XXL Magazine unveils 2018 freshman class
Every year at this time, the American rap magazine XXL unveils the list of his prodigies for the current year. Check out the selected ones for this eleventh edition.
A few days ago, the media has unveiled the list of artists selected for the year 2018. It includes: Ski Mask Slump God, Lil Pump, Smokepurpp, JID, Stefflon Gift, BlocBoy JB, YBN Nahmir, Wifisfuneral and Trippie Redd.
As every year, the editors of the media seek the advice of many people from the rap community to make the list in order to be as objective as possible, which does not prevent it from being regularly criticized. Also note that some artists are not present following their refusal, like Lil Skies this year. As a reminder, last year's list consisted of Kamaiya, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, PnB Rock, Madeintyo, Playboi Carti, Amine, Kap G, Ugly God and XXXTENTACION.
A riptide doesn’t announce itself with a roar; it whispers, then tugs—softly at first—until you realize you’ve been drifting for miles. That’s the emotional physics powering Baby, Don’t Drown In The Wave, a 12-song album…
Neon can look like a celebration until you notice it’s flickering—still bright, still dancing, but threatening to go out between blinks. That’s the atmosphere Nique The Geek builds on “Losing You,” an upbeat contemporary R&B / pop-R&B record that smiles…
Waveendz’s “Bandz on the Side” arrives with the kind of polish that doesn’t need to announce itself. Tagged as contemporary R&B with hip-hop in its bloodstream, the single plays like a quiet victory lap…
SamTRax comes through with “Still,” a contemporary R&B cut that moves like it’s exhaling—steady, warm, and quietly stubborn. The Haitian American producer has been stacking credibility through collaborations with names such…
Psychic Fever from Exile Tribe waste no time on “Just Like Dat”—they let JP THE WAVY slide in first, rapping with that billboard-sized charisma before the chorus even has a chance to clear its throat. That sequencing matters: it turns the single into a moving…
Libby Ember’s “Let Me Go” lives in that quiet, bruise-colored space where a relationship isn’t exactly a relationship—more like a habit you keep feeding because the alternative is admitting you’ve been played in daylight. She frames the whole thing…
Hakim THE PHOENIX doesn’t sing on “Behind The Mask” like he’s trying to impress you—he sings like he’s trying to unclench you. That matters, because the song is basically a calm intervention for anyone trapped inside their own head…
A good late-night record doesn’t beg for attention—it just rearranges the room until your shoulders start moving on their own. Femi Jr and FAVE tap into that exact chemistry on “Focus,” a chilled Afrobeats cut laced with amapiano momentum…
A breakup rarely detonates; it more often erodes—daily, quietly, and with an almost administrative cruelty. Matt Burke captures that slow collapse on Blowing Up In Slow Motion, a folk-acoustic single that takes his earlier stripped version and rebuilds…
David Cloyd avoids treating momentum like a given, which is why the latest EP “Cage of Water (Remixes)” lands with purpose rather than polish-for-polish’s-sake. After the long-gap return of Red Sky Warning via…