Tue 28 Feb 2012
XXL Names Its 2012 Freshmen: From French to Iggy to MGK to Future and More
Posted by Mr.North under hmmm....? , photos[69] Comments
It’s that time of the year as XXL unveils the artists that make up their 2012 Freshman class. It includes French Montana, Machine Gun Kelly, Iggy Azalea, Future, Hopsin, Don Trip, Roscoe Dash, Macklemore, Kid Ink, and Danny Brown.
Thoughts?
Meanwhile, Azealia Banks had a few choice words about Iggy Azalea making the annual list. The two hit Twitter to respond to each other, read their responses and compare this years list to 2011 after the jump….
2011 XXL Freshmen List:
Meek Mill
Big K.R.I.T.
CyHi Da Prynce
Lil’ Twist
Yelawolf
Fred The Godson,
Mac Miller
YG
Lil’ B
Kendrick Lamar
Diggy Simmons
Previously: XXL’s 2011 Freshmen Cover
February 28th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
getting wacker by the year. The most productive year was 2009:
Asher Roth
Charles Hamilton
B.o.B
Kid Cudi
Blu
Wale
Cory Gunz
Ace Hood
Currensy
Mickey Factz
At least four of them Wale, Kid Cudi, Ace Hood and B.o.B are still shooting flames
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allenxchi Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 1:57 pm
And what curren$y shooting water? He’s one of the hardest working artist in the game right now.
Return to the winners circle. (2011)
Covert Coup (2011)
Weekend at Burnies (2011)
Verde Terrace (2011)
Jet Life to Next Life (2011)
Jet World Order (2011)
Here (2012)
Muscle Car Chronicles (2012)
#1st28 (2012)
… What u really saying fam? All these are album quality, from the production, to lyrics.
Wale? Shoot me now!!!
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London Town Reply:
March 1st, 2012 at 9:03 pm
sorry whats that about wale :s
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Rhyme & Reason Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 8:10 pm
NO V-NASTY!!!!??? I’M FUCKING APPALLED THIS IS A FUCKING OUTRAGE!! THAT’S IT IM WRITING A LETTER!! SOMEBODY DIRECT TO A CONGRESSMAN THAT GIVES A HOOT!! I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS BLATANT DIREGARD FOR GREAT MCEEZ ANYMORE!
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Young Scuba Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 9:29 pm
lmao nice joke
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Bank0o Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 10:35 pm
Not really feeling that “runaway slave…master” shit.. I gotta say as much as I think Iggy is super fuckable that line is more offensive to me than any of V-Nasty niggas.. real talk..
Not a fan anymore.. wont even give her a chance…
February 28th, 2012 at 12:39 pm
i wonder if its xxl goal to create a list that gets progressively worse each year. hows french a freshmen…dudes been around for at least 8 years. d brown’s cool tho.
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Angry Gillmoore Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 12:54 pm
The reason the list is getting thinner is because it’s full of corporate hip-hop label endorsed M.C’s. They are blatantly flaunting insider label trading in people’s faces. Freshman class should be full of quality winners with exponential potential(no matter what label they are on and indie artists should be included); not spoon fed major music label jocks.
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beanoo617 Reply:
March 1st, 2012 at 7:23 am
and thats apparent with roscoe dash being on the cover. he could have easily made last years or the year before. im sure interscope felt that he didnt need the push in, and now that he’s cooled off and most likely prepping for a release…lets throw his ass on the cover. the lables notice that this list has some significance and they’ve decided to throw money at it just like with radio.
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February 28th, 2012 at 12:49 pm
No Childish Gambino?
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charlessaldana Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 4:28 pm
…thats a damn shame….but iggy made it
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February 28th, 2012 at 1:03 pm
no childish gambino? no tyler the creator? iggy azealia came out last month how the fuck she make the list
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Big D Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 1:43 pm
thats what i’m sayin! i guess its coz shes signed to interscope right. hell, her man rocky didnt even make it haha. oh and shes wack.
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Bbop212 Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 5:44 pm
XXL needs to hop off of Interscope’s sack already.
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February 28th, 2012 at 1:07 pm
childish gambino is the new lupe fiasco…
lupe would have been a legend by now if he stayed with jigga, what a waste now j cole dull swag ass is filling that void
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February 28th, 2012 at 1:07 pm
That guy top right looks hella like Lloyd Banks, dontcha think?
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February 28th, 2012 at 1:28 pm
Why no Stalley?
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February 28th, 2012 at 1:46 pm
The guy behind Iggy holding the brick is stole the photo.
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February 28th, 2012 at 1:59 pm
Danny Brown has made tracks that are single-handedly better than anything the REST have (or probably ever will) put out.
Check “Monopoly”, “Cartier” and “Nana Song”
If you don’t like at least one of those tracks, maybe this hip hop shit aint for you.
with that said, Danny isn’t spectacular. He’s a bit on the mediocre side, unfortunately. Yet he’s still the best artist out of the underground.
It shows you how low the bar is for hip hop
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February 28th, 2012 at 2:13 pm
Wack….
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February 28th, 2012 at 2:24 pm
No Nitty Scott, MC?
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goodoljay Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 2:50 pm
word!
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Flowdini Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 6:05 pm
word !!!
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jrmcuboulder Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 9:10 pm
WORD
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Nightfall Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 7:59 pm
EXACTLY!!!!! End of Discussion!!!!
Can we get the decision to release a BTS of the discussion that led to this bullshit!?!
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shamon Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 7:59 pm
Nitty a beast her time will come and i hope it real soon because that shit Nicki doing is trash and she could use some Competition .
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allenxchi Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 8:54 pm
Word!
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DRO Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 9:38 pm
Damn shame
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bboycult Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 12:55 pm
Word!
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February 28th, 2012 at 2:25 pm
Are you kidding me “The Albanian Terror” Action Bronson didn’t make the list !! With the exceptions of Don Trip and maybe D. Brown none of these f*cks are HipHop !! F*Ck XXL they killing this game ROSCOE DASH REALLY ?? To many cats these days getting free passes from the “Greats”. The Rap game is all politics now if a n*gga wack say he wack keep it 100% ..
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February 28th, 2012 at 2:33 pm
before you say ‘why no so-and-so?’ remember that some artists actually reject this for whatever reason.
I would venture that Hopsin, Don Trip, Macklemore and Kid Ink were all backup options.
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mr Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:22 pm
Exactly both nicki and drake rejected it (prob others).
It would at least be interesting though to hear who rejected it this year.
Sidenote: none of these lists are an indicator of success. They are really just an over produced and overhyped shout out, nothing more nothing less.
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shamon Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 10:15 pm
A$AP rejected it
http://www.the9elements.com/2012/02/asap-rocky-turned-down-xxl-freshman.html
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DJ Chuck NICE Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 10:51 pm
Supposedley Chip Tha Ripper turned them down…XXL’s denying the invite.
Peep it.
http://www.2dopeboyz.com/2012/02/28/chip-tha-ripper-the-jam-f-casey-veggies/?tw_p=twt
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February 28th, 2012 at 2:53 pm
Roscoe Dash? Hasn’t that dude had hits in the past 3 years?
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February 28th, 2012 at 3:09 pm
1st of all wtf is macklemore?
2nd what happened to stalley? asap rocky? action bronson? fat trel? schoolboy q?
roscoe, kid ink, hopsin, iggy (i know she got alot of votes though) should not be on the list by anymeans. hopsin is nice but none of these artist have enough *good* songs to headline their own show #GOTLOUD
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February 28th, 2012 at 4:00 pm
who’s in charge of picking the freshmen? and is there a criteria, or is it just random “luck”?
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February 28th, 2012 at 4:02 pm
No childish! wadafuq?!
Kudoz on mackelmore
but iggy came out a couple of months ago? No A$AP???
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February 28th, 2012 at 5:25 pm
I like some of Childish Gambino’s shit, I just think he has the wackiest of names smh. Him Action Bronson, Chinx Drugz & I think…what is it…PUSH Montana have the wackest rap names on Earth. That’s my only comment because far as the cover goes I knew that would disappoint! Oh yea, & Kid Ink has no bars. And Roscoe Dash has at least 3 hit records since like 2009??? XXL on some shit…
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Uptop Don Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 5:27 pm
*wackest, not wackiest
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February 28th, 2012 at 5:34 pm
Macklemore is amazing and you suck if you don’t like him lol
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February 28th, 2012 at 6:12 pm
No chip tha ripper, dom kennedy or casey veggies??? I don’t even like a$ap rocky like that but he got robbed too smh
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February 28th, 2012 at 7:23 pm
Did this chick really call herself a slave master? This is getting out of hand.
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nar Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 7:53 pm
wouldnt a runaway slave master be the same as a runaway slave? my first thoughts are that she is saying she ranaway from that shit, i.e. disowns it.
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nar Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 7:56 pm
mind you, i dont know that the chick even calls herself this. i dont know any of her music, i’m just taking the tweet to be true. in any event, i dont think she is saying she is a master of the slaves that ranaway. i think she is saying much like the runaway slave she has also run away from that bullshit.
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BandanaMac Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 8:54 pm
It’s entirely possible that it was taken out of context and I’m just like you in not being familiar with her music. But keeping in line with these bunnies like V-Nasty and their use of the n-word I was thinking it was the thing to do now.
Takes me back to “Let Me Fly” by DMX when the whole hood thought he called cats in Baltimore slow.
mo Reply:
March 10th, 2012 at 7:48 pm
a runaway slave master is def not the same thing as a runaway slave. if she was trying to make the point that she’s against it, she wouldn’t have used the word “slave master” to describe herself.
regardless of what she meant or if it was taken out of context, she sucks as a rapper. she would have never made the cover or been signed if she wasn’t white (bonus points for being from a diff continent). unfortunately female rappers are viewed more for their looks than their talent…an age old story.
azealia banks is the whole package and totally should have made the cover.
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February 28th, 2012 at 7:30 pm
Only two that can actually rap is MGK and Hopsin.
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Truf.com Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 12:09 am
are you serious? Danny Brown would rap circles around those two lames.
It’s not just about blurting shit on track. It’s about having a pen game, and spitting memorable lines. WITH a dope flow. and a NICE beat.
“Monopoly” SHITS on all these tracks. It’s weird as fuck, but some of the lines in there are just intelligent. Which is more than I can say for MGK and Hopsin
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Soriano Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 10:20 am
Your argument couldn’t be more off, you obviously don’t listen to either Hopsin or Machine Gun Kelly.
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Truf.com Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 6:36 pm
my argument is so off you can’t even offer a rebuttal.
and you’re right – I don’t listen to those dudes because they’re mediocre as fuck. They think mediocre shit, they have mediocre voices and they make mediocre songs.
I’d be very happy to be convinced otherwise. Tell me what their best tracks are. If they’re good, I’ll be the first to say “damn, I fucked up.”
so go ahead.
Soriano Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 7:29 pm
I don’t need a long rebuttal, short simple and to the point. How about you listen to MGK’s “Lace Up” mixtape or even just the track “The Return” and go through Hopsin’s “Raw” album. Then tell me they have a weak flow, instead of listening to that wack, toothless ass Danny Brown.
Miss Info Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 9:46 pm
omg. LOL
London Town Reply:
March 1st, 2012 at 9:07 pm
ALL 3 are mediocre
February 28th, 2012 at 11:07 pm
But really yo! I’m still so pissed I gotta comment again.
What the hell is Roscoe Dash doing there? Dud has been around for say, 3 years!
Remember when The source did that Expose on XXL featuring too many Interscope rappers?
This is definitely not hiphop. Straight up pop-urban sound or something.
Clearly, A&Rs and record labels are doing their work though to get BS artistes on the list.
XXL, it’s a shame. If these are the people that will take over the reign of hiphop then we should all be worried.
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February 28th, 2012 at 11:59 pm
A few good choices, the Rosco Dash thing confuses me. I’m a fan of Gun Kelly, Future and Danny Brown they all have some really good material out there. French Montana also isn’t very freshmany to me, but his stuff is poppin’ in NY right now. I would have liked to see Chase N Cash from the Surf club, and Casey Veggies. Also no A$AP Rocky is shocking I thought for sure he would be on there.
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February 29th, 2012 at 8:29 am
Love how people overreact to this list. Ask yourself this..In any given year how many truly nice MC’s do we see come up? I think some of us would agree that if XXL made a 2012 veterans we could not find a group that everyone agrees on.
In my humble opinion if they are able to put 3-5 dudes on there that can really spit and or will at some point be seriously poppin they have done their job..and in most cases I think they have done that..Going back to 2010 I am going to name people I think fall into that category
2010: J. Cole, Nipsey Hussle, Wiz, Big Sean
2011: Meek Mill, Big Krit, Mac Miller, Kendrick Lamar, Diggy
2012: French Montana, MGK, Don Trip, Hopsin, Roscoe Dash
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Top Dog Reply:
February 29th, 2012 at 8:31 am
Let me also be clear that I am not looking to argue about weather or not people like the dudes that I mentioned but the main point is that in any given year are there really 10+ quality new artists? If they find at least 3 every year I think they have done their job…Granted an argument could easily be made that French and Roscoe don’t feel very “Freshman” but they are there so I have to count them
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February 29th, 2012 at 9:02 am
Miss info you proably link up with necole b as a blogger but the reality is azealia is definitatley right necole took a l for that
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February 29th, 2012 at 9:11 am
Shout out to Future and Kid Ink.. Them guys have been grindin and been all over the internet last year/this year So I can understand them being selected from their buzz,French and Roscoe have been in the game for years so I dont kno why theyre on it.. Nitty Scott should be up there for the females
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February 29th, 2012 at 11:20 am
french montana is a freshman to the main stream, but you all are confusing his underground popularity with his mainstream buzz…plus diddy is the reason hes there…just like the only reason iggy azelia is up there is because t.i. , but on some real shit who the fuck is everyone else???
azelia banks rust bucket booty hole sucking lips ass is hating dont pull that race card shit bitch if u wanted that spot mayb you shoulda gave tip that blow job sit your new ass down with that gay pride shit…point is iggy>banks, and its not gonna be iggy azelia vs azelia banks its gonna be iggy vs. nicki…
ps. is it me ? or what the fuck does future be saying, nigga need to go back to the shottas 2: mad max revenge audition
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February 29th, 2012 at 11:21 am
is it me? or did drake birth asap rocky
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February 29th, 2012 at 11:27 am
asap rocky is a wiz khalifa clone who drake breathed life into…this guy took wiz sound and ran wit it, cause wiz is to smoked out to use it…
now wolf haley, thats talent
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February 29th, 2012 at 11:47 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv5VRKmQ_SA&feature=related
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March 1st, 2012 at 9:17 pm
Thinking about it i dont think Iggy azaelia meant slave Master i think its Master slave as in a master in running away because thats exactly what she did.
that being said i cant listen to ONE of her tunes. oh and the list isnt even laughable, its like a dyslexic person trying to read a dictionary…you cant even get mad.
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March 2nd, 2012 at 8:33 pm
Azalea Banks seems to have a particular problem with Iggy because of Iggy’s skin colour. It’s pretty obvious Iggy meant nothing racist with that line yet Azalea feels the need to bring it up.
By the way, Soriano made me laugh my ass off.
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March 13th, 2012 at 11:50 am
it kills me how iggy compares her racist lyrics to those of kendrick lamar. he said he was like a runaway slave. how the hell is that remotely a play on words in iggy’s whack ass song. what’s worse is she believed no one would call her ass on it. shout to banks for speaking out about it. TIP hoped it would die down. but, that shit didn’t. he did the right thing by making sure iggy said sorry. no matter what it won’t be forgotten. as for him defending his artist. i expected him to speak on the the words iggy used and to assure that his project with her wouldn’t be more of the same. king dissappointed me with his comment. basically excusing it and telling banks to mind her own business and focus on making money and counting it. what kind of shit is that? pimping aint easy he got to get paid FUCK standing up for what is right. #grandhustle is all about the hustle no matter who may be offended
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March 16th, 2012 at 11:04 am
Freshman should deffinetly been
ASAP rocky
Stalley
Sir Michael rocks
Young roddy
Etc. This list is bullshit
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