Lyrically Conscious: February 2011

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Review of XXL's Freshman 2011 Class

Clockwise from bottom left: Diggy Simmons, Kendrick Lamar, Meek Mill, Big K.R.I.T., CyHi Da Prynce, Lil Twist, Yelawolf, Fred The Godson, Mac Miller, YG and Lil B.

All right. The freshman class. The leaders of the future rap game, at least for some. XXL has done a good job picking some of the next best rappers of the upcoming year. But this year I am very skeptical. Let's evaluate this 2011 class.

I feel this class is the worst Freshman class XXL has picked. Which is tough for me to say. Cyhi The Prince, Mac Miller, and Diggy Simmons will most likely lead this pack. Each have shown and rightfully deserve this spot. I could see them being in the lower levels of previous classes.Kendrick Lamar, and Meek Mill are also very good rappers. Big K.R.I.T, and Fred The Godson have ALOT to prove to me at least. And I have to say it but next year I doubt we will even remember who Yelawolf, YG, and Lil Twist are. I would have liked to see some other rappers on this list. Fashawn, Tyler the Creator (and Wolfgang), Outasight, and other artists. That leads me to another point....

Lil B

Now as a person who loves rap music, I can not condone this mans action. When it comes to putting together a song with any lyrical content, use of in depth metaphors or similes, telling a story, putting together a coherent 16 bars, or doing anything to benefit hip hop, this man is the ABSOLUTE WORST. Just terrible.

With that being said, why is this man on the cover.

One has to respect this mans hustle. Now I hate what this man does, but lets look at Lil B's rise. He created over 155 MySpace pages in order to upload all of his music. He has recorded over 1500 tracks as of July 2010, including hits "Wonton Soup, "Pretty Bitch" & "I'm God". On Datpiff.com he has a 675 song mixtape. That is a shit load of music. For any fan who likes Lil B, reagrdless of his abysmal abilities, that has to be amazing. If Curren$y, one of my favorite rappers, had 1,500 songs I would never not listen to him. That is the only thing I will give to him. Beside that he is ruining the image of hip hop...

In conclusion I am going to list my Top 10 overall rappers from the XXL covers from the past 3 years. This is based on popularity, and ability.

1. Kid Cudi (2009)
2. Wiz Khalifa (2010)
3. Curren$y (2009)
4. Wale (2009)
5. Big Sean (2010)
6. J.Cole (2010)
7. XV (2009)
8. Mac Miller (2011)
9. Blu (2009)
10. Chyi Da Prince (2011)