Every summer for the past ten years, hip-hop magazine, XXL, has put out what they dub as their "freshman class" of rappers with the final spot on the list typically being left up to the fans to vote for. In addition to each freshman artist having individual interviews, they also get to showcase their skill in individual freestyles, as well as in several group cyphers. This year features ten young artists each with their own flavor and style of rap music. XXL has released the interview and freestyle for one artist each day and so far we have seen 5 out of the 10 artist's freestyles. In this two-part article (the second coming next week), I will rank what I feel are the best freestyles from week one, in order from worst to best. I will also include links to each artist's freestyle so that you may give it a listen, if you have not done so already. Without further ado, let's jump into it:
5. Playboi Carti:
I will be the first to admit, I had never heard of Playboi Carti until I found out that the hugely popular song, 'Magnolia' was his song. I also have not yet taken the time to look further into his music either. That being said, there was a lot of hype and anticipation for his XXL freestyle and because of it and the fact that he has a huge buzz right now, I was eager to see what the hype surrounding this guy was all about. However, much to my dismay and many others, Playboi Carti's freestyle was a huge disappointment. Heck, the like to dislike ratio on Youtube is currently sitting at 23,000 likes and 28,000 dislikes. Carti's bars were so sub-par and elementary that even a non-rapper like myself could have probably come up with something better. Playboi Carti lands at number five on this list and his freestyle may not only end up as being the worst out of all ten freshman, but may also end up as one of the worst freshman freestyles in the ten years that XXL has released this annual list. One can only hope that he, at the very least, redeems himself when XXL drops the cyphers in a couple weeks.
Playboi Carti's freestyle can be found here.
4. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie
Next up we have A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie. Now thus far, this is the freestyle that I was the most indifferent to, despite having heard more of his music than any of the other artists on this list. The theme of A Boogie's music often centers around a girl (same girl each time?) and his freestyle saw a similar theme. His flow was a little off-putting and overall left a lot to be desired. Despite that, I did not find the freestyle particularly bad, but I also did not find it that good either, which is why I placed him at number four on this list.
A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie's freestyle can be found here.
3. PnB Rock
Though XXL showcases their freshman list of rappers each summer, every now and then they will include an artist that is more along the lines of an R&B type singer more so than a rapper. This year's artist that falls in that category is PnB Rock. PnB Rock's freestyle was the third to drop last week and upon hearing it, his freestyle, in my opinion, instantly became the best one out of the three at the time (A Boogie & Playboi Carti). Not only did he utilize his freestyle in order to tell a personal story, the mixture of rapping and melodic singing is what made this freestyle surprisingly good especially coming from an artist who is not necessarily a rapper and that is why he lands the number three spot thus far.
PnB Rock's freestyle can be found here.
2. Ugly God
Over the past few years, the rap game has gone through a major shift in terms of the type of new artists and music that hits the scene. One type of rapper that has come (and often gone rather quick) is the 'meme-rapper' or a rapper that basically makes music about the most random subject matter with no concrete style of lyricism or flow or any regard to how one may view their music (Thank you based god). One such rapper that has emerged is Ugly God, a 20-year-old rapper out of Houston, Texas who has even gone on the record saying that his own music is trash. I have listened to several Ugly God songs and I have become a fan of him, not necessarily because of his music, but because of his 'I don't care what people think' mind frame; something I think a lot of people should adopt instead of always caring what people think or say about them. Furthermore, though Ugly God's freestyle did not shy away from his typical meme-or-comedic-like subject matter, it was his flow and delivery coupled with the punchlines throughout his freestyle that made his freestyle one of the best thus far which has earned him the second best freestyle.
Ugly God's freestyle can be found here.
1. Kyle
Last but certainly not least, we have Kyle, whom most probably know of from his hit song iSPY featuring Lil Yachty, which is also how I was introduced to him. Before I continue, I will preface by saying that I had a tough time deciding who to put first and second between Kyle and Ugly God, as depending on what factors one looked for when analyzing their freestyles, they both have a strong case for the best freestyle thus far. In the end, I ultimately went with Kyle as having the best freestyle. Kyle's delivery was smooth as butter and his bars referencing Friday the movie were clever, especially given that his freestyle dropped on Friday. However, what was ultimately the deciding factor in me placing Kyle's freestyle as number one in this first group was that his freestyle sounded more like spoken word poetry than it did a traditional rap freestyle and that had a big influence on me given the fact that I, myself, am a poet.
Kyle's freestyle can be found here.
