Ever since 2008, one of Hip Hop's most notable magazine's has taken the responsibility of bringing forth 12 artists whom they feel are capable of going above and beyond for that year. Now over the years, they've had a couple hits and misses, but I believe this year's list is the one that has received the most criticism of them all. Not only did they decided to include a R&B singer in a Hip Hop orientated list, but XXL also placed artists on the cover who can't possibly still be freshmen. People like Chance, Isaiah Rashad, and Vic Mensa are true freshmen who deserved to grace the cover, but the others, eh, not so much.
First off let's start with the 30 year old Ty Dolla Sign. Ty Dolla broke through the scene with the 2010 Billboard top 100 hit single, "Toot It & Boot It", whom he shared with YG. Ever since then, Ty has had 3 other singles to top the charts, received a record deal through Atlantic Records, released 2 full length projects + an EP, and inked a management deal with Taylor Gang. With achievements such as these, I just find it hard to look at him as a true freshmen of the game 4 years later. Not to mention that he sing's on 97% of his records, isn't this a hip hop list?
Next let's take a look at the career of Jon Connor, another 30 year old nominee. Dating all the way back to 2005, Mr. Connor has released 12 projects, 10 of which were mixtapes and 2 albums. He and 2 others started their own record label which is still going and by his fourth mixtape, he even received notoriety from Def Jam. Despite that deal not coming through, Jon Connor still went on to to tour the world with Xzibit for the late 2012-early 2013 year, which eventually led to him meeting the legendary Dr. Dre. At the end of his verse in the 2013 BET Cypher, he cleverly announced his inked deal with Aftermath. Just this year along Connor has released 2 very successful mixtapes, one in honor of Biggie and the other in honor of Kanye. Despite just getting signed to a major label, Connor has BEEN buzzing and if he was going to be on any freshmen list, I feel it should have been last year or the year before.
As for the others, besides Rich Homie & Kevin Gates, I feel as if much better choices could have been made to replace them. Not to take away from their rapping and...singing abilities, but I can name at least 5 other artists who deserve to be on the list much more than they do. People such as Casey Veggies, Rapsody, Bishop Nehru, Fat Trel, and many more who have been making a buzz for quite some time now and fit the ideal freshmen much better than troy Ave or Jarren Benton. I still can't seem to find logic behind why Dom Kennedy has never been on a cover. It's been lingering around in my list of questions that need answers list for quite some time now and I feel XXL should let the public know what exactly they base their decisions off of. After the criticism they are still receiving, it would be best if they paid more attention to the underground scene rather than what's on the radio, clubs, and their kids CD player. If they truly paid attention to the underground scene, their list would look a little like this:
1. CJ Fly
2. Casey Veggies
3. Fat Trel
4. Dom Kennedy
5. Rapsody
6. Smoke DZA
7. Vince Staples
8. Bishop Nehru
9. Chance The Rapper
10. Isaiah Rashad
11. Rich Homie Quan
12. Kevin Gates
Hopefully next year some better decisions will be made by XXL and they give these true freshmen a chance to get exposed. If I was over the magazine, I would want this list to serve as a platform of exposure for those who need it, not a platform of exposure for those who are already exposed. But hey, who am I right?
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