French Montana, Iggy Azalea, Future & More Cover XXL Magazine’s Freshman 2012 Issue

    XXL Magazine has revealed the cover for its 5th annual Freshman issue.

    Included on the cover are French Montana, Iggy Azalea, Machine Gun Kelly, Future, Hopsin, Macklemore, Don Trip, Danny Brown, Roscoe Dash and Kid Ink.

    “In the past five years that XXL has been picking Freshman classes, never once has making the list been easy,” wrote XXL. “This year included. Similar to 2011, the hype around the Freshmen Class has continued to grow by leaps and bounds, surprising even us with its popularity. For this class the buzz began earlier than ever, four months before the cover was even shot. And it seemed like everyone had a list. From subdued music fans to diehard rap junkies, from Twitter stalkers to industry heavies and featherweights, folks wanted their list to be the XXL list. We listened, asked opinions, took notes.”

    xxl

    RELATED: Nicki Minaj Talks Skipping Out On XXL’s Freshmen ’10

    280 thoughts on “French Montana, Iggy Azalea, Future & More Cover XXL Magazine’s Freshman 2012 Issue

    1. Ytf they put roscoe dash on the cover he not a rookie shoutout 2 future dat astronout statues go ham! Six letters YMCMB MMG XOXO I’m gargle cumpaste rite now!

    2. no schoolboy q?????? wtf? smh half these cats aint even made an album, schoolboy aint on there? xxl is fk drunk!!!!!

    3. ASAP DECLINE TO BE ON THE SHIT. BUT I DO WONDER AOUT SCHOOL BOY Q. THAT NIGGA IS NICE HE NEED TO BE ON YMCMB I THINK BIRDMAN IS WORKING ON IT. SCOOL BOY Q NEW ALBUM BETTER THAN KENDRICK LAMARS SECTION 80.

      OH AND THE GUY BELOW TRYING TO BE ME IS A FAKE

      GLAD FRENCH MADE IT HE JUST DRIPPING SWAG AND I AM ABOUT TO SMASH THAT WHITE HOE SHE CAN RAP TOO IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT TI DO WITH HER PROJECT

      13 LETTERS YMCMB OVOXO MMG

    4. This is worse than last years cover at least there was a couple spitters in there last yr. I haven’t bought a xxl since the last cover I’m on that mysonne shit. People should boycott xxl for putting lil b on last yrs cover and putting majority of wack niggas on this yrs cover. Fucked up too I was loyal reader too.

      1. The nigga above me is TRIPPIN ON PCP.
        FUTURE,ROSCOE,KID INK & FRENCH are the wackest on that cover you crack head.
        MGK goes the fuck in forreal.you prolly one of those niggaz who only herd Wild Boy nd vowed to hate & troll lol

      1. but he isn’t a “freshmen”. Look at what you just wrote, “he makes hits”. that means he’s ALREADY WELL INTO HIS CAREER. SO how is he a FRESHMEN?

    5. Danny Brown is the only one that is even faintly interesting. Maybe a bit of Macklemore. Hopsin’s talented but derivative. The rest are straight up garbage.

    6. Wackest list ever, no one is good except french. Where the fuck is earl, or action bronson, or chip the ripper, or black cobain. fuck this

      1. lmao!!!you are insane.”Wackest list ever, no one is good except french.” -___- he is 1 of the wackest muhfuckaz on there!!!!him,Future & roscoe

    7. that cover looks like art work for a wwe pay per view event. gay ass niggas like mgk n french. iggy could still get it tho

      1. wut set u claim lil nigga? we body ur mans or some shit? niggas mad cuz we came from outta nowhere in 2011 and runnin shit in 2012

        Alf Gang or record a duet with clay aiken

      2. BITCH IM 6’8″ 248 pounds and i can most likely bench waaaay more than you.who you callin lil nigga??you aint body shit pussy boi.

      3. aye lil nigga i dont care about ur stats. gay ass nigga. go post that shit on eharmony.com or jdate.com or some shit. gay ass nigga. at Alf Gang we dont care about size we believe in overwhelming force in numbers. size dont matter when 10-100 of us are puttin the beats on u lil nigga

        Alf Gang or have a napoleon complex

      4. nigga u gay n proud huh? gay ass nigga said he’d rather be gay. i got this big ass tool if i really wanna use the mother fucker. i dont need strength in numbers. ill just reach to for my hip. ya dig? remember this….we gets thuggy lil nigga

        Alf Gang or tongue kiss tonya hardings booty hole

      5. if the dude is gay nd proud then why u calln him gay like it would insult him.lmao!strength in numbers AND A GAT?!?!?!AAWW YOU A BITCH DOGG!!!

      6. yall niggas must be extremely intrigued with Alf Gang. niggas jockin the God Alf n shit. yall niggas say we bitch would be the first ones to run away when u see my Alf Gang chain swingin a mile away as i come down the block. bitch niggas remember….we gets thuggy

        Alf Gang or pop some viagra and pop a old gallagher tape in the vhs

      7. y u lil niggas wanna talk tough on ur computer? nigga u would never see me on the block cuz ur afraid to go to the hood. u couldnt come around where im at. white kids get they wigs pushed back when they come round here. at Alf Gang we aint got no problem with lil white kids. we just dont like the ones that talk about the “block” when they grew up in a suburb and try to act tough on there moms labtop

        Alf Gang is the gang to end all gangs

      8. -___- Alf is a fuckin hypocrite and a half.
        he starts it with “y u lil niggas wanna talk tough on ur computer?”but he stay talkin tough on these comments all over DX!
        ” nigga u would never see me on the block cuz ur afraid to go to the hood.”so they wont see you on they block and they are the ones afraid to go to the hood?
        your niggaz beat up white people??
        1.prolly some burb white boys not the tough crzy ones.
        2.why you fags gotta pick on white ppl?bitter ass racist muhfucka.

        ALF GANG IS 1 FUCKIN DUDE!how you guna end all gangs by yourself?-__- you can’t stop MS-13,Bloodz,Folk,Crip,King etc. get yo ass beat

    8. BUT FUCK XXL THEY AINT EVEN PUT SCHOOLBOY Q
      NIGGA THEY PUT FAGGOT ASS WACK MGK-hold up I KNOW WHY CUZ DIDDY PAID THEM FAGGOTS

      BUT ANYWAY
      NO SCHOOLBOY Q ARE U KIDDIN ME? FUCK THIS SHIT NIGGUH
      WOLF GANG KILL THEM ALLL
      SWAG ME OUT
      SWAG ME OUT BITCH
      SWAG ME OUT SWAG ME OUT JASPER GET THEM 2DOPEBOYZ FAGGOTS OUT
      BUNCH OF FAIRIES YELLING TO EACH OTHER HEY FART IN MY OUTH
      NIGGAZ CANT FUK WIT OF LIKE ME, SO IM NOT FUKIN WIT YALL
      SHAKE A SOFT NIGGA LIKE DDTOMEN BOTH FAT AND TYLER KILLED THEY DOGS

      SWAG
      SWAG
      SWAG

      1. Machine Gun Kelly is pure independent regardless the Bad Boy deal.Don’t blame Diddy for MGK being successful.He would have made that list no matter what.you trippin

      2. OVER SCHOOLBOY Q DOE?
        ARE YOU FUCKIN KIDDING ME
        NIGGA FUK YOU YA DAMN STANNING FAGGOT
        MGK SUCKS I AINT NEVER HEARD OF HIM TILL DIDDY!

      3. that nigga never said “MGK over ScHoolboy Q”.i listen to Q & the rest of Black Hippy as well as MGK & EST.so calm your ass down.just because you weren’t hip to him till Diddy doesn’t mean anything but your late

    9. Danny Brown,Machine Gun Kelly,Hopsin & Iggy are the only ones im cool with.Roscoe Dash is OLD AS FUCK!!Don Trip is pretty cool i just herd him for the first time a few days ago.French & Future are wack as fuck but they got mad buzz n lightweight hott this year not guna lie.WHO THE FUCK IS MACKLEMORE?!?!?!

    10. yeah okay French is a “freshman”, it’s not like “New York Minute” wasn’t released 3 or 4 years ago…the dude is garbage. I’m not one to believe people sold their souls but seriously this nigga is making me double think myself, how the fuck can someone who hasn’t had a buzz for the past few years all of a sudden get insane levels of hype and be sought after…someone’s been dabbling in the devil magic huh?

    11. THE COVER SHOULD HAVE BEEN EARL SWEATSHIRT, STALLEY, MEEK MILLZ, KENDRICK LAMAR, SCHOOLBOY Q, KEEP DANNY BROWN & FRENCH MONTANA, AND ACTION BRONSON & CHIP DA RIPPER & THE COOL KIDS, JAY ROCK & ONE SOUTHERN CAT LETS JUST SAY……..SMOKE DZA, AND THATS A RESPECTABLE COVER

      1. sorry i didn’t do my homework son, but these knew dude lack a degree of masculinity therefore i don’t keep up with all of them. Out of all the cats I named I only listen to Stally & Earl Sweatshirt(earl gets play because he reminds me of slim shady lp eminem.)I’m really waiting for this mythical Jay Electronica Album

      1. Look at how he is posed on a magazine cover. Regardless of his sexual orientation he definitely looks like a complete tool basket

      2. hes gay cause he takes his pants off at shows and puts on womens jeans and performs with his ass hanging out of pants that are too small

      3. why the fuck would I need to put “the real” in front of my name, there’s only one MGK. LACE UP!!!!…bet you didn’t know that “Lace Up” is actually derived from the type of Lingerie I wear.

      4. MGK only did that like 1 time.shows how much you know.i have been to an MGK show n it was off the fuckin wall.that kid really has something that most artists don’t.heart & dedication.AND LOOK DUMB ASS HE HAS BITCH’s meaning females TAKE HIS PANTS OFF FOR HIM.but yeah i guess he’s gay lol.besides ya’ll thinkin gay of him just makes yaw suspect numba 1.

      5. BREAKING NEWS!!!!

        “notevenanMGKfan” is really a MGK fan. He might even be a dickrider.

        more on this story as it develops…or just wait until his faggot ass comments again.

      6. I LOVE PENIS.I am also upset that i’m a bitter hater who spends his time on the computer talking shit because we all know I would never say it to someone’s face.

        BREAKING NEWS!I just realized even taking time out the life i dont have to talk shit about an artist i hate on is also a dickriding move.and im ok with that

      7. this conversation is ridiculous.you got the 12 year old haters who 9/10 listen to lame shit & the obsessed MGK fans.
        FUCK YOU BOTH

      8. I’m not a fan but this man gets more pussy then you haters will ever get. What I wouldn’t give to see him have sex, I bet you he’s great in bed, you guys ever get that feeling where you just want to have sex with a guy…anyways, back to the point, I’M NOT EVEN AN MGK FAN!!!

    12. half the dudes you listed have already been on the xxl freshemen cover. and smoke dza is from harlem, not the south..

      1. you didn’t forget Kid Ink, you fucking retard. You posted the same comment a minute before this one, except you just added a little bit more to it.. Get rid of your dial up connection, you idiot.

      2. @What? haha did this seriously make you that angry?? I understand how convoluted and confusing the comment section on a hip hop news site can be for those who spend their time irrelevantly observing others’ inadequacies and then attacking them for it, but did a glitch REALLY make you THAT angry?? So angry that you needed to insult someone for the outrageously audacious act of still using technology that isn’t up to par with your hyperspeed hiphopdx bandwidth?? You fucking loser. I’m sorry but I just had to point out how retarded that made you look…god damn 12 year old

    13. im just glad Hopsin made the list…whats up with French Montana and Roscoe whateva? are they trying to push them like they pushed Gayne and Rick Fat C.O. Ross into our throts ? French Montana is far from a freshman wtf

      1. shut up…hearing them on radio,seeing them on tv everywere,they have MTV BET on pay roll,the magazines are full with them,what do u mean they didnt get pushed?

    14. School boy q should sign to ymcmb lol why so wayne and baby can pick a bunch of shitty trap beats, make him sound like he from the south instead of California or god forbid start singing. Yessir that would be a bad move for q. Because all of the above would happen. Same thing with busta, his ny sound is gonna be gone by the time baby and wayne get through with him. Now about this list its horrible no action bronson, Jon Connor or maffew ragazino, an soul or q himself. This some ole bullshit

      1. YOU ARE AN IDIOT BABY AND SLIM ALLOW ARTIST TO PICK THERE OWN SHIT THEY DONT EVEN BE IN THE STUDIO WITH THESE PEOPLE. DRAKE NICKI TYGA JAY SEAN LIST GOES ON AND ON THEY ALLOW YOU TO MAKE MUSIC WITH A BUDGET WHEN TIMES UP YOU PUT IT OUT YOU JUST BETTER BE POPPIN.

    15. Jon Connor is better than every single one of these freshmen. Put together.

      Prove me wrong

      Why didn’t he get those votes?

      1. Apparently XXL thinks I’m wrong

        And yes. Put together and no I’m not bitter. I could care less my day goes on. But it’s a garbage list without Connor

        If you heard him spit you wouldnt have even responded to me.

    16. Oh really yessir you hear what jae millz beats sounded like before young money surley wasn’t the wack played out trap sound ym been running with. How come he don’t spit that dope shit anymore. Same thing goes for mmg you hear meek before his deal. The nigga sounds more atl than he does philly now. Same annoying voice but his lyrics have been slipping. How come these niggas ain’t bringing it like they did when we first heard em. What are they relaxing or something. You say baby and wayne don’t got nothing to do with that.

    17. Really? French Montana? i seriously don’t think he got more votes than ASAP Rocky…no one actually give a fuck about him…other than that decent list

    18. im curious what the criteria for being considered a “freshman” is. if french montana makes this list, its a shame that action bronson was left off. unless he turned that shit down..

    19. I voted for exquimina, cleared my history and cache, then voted for Danny Brown, rinsed, repeated then voted for Hopsin. Im happy that the two of the guys I voted for are on the cover. Let underground and independent artists get love. You know you could of helped some of your favourite artists get shine too by voting at xxlmag.com right?

    20. goofiest bunch of rappers i ever seen together

      just gonna say it right now, fuck everyone on this cover except danny brown

    21. I DONT GET IT FRENCH MONTANA BITCH ASS BEEN AROUND ALOT LONGER TO BE CONSIDER A ROOKIE OH WELL IM JUST LISTING FOR HOPSIN AND DANNY ALSO TO HEAR IF THE 2 SNOW BUNNY’S ARE ANY GOOD THE REST ARE TRASH

    22. I am not hating on this list because of the talent, but more because of the ACCUARCY.

      Schoolboy Q,Dom Kennedy,Cassey Veggies and Smoke DZA should have been on that instead of Roscoe Dash,French Montana and Hopsin.

      French Montana has been around for a while, yes hes had sucess only this year, but dudes been around since 2007 almost.

      Roscoe Dash probably should have been on last years, and Hopsin doesn’t really have any buzz really.

      Really wierd list of freshmen and honestly none of them are appealing unlike previous years that had artists like Big Krit,Kendrick Lamar,J Cole,Nipsey Hussle,Currensy,Freddie Gibbs etc.

      Really in acccurate and bad list.

      1. Bitch Montana has been around for like 10 years. It took his bitch ass that long to get a deal cause NY is running out of rapper to promote so theyre trying to push this piece of shit rapper on us.There are plenty of other deserving MC from NYC that deserve to be on he beside that wack fool.SMH

    23. oh yeah and Action Bronson should have been on there my Freshman xxl 12 would have been

      Schoolboy Q,Asap Rocky,Dom Kennedy,Cassey Veggies,Smoke DZA,Action Bronson,Azelia Banks,Macklemore,Don Trip ,MGK

    24. French Montana is garbage.I cant believe how many nigga try to say that he is soooo wavy.Please nigga is moldy gravy.Rather see Schoolboy Q,or Action Bronson or Jon Connor. And Dont gert me start on Roscoe Trash. He is the second wackest person on the list behind Bitch Montana. XXL dont know hip hop. Y’all remind me of Def Jam. Dont know shit about music

    25. Danny Brown is well deserving of the freshmen list; he does however have mixtapes going back to 07 but everybody else??? I’ll get back to you on that one…SMH.

    26. Mannn this list is wack sauce, XXL fell off yo. I guess ASAP, Schoolboy Q, Action Bronson and Dom Kennedy were too busy

    27. You think macklemore is tight Lol I got love for Seattle but naw. You ever heard of a nigga named bonified. That lil nigga can spit.

    28. Wow. No Pill or Tyler the creator, what about Fat Trel. Phil ade. I swear ya’ll list got a bunch no name niggas that i never even heard of. Real hip hop is dead & gone ##—-

      1. this may be a shocker to you but not a lot of people know who Phil Ade or Fat Trel is dude.DANNY BROWN IS A BEAST.MGK IS A BEAST.DON TRIP IS A BEAST.HOPSIN IS A BEAST.if you have never herd of them…get hip

    29. Leave Future & Hopsin, take the rest off. Put (Odd Future,A$AP Rocky,Childish Gambino,Schoolboy Q,Kirko Bangz,Stalley,2 Chainz

    30. Weakest Class yet, French is a joke, Roscoe is a hook King and is never gon get push from interscope,Future is flat out wack. Machine gun kelly is a decent rapper, and don trip has great potential. ASAp Rocky, Dee-1,Childish Gambino, Stalley, should be on there

      1. Sorry dude I wasn’t digging mgk when he was rapping here in denver and I ain’t digging it now. He only got his shine because he moved to cleveland. A city that’s already on the map in hip hop.

      2. what does that have to do with his success?
        none of these nerds can talk about MGK unless they have herd more than just “Wild Boy”.

      3. Its got some to do with his success he wouldn’t even be in the game if he stayed here and been repping that 303 tat he got on his arm. And the dudes alright nothing special I used to see him battle when he lived here.

    31. they got Future wack ass over any OFWGKTA member,Action Bronson,Mr Muthafuckin eXquire,ASAP or Stalley?FUCK OUTTA HERE XXL!

    32. XXL Magazine has revealed the cover for its 5th annual Freshman Class and Trash issue.

      Included on the Trash Portion cover MC’s are:French Montana,Future, Macklemore,and Roscoe Dash

      Class Portion MC’s include: Don Trip, Danny Brown, Hopsin,Iggy Azalea, Machine Gun Kelly,and Kid Ink.

    33. WHAT?!?!?! no Chip Tha Ripper?.. no asap rocky? No odd future… no childish gambino… WTF!!!… at least hopsin and mgk made it

      1. apparently he declined. so he was up for it but he probably knows that this “freshman” stuff doesn’t mean shit.

    34. I dont see how people don’t understand this inst a freshmen “list”.. its just promotion. the label pays to have what ever whack artist be a part of some bullshit list (some interviews, some whack ciphers, some trash songs. a ton of concerts makes the money back rinse and repeat.

    35. So Hopsin disses somebody for attention because that person blew up the way he wanted too, and a whole bunch of dick riding Tyler The Creator fans are now his “fans”. Cant rock wit dude. I admit he can spit but he is one of the wackest rappers EVER. He tries to act out for attention even wears gay ass white contacts. Then disses another person for eating a roach? Get him outta here, niggas who dis outta hate are bitches (no question about it). And hey jus incase anyone didnt notice there are 6 Interscope artists on here……polotics and bullshit. Bout the only nigga on here worth anything is Danny Brown.

    36. MAYBE THIS IS JUST ME BUT WHY IN THE FUCK IS DOM KENNEDY NOT ON THIS COVER DUDES TRACK RECORD IS SO SOLID DOES ANYONE AGREE? ANYONE???

      1. no not me i think dom is overrated and his album/mixtape are not that good BUT he should be on there more than French Montana,Iggy Azalea Machine Gun Kelly, Future,Macklemore,Don Trip Roscoe Dash and Kid Ink so yeah put dom on the cover

    37. This is the worst composed XXL freshman 10 ever! I usually give the nod to most of their Freshman. Last year I had a righ eyebrow to bringing lil twist on it but now it’s like they are just having no standards. I give it to Danny Brown,MGK, and French Montana but other than that it’s not credible…

    38. WTF are these people wearing 1st off PETA needs to kill french montana then hopsin should drop the brick on snow white and the rest should fight it out to see who is still around in 5 years

      1. FCUK A PETA, HUMANS BEEN WEARING ANIMAL FUR FOR MANY A MILLENIA. TAKE OFF THAT LEATHER, WOOL, & STOP EATING ANIMAL MEAT IF U SO WORRIED ABOUT PETA & ANIMAL CRUELTY. U DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW THAT BEAR KICKED THE BUCKET.

    39. This is a horrible line up. Xxl been Fucking up though last year they had lil b on the cover. I haven’t bought a copy since then. Where’s action bronson, maff ragazino,school boy q, ab soul, meyhem lauren, Mr muthafuckin exquire

    40. I still don’t get how French is a freshmen he was on smack dvds a couple years back. He’s been in the game and still wack

    41. yo where tha fuck is ASAP Rocky,Dom Kennedy,Schoolboy Q,XV….but I can see Don Trip,MGK,Kid Ink, Hopsin
      ,…..but rest like Future,Roscoe are trash

    42. damn all of them suck….you know nikki is nervous that their is another female rapper on the rise….lol…she is fallin off…lol

    43. Wow is all I have to say. Like many others, I’m wondering why Ab-soul and Q aren’t on this list. Wow. Anyways, 1st of all, French isn’t that good AND he’s been puttin out shit for awhile (no rookie). 2nd, I can honestly say that I will never give any of these “rappers” a listen besides Hopsin for obvious reasons. LOL @ Machine Gun Kelly getting listed!!! Im out this bi*tch!!

    44. So many fucking haters, all you faggots shut the fuck up the cover is the cover and you pussys cant do shit about it

    45. this cover looks like a fuckin clown show…. and hopsin annoys the shit out of me. he tries way to hard to come off as crazy…this nigga prob soft as fuck.

    46. hip hop is a fucking freakshow for faggots and zombies in 2012. look at that cover. buncha try hard losers fronting for the camera. XXL is a wack magazine, hiphopdx is a wack site, and hip music is lame as fuck in 2012. music in general is lame nowadays. french montana bum ass been out 10 years and hes a freshman? LOL he does strike me as a nigga that would be a 20 year old freshman in highschool. rap sucks and everyone on the cover is a joke

    47. Schoolboy Q and Hodgy Beats shoulda been on there not feelin any of these people to be honest, Macklemore and Don Trip are alright, i guess. Even Willie The Kid would of been good, he’s been around a minute but he been putting out dope shit recently.

    48. Ok, this has to be the weakest list of all. Seriously, none of these guys will ever achieve mainstream success or even have a solid fanbase.

      Future had Drake to turn him down on the video then claim his album will only have 20% rapping. WHY IS HE HERE?
      Kid Ink is just some mixtape rapper who will never find success.
      Danny Brown might have some talent but the way he dresses will get people to question his sexual orientation.
      French Montana will be remembered as the random guy who didn’t say anything relevant on a Rick Ross mixtape. Even Common never mentioned him.
      Macklemore- Who?
      Don Trip- Had a shoutout from Wale but that’s about it.
      Machine Gun Kelly- Probably the one who will get a decent fanbase like a Mac Miller or Asher Roth fanbase.
      Hopsin- I didn’t know Stan survived the car accident and managed to have a rap career? Oh wait, it’s another fanboy who started on Disney only to diss rappers for buzz. LAME!
      Iggy Azalea- Has buzz from T.I. but shoutout for putting a female rapper for once. Even though Kreayshawn had a bigger buzz.
      Roscoe Dash- This guy is a rapper? If I can remmeber, he was just on hooks for Waka Flocka and DJ Drama.

      Here are the only rappers who found success on radio play or sales. Notice I didn’t say “talent” or whatever. These artists while I don’t like all of them, have enough fans that would get them awards or even success in the music industry whether on a major or on an indie label (Tech N9ne, The Roots, Atmosphere are good examples of successful independent rappers).
      2008- Lupe Fiasco, Plies
      2009- B.o.B, Wale, Kid Cudi, Asher Roth
      2010- J. Cole, Wiz Khalifa, Big Sean
      2011- Mac Miller, Meek Mill, Kendrick Lamar
      Other Famous Rappers who could been freshmen that had success in sales/streets- Drake, Nicki Minaj, Tyga, Waka Flocka Flame, Tyler The Creator
      I can see Freddie Gibbs, Big K.R.I.T., Yelawolf & Diggy Simmons having success if they have a better marketing scheme when releasing an album. The rest are flops. Lil B is a troll rapper so I didn’t include him lol.

      This class, I say only MGK having a legit chance of being big even though I don’t like him much. Disagree with me whatever you want but don’t defend rappers that hardly even care about you. They do their thing, it’s not like their your personal friend or something.

      1. Danny Brown is a fuckin beast nigga only a true faggot would talk about how he dresses.
        “Rest in peace wack niggaz with over sized clothes!complain about my jeans cuz im takin all they hooooes!”-Danny Brown

      2. how predictable you comparing MGK a white rapper to other white rappers like a stereo-typical ignorant wanabe hip-hop head that shouldn’t be allowed to listen to hip-hop.
        just because he white does not mean we gotta compare him to them.grow up nerds

      3. how you guna talk about Hopsin like he isnt RAW?nigga didnt work for disney,he tried acting & thats so raven was his big chance to kick off his acting career.he wasnt a major character he was only on like 3 episodes 4 like 10 seconds.thats hardly starting on disney.stop hatin

      4. Kendrick & Mac are not on the radio dude what are you talking about?
        “I can see Freddie Gibbs, Big K.R.I.T., Yelawolf & Diggy Simmons having success if they have a better marketing scheme when releasing an album. The rest are flops.”
        the niggaz you named are floppin already

    49. This is bullshit, where is Schoolboy Q or ASAP Rocky or my man Action Bronson? This is really really really bad. What fuck happened while they were makin this list?

      Macklemore can rap, he aint my style.
      Iggy is cool i guess, she has a good flow sometimes.

      MGK and Hopsin are the only 2 that get my cosign.

      Oh and that French Montana is on that list is fuckin embaracing. XXL has officially fallen off….

    50. MACKLEMORE is trash. I’m from Seattle and this dude is the wackest I have ever heard! call me a hater, but these ears don’t lie. And really tho? No ASAP Rocky, Schoolboy Q, or hell even Rittz!?!? Man, xxl is as good as the shit stains on their cover

    51. According to my ymcmb dickriding little brother French is still around because ny needs him due to the rise of lil wayne lol I asked him if someone laced his weed. Ny don’t need this south wanna be ass nigga. Nigga been around like 10 yrs

    52. there are 3 types of ppl commenting here…ppl who heard Hopsin’s music and become instant fans,ppl that heard about Hopsin and listened to 1 or 2 songs and thats it cuz they thought hey this dude steals Em’s style…and the ppl that never heard of Hopsin not even the name

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      16. MCRIB BACK (FEAT. T.I.)
      17. HUSTLE LOVE (FEAT. BRUNO MARS)
      18. BITCH YOU WASN’T WITH ME IN THE GYM (FEAT. FRENCH MONTANA)
      19. GOTTA EAT IT (FEAT. STALLEY)
      20. LAWSUIT (FEAT. FREEWAY RICKY ROSS)
      21. BIG FAT NIGGA (FEAT. SAMWELL, JUSTIN BIEBER, MANNY PACQUIAO, LEBRON JAMES & JERRY SANDUSKY)

    54. If your hating on Hopsin, your probably sucking Tyler’s little black cock right now. The dude is the truth, listen to something outside from the Ill mind series, those aren’t songs anyways, they’re just cliches…his music has substance and most of it actually means something, unlike all these other jibberish non-sense speaking ass pricks that YOU call your favorite rappers who constantly rap in the same flow and sound almost identical on every song…

    55. 2012 Hip Hop is basically “LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME!!!! How can I get the most attention!!!!” They all look Gaga in that shot. No Substance.

      1. Saying Macklemore has no substance is like saying KRS One is a poser. You should really know what you’re talking about before spouting off about talented people.

    56. HOW DID ACTION BRONSON NOT MAKE THIS LIST? Only two deserving people on this list are Macklemore and Danny Brown. Fact.

      You people who are overlooking Macklemore, guy’s got cosigns from the likes of KRS One, Heiro and Atmosphere. Easily one of the most important rappers to the artform today.

      As for Danny Brown, go listen to “Monopoly”. He deserves the spot for that song alone.

      And French Montana is a god damned joke. Can’t wait to see next year’s class of 2013, with newcomers like Ja Rule and Uncle Murda XP

    57. Mgk ain’t even all that good. And before you fans bring up “wild boyz” mgk lived in denver before Cleveland. Got 303 tatted on his arm. I’ve seen him battle cats out here nothing special.

    58. wtf is up with this website.. you post some real shit and they str8 up delete your comment..sigh.. i guess too short was right with his conspiracy shit. delete this one 2

      1. you have to pull a jay-z and send subliminals on this site and keep comment short and sweet. Its pretty gay but that what this site is all about

    59. Okay. Im white. Can somebody introduce MGK to an MC? please? You think he knows what intermal rhyme or tight writers are? oh wait no he doesnt. please and no more red leather pants. please.

      1. MGK IS AN MC!!
        are you kidding me?
        an MC means (Master Of Ceremonies) NOT a good writer.which means who can go on stage and ROCK every face in the crowd and give people what they want.MGK does that every performance.you know nothing of him so you tellin us what he does & dont know is lame.those pants aren’t leather you fag!lmao checkin out men much homie?!?!?

    60. this the weakest XXL freshman to date. Hopsin, future, roscoe an danny brown are all garbage. French is even worse an who the fuck is don trip/macklemore. Props to iggy she’s doin her thing I guess, better than nicki Minaj. kid ink is ight, the only one who deserves to be on here is MGK. cause that dude MADE a following he has mad fans an worked his ass off to get em. Where’s A$AP and SIYA, I mean Iggy does her thing by Siya is the hottest femcee in the game.

      1. I’ve already told niggas about mgk dude is not that nice. I’ve seen him battle other dudes before he blew up. U wasn’t impresded then or now.

      2. @ac:Hopsin is not wack.you are def.
        Danny Brown is not wack your still def.
        Kid Ink is GARBAGE not even “ight”.
        A$AP never followed through on it.
        WHO THE FUCK IS SIYA?!?!?

        @anonymous:does it look like we give a fuck about his old battles!?!?!battles are for super local rookie cats.MGK is passed that now.anyone who sells out shows,fucks hoes,inks a deal,goes on tours with Tech N9ne is passed battling someone around your neighborhood.
        look at where the niggaz who battled MGK are at n then look at where MGK is…

    61. this list is absolute trash

      only good picks are MGK, Future, Kid Ink and Hopsin

      French Montana, Roscoe Dash really?

      who the fuck are these other chumps? are you kiddin me?

      wheres ASAP Rocky? wheres Schoolboy Q?
      wheres Chris Webby?
      Chevy Woods?
      Earl Sweatshirt??

      fuck this list.

    62. Haters Haters!! this list is a fair cross section of hip hop, i think, not the strongest list of freshmen (think back to the list wit Joell Ortiz, crooked I lupe and them), but u got a wide range of styles here. Im not feelin everybody but everybody on this list is def on the verge and hopefully they keep on kepin on, 2011 was def a good year in hip hop and these guys did they thing independently. theyve all earned it, shout out to French montana (africa stand up!!!!!!) Iggy, danny brown MGK and Kid Ink

    63. Garbage list, fuck XXL.

      I’m I supposed to be intimidated because they’re holding gold plated prop weapons?

      None of these faggots could bust a grape in a fruit fight SMH.

    64. All they’re missing is black face. Sooo glad this is coming to an end finally. All hail the fall of Babylon!!!! YAY!!! Devil be gone!

    65. the only motherfuckers on this list that are gonna amount to anything: Mgk, french montana, and maybe hopsin. Although all of them have been out for a hot minute.

    66. This might be the worst lineup thus far….only one on the list worth looking out for is Danny Brown, and maybe Hopsin. Alot of pedestrian mc’s on this list.

    67. I thought I was listening less 2 hip hop because I was getting older but the peeps on this cover being in the present game didnt help the cause either…

    68. I honestly dont take this magazine serious anymore after the kid cudi, charles hamilton, etc. class theyve had had a lot of questionable choices alot of wack ppl made the cover since then.

    69. didn’t believe this til I saw it… can’t believe they put this iggy girl on the cover and completely ignored all the hot up and coming black female rappers … yuck. but what can you expect from a white controlled publication that appeals to black males

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