaced with Tee Grizzly. YOu also have to remember that this is the freshman class. New artists is the whole idea right? So a small catalog can be expected.
The issue is if they didn’t put X on this year its possible that he could of been to big for it next year, and xxl would of missed there chance to get him on the freshman list. He also is the fan pick not the mags pick.
Songs dat maed dem hot???? Neh one a deez fa66ot “songs” hot if don’t nobodi still kno who dey iz. How da songs maek dem hot wen eibodi still aksing who deez marks doe real spit doe.
It just occurred to me. Last year there was A LOT of backlash for not including Payboi Carti (or however it’s spelled) – check the archives of hhdx and the posted Twitter responses. He’s there this year, but yet, considered trash. I’m not a fan of the list, nor have I heard of most of these cats (with the exception of Kap G who was in Dope and had some dope joints online- jus saying), but I can’t help feel the public will ever be satisfied. XXL should just hang it up.
YEAH, HOT GARBAGE!!!! FUCK YOU HIP-HOP DX AND XXL!!!!! FUCK YOU!!!!
No fucking Mozzy…again? smh
Hiphop been dead for years now, these new “rappers” and the ones that will come after them will even disappoint the mumble rap fans… no genre of music has ever been watered down so bad like this, shit has like zero elements of what it actually was right now so why even bother to call it “rap” … you can call me an old head or whatever, but i’m 20 and not interested in untalented people making repetitive fast food music, i rather listen to the old stuff. Btw XXXTENTACION got some stuff in his old soundcloud catalog that are worth checking out, it’s surprising his worst song got him the most attention. Shows how ignorant, fucked up and lost this generation is.
This is what happens when corporations and entities with hidden agendas run the culture. Back in the day rappers were certified through the streets or their hometown peers. Now you have cats who upload any trash record online that get promoted by people from the suburbs or weirdo’s who like disposable music. How many of the cats on this list will be around in 5 years. I wouldent say fuck hhdx because hhdx has to eat so they have to promote the good with the bad.
The songs you shoved down our throats in an attempt to make them hot? Because the labels paid you to do so….? Fuck u justin hunte
I went down the list and listen to each artist they need a lot of work ,lyrical and music content was very weak at best this has got to be the weakest freshman class of all time better luck next time!
Just when I think it can’t get any worse…
I was born in 91 and even I think this list is weak. I only know a couple of people ON THE LIST. Some of these cats don’t even have that much content. I must be getting old myself. In my opinion this is what happens when you have suburban kids who are mostly White hipster(f your opinion) vote for artist online. The streets didn’t recognise or certify these cats, and like I said. This isn’t applied to everyone on the list. An older guy even had the nerve to tell me that the rappers today rap better. Compared to the past rappers most of these new flow are recycled, boring or lazy.