XXL revealed its annual Freshman Class roster on Tuesday (August 11), Hip Hop’s 47th birthday. 2020 honorees include Chika (and her dog), Polo G, Calboy, NLE Choppa, Lil Tjay, Fivio Foreign, 24K Goldn, Mulatto, Rod Wave, Babe Keem, Lil Keed and Jack Harlow.
Par for the course, XXL’s selections didn’t sit right with everyone. Shortly after the big reveal, Royce Da 5’9 screenshot the announcement and expressed his displeasure. He also promised he’d pull a Harry Houdini next time the publication needed an interview.
“Next time y’all ask me to do a interview, Ima go missing like Detroit is from this blasphemous freshman cover @xxl,” he captioned the post. “Still love y’all tho.”
Royce could be referring to any number of Motor City rappers, but Tee Grizzley, 42 Dugg, Icewear Vezzo and Sada Baby are among the Detroit spitters who have been making waves over the past year.
XXL Freshman Class lists have routinely received a healthy dose of criticism from both rap fans and artists. In 2018, 2 Chainz elected to craft his own list after seeing XXL’s selections that year. He felt Lil Baby, Tekashi 6ix9ine, Tee Grizzley, Moneybagg Yo and YoungBoy Never Broke Again should’ve been included.
2 Chainz Lists His 2018 XXL Freshman Class Snubs
“Where my lil partna @lilbaby_1 , where braazzzy ass @6ix9ine_ @tee_grizzley cold asf @moneybaggyo should be on there @nba_youngboy hard asf too should be on there!!” he wrote. “No this cover isn’t the Bible but people respect it, I’m sure I forgot somebody but these ppl I named keep that check up fuck it #TRU.”
This year is no exception. After the 2020 class was unveiled, DJ Akademiks tweeted, “XXL should have cancelled the freshman list this year. No [cap].”
Of course, that wasn’t the end of it. Check out some of the reactions to the XXL Freshman Class 2020 below.
It’s 2020 and people are still complaining about these so called corporations not being true representatives of the Hip-Hop/Rap genre? People be like “MaN, ThEy DoN’t sUpPoRt ReAl Hip-Hop”, but still crying about these obsolete magazines. If you’re still taking XXL serious after 2011, I don’t know what to tell you. I guess you’re still waiting on santa to show up lol.
Exactly. They blame everyone but themselves that their favorite “real hip hop” MC isn’t as big as a mainstream act.
Mainstream rappers will be wack 99% of the time. In this instance, I believe Royce is just sticking up for Detroit area rappers that are on par with this same wack folks that have been on this list the past few years.
2chains list was on point. Everyone he mentioned has success right now.
Whats the issue with Fivio Foreign, i mean who tf cares how old he is, he got buzz and bars so hes qualified. Half of the list is meh but let’s trash Fivio for his age
They should have cancelled their trash ass list and blamed it on corona.
This list is beyond ass…. it’s nobody’s heard of any of these clowns and the ones we do know of are clones of everybody else or just unrecyclable garbage. cRap is dead.
I have literally never heard of a single person on this list and based on their name and I have no desire to hear them At 39 it is clear I am getting old.
You’re not getting old bro I just wonder who would bump a dude that looks like a piece of tattooed fecal matter rocking an overpriced watch looks like a prison bitch and prolly has experience blowing other niqqaz
Nah you aint getting old, your only crime is you’re old enough to distinguish good music from trash.
ya pay a publicist for cover just like paying pr to promote a book, product, charity, agenda on good morning america been like this since they called it payola paying for spins, paying djs, buying your own product for soundscan numbers so dummy lablel signs ya aint nothing changed cheers
When the sound comes from the depths of someone’s asscheeks, there’s no fouler noise known to mankind in existence. The list shall be known as the shit list
Who wants to bet that 95% of this list are nothing but sing-rappers who don’t actually rap?
Maybe it’s because I’m getting too old for this, but I don’t put any stock in the XXL freshman class list…Just seems like a bunch of randomly generated names at this point…
True. They also gotta stay in business so they MUST have this list.
Its so many trash rappers out here, why be mad? If you heard one of these clowns you heard them all. I guess niggas are mad cause the totally trash niggas they like didn’t make the cover, look at this cover!!! Be thankful, if being trash is the main criteria this cover should is lacking cause 99.9% of the game should kill themselves for dick riding.
Well said, its basically a trash list, i cant believe this is Hip-Hop in 2020, well i guess i cant believe also Corona is killing thousands in 2020. What else could go wrong? Trash is the new order of the day, if only this Generation knew they have been consuming thrash all this while
Newsflash Royce, last two decades been blasphemous where the fxck you been then?!
His album this year was solid. Probably better than your fave
Not anti-Royce I fxck wit it not heavy I’m talking the freshman list been bad for years bruh bruh
Only heard of NLE Choppa, Lil Tjay, Jack Harlow and Polo G because y’all keep talkin about them though I never heard a single song from them. Wouldn’t that Steve Urkel lookin cat Lil Tecca be on the list this year? My 6 and 4 year olds like his shit lol
I’m 27 and I guess I’m too old for this shit. Last new rappers I got into was the generation of Kendrick, J. Cole, Joey Badass, Big KRIT etc. Any new names that are actually good rappers worth a listen?
k.a.a.n. fucking kills shit, he is all sorts of different hiphop vibes and can absolutely obliterate the mic. Id put him in the conversation with some good fuvking rappers
I was surprised but if you go back and look @ the past freshman classes list they are pretty good! There’s alot of names i know on them this one just probably ain’t the best..
Hahaha! Hip hop is so embarrassing these days
You just haven’t dug deeper. Back in the days one would’ve said the same as there were Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer on the radio, not Black Sheep and Kid Frost.
Wackmen Class. I get back to billy woods.
For all this tough guy posturing, these dudes are some of the softest, sensitive, cry babies ever. Every other article on this site is some rapper in his feelings about some dumb shit. Pathetic!
Who gives a fuck what this washed up nobody thinks?
Lol washed up nobody. You realize you are on the commemt section of this guy right? If he’s a washed up nobody what does that make u?
But you responded to him so what does that make you?
I’m responding to the guy responding to the dude responding. what does that make me?
Shit man….I’m not even sure tbh.
I’m responding to the guy who doesn’t know what he is for responding to the guy responding to the dude responding. This makes me relevant.
I’m just a dude disguised as dude playing another dude
this class sucks big time….only one woth listening to is Don Toliver and hes not even on this. He reminds me of a younf Al Green
I love Royces music and basically hate 95% of new “hip hop” but can Royce shut the fuck up? He’s just always saying some negative and uneducated shit in the press. This dude thinks he’s cool now because he finally learned how to dress like he’s not a teenager a few years ago. He should just shut the fuck up and write Em some bars that don’t suck.
sorry Royce, no one gives a fuck about Detroit rappers in 2020
Yeah I’m not even gonna pretend like I know who ANY of the people on these freshmen lists for well over a decade..I’m okay with that. I look forward to being 40.
Once again this is what is wrong with music and the ones that control it. None of this garbage ass music is even Hip Hop all they do is rap. No scratching, Crate digging, sampling Bboying. These kids have very little talent.
Yea labels don’t care about the art. They care about money and corrupting youth.
hmmmm. It’s definitely not for the music.
Royce has that Rihanna forehead.
XXL Freshman lists have been trash for at least a decade though
XXL started falling off round late 90’s early 2000’s, ain’t been the same since
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