2022 XXL Freshman Class Voting

4.5.22

The XXL Freshman Class is like Christmas to me. I love guessing who will make the list, seeing who does, analyzing why and who is missing, and watching all the cyphers. The reality of it is, whoever makes the list all comes down to opinions, and the different ways or parameters that those judging, are choosing to judge who they pick.

So, XXL launched voting for the 10th spot yesterday, and it is time to put together our guesses of who makes the list. There is a list of 94 artists that you can vote for, to earn the 10th spot on the 2022 XXL Freshman Class list. This means that even if this artist does not make the cut by the XXL team, they have the audience vote, and will earn their spot as favored talent on the list. You can cast your vote every hour while voting is open.

When looking at the lists, are always obvious options, options that should not be there, some that may feel late, like they are not a freshman anymore, and some that are missing. Based on the current nominations that they have, my list would be:

1) Nardo Wick

2) Smiley

3) 2KBaby

4) HotBoii

5) KenTheMan

6) Capella Grey

7) Aitch

8) Kalan.FrFr

9) Saucy Santana

10) B-Lovee (10th Spot Winner)

Nardo Wick is on the top of hip-hop’s new artists over the past year, for sure. There is no doubt about it that he gets on this list, as long as he stays out of trouble. Smiley’s single with Drake alone I would say gets him a spot on this list. 2KBaby, HotBoii, KenTheMan and Kalan.FrFr all have received really great playtime on Hip-Hop radio stations (at least the Satellite stations I listen to) so I do think that they are likely to land their spots. Capella Grey has been crushing it with his singles, has nice features, and brings a bit more of the singing side to the freshman list. Aitch brings the UK fans, making this thing global. Smart move for XXL, and it works. Saucy Santana is about to go on tour with Latto, has a cameo on her album, and I think brings something new and different to hip-hop that XXL would be smart to maximize on. I chose B-Lovee as the 10th spot winner. He is someone that I do not think is guaranteed a place without being voted in by fans. However he should be on there without a doubt, and New York rides hard for him.

So, this is just my strategic thinking behind who I believe, strategically, would be the top ten to hit the XXL Freshman Class this year. Also with strategy in mind, there are a few names that I did not see on the nomination list for 10th spot, which I do feel would be contenders for the list.

EST Gee

XXL did cover EST Gee quite a bit in 2021, so maybe they are feeling like it is a bit late. However, he did just drop his album in December of last year, and has just announced an upcoming joint project with 42 Dugg that will drop this upcoming Friday. I truly think EST Gee is just beginning, and only going up from here.

Doe Boy

Doe Boy is one of those artists who if you’ve been following them or look them up, you’ll see that they have been around for sometime. However, I think it is really Doe Boy’s breakthrough year, after dropping his album Oh Really earlier this year. He has outstanding features throughout the project, and even if you are not familiar, you just have to bump to it. He is going to get his spot on every stage he can, and he is going to become a name that sticks.

$not

With a breakthrough single like Doja, with the legendary A$AP on the track, how can this guy not be in the conversation? He just released a new album in February and is making noise across music genres as he will be going on tour with the rock band, Limp Bizkit. $not has also been around for a few years, but the XXL Freshman class is about finding artists when they are ready to take off, and give them their platform to do so. Latto had been years out of The Rap Game when she got her cover last year.

Yeat

To be honest, I do not know much about Yeat other than he has got some die hard fans. If you look at the “Rap” Instagram page, I constantly see the comments flooded with “what about Yeat,” meanwhile it has absolutely nothing to do with him or even his style of hip-hop. Yeat just dropped a project this past Friday with 29 tracks. The cult following that you have seen with Travis Scott and with Playboi Carti have something else coming because this kid, probably has the best fans on Earth.

Now just for fun, if I were to put together my own freshman list, based on my favorites and most listened to, it would look like this (in no particular order):

1) Nardo Wick

2) EST Gee

3) Doe Boy

4) Oh Geesy

5) Key Glock

6) Big Scarr

7) Big Walk Dog

8) Big 30

9) Capella Grey

10) B-Lovee

Stay tuned for the final review after XXL announces the 2022 Freshman Class.