Ooh I’m mad about this list, I’m pretty angry, guys I am vexed.
We’ll get into the video ASAP, but I just wanna say my clone, IAMJAYCE was snubbed so
goddamn hard.
I mean, 20,000 views on his breakthrough standout hit song 19 and he wasn’t even considered?
Disgusting.
Hey guys, CDTVProductions here, just had to rant at the start about that, and today I
will be ranking the 2018 XXL Freshman Rappers From Worst to Best in my humble opinion.
I did this last year so I thought it’d be fun to do again, but don’t watch that video,
I don’t like it, it’s not good.
So with that being said this is CDTVProductions, you can join my Amino linked in the description
below for the chance to win $100 worth of rap albums and let’s rank the 2018 XXL freshmen
From Worst to Best.
9 - BlocBoy JB ("Look Alive")
Now in the coming months I plan on making a full in depth review of BlocBoy’s music
as a whole, but based off of what I’ve heard he’s my least favourite on this list, easily.
His Simi album honestly wasn’t easy for me to get through despite not being that long,
and I’m not saying it was carried by the beats and the features, but I hope whoever
produced it got cut a big check.
His voice is decent but he doesn’t really use it to its full effect, he has some alright
flows sometimes but he always does this thing where he chops up his vocals to make the flow
sound better than it really is, (Play example).
He’ll occasionally have a line that’s somewhat witty and makes me laugh a bit, but
there’s not many.
Maybe his style just isn’t meant for me, but I’m not feeling it.
8 - Lil Pump ("Welcome to the Party")
Some may consider Pump as the worst, and whilst I can understand why, I think he is improving
as an artist.
His verses on songs like Welcome to The Party and iSHYNE actually get me hyped up, and it’s
a far cry from the bored mumbling he used to do.
Sure, lyrically he’s probably never going to be amazing because that’s just part of
his appeal, the ignorance and simplicity is an interesting combo, and I can enjoy it if
I don’t take it seriously.
I never thought I would say this when I first heard Lilliam Pumpernickels music, but in
all honesty, I’m intrigued to see what he comes through with on his Harvard Dropout
tape.
Sure, I don’t think he’s good, and some of his music is still unbearable to me, but
the key point is that he’s getting better.
7 - Trippie Redd ("Hellboy")
Trippie Redd is an artist I don’t really enjoy, and the main reason for that is the
way he chooses to deliver his singing.
I can acknowledge the fact that it’s different, but the uncontrolled, grungy way in which
he delivers his vocals puts me off so much.
I’ve mentioned numerous times that I love when he actually raps in his regular voice,
but that doesn’t happen a whole lot, so overall he’s just not an artist I can enjoy.
I’m very excited to see his cypher and freestyle performance to see if he pulls out some impressive
rapping, but as for his officially released music I only enjoy a few songs here and there.
6 - Stefflon Don ("Real Ting")
I’ve seen a lot of people dismiss Stefflon purely because they don’t know who she is.
It’s perfectly fine if you don’t enjoy her music, but I think people should be open
to giving her a chance and not shit on her just cause you don’t know her.
Buuuut I may have spoke to soon saying she was one of my favourite picks this year.
See, most of her tracks kinda sound like what you’d hear in a UK club, it’s got a real
Jamaican influence to it, which makes sense as Stefflon is of Jamaican decent.
But hearing her rap with that accent over those type of beats is not my type of thing
at all, and a lot of her music is like that.
She still has some songs that go hard as hell like Real Ting and Narcos, and Family Ties
has a real emotional vibe to it, so I’d recommend those, but overall I’m not feeling
too much of her solo music.
5 - YBN Nahmir ("Rubbin' Off the Paint")
Now Nahmir has a chance to make some great sounding music in my opinion, because he was
blessed with a very recognisable voice.
Songs like Rubbin Off the Paint stood out to me, and many others, because even though
his rapping was kinda typical, his voice stands out and his flow is pretty nice too.
He’s got some great singles out, but he’s lower on this list as he doesn’t really
have a project out at the moment that’s impressed me.
The #YBN one had some cool tracks, but it was a bit one note and not many songs stood
out to me.
I do hope his recent singles are a good indicator of how his next project will sound, and I
guess we’ll find out soon enough.
4 - Smokepurpp ("Audi")
So I really wasn’t a huge fan of Purpp’s latest project, Bless Yo Trap, but he’s
an artist that has a crazy amount of potential to me.
I didn’t love all of Deadstar, but I got the sense from it that Purpp knew what he
was doing mostly.
Songs like Audi mixed a catchy rapping hook with hard hitting production, there’s Fingers
Blue which has such a dark aesthetic that I can’t help but love it, then there’s
also tracks such as To The Moon which showed me that he could pull off autotuned vocals
in an effective way.
On top of that, I feel like he has some brilliant singles on SoundCloud, whether it be How That
Make You Feel or Glock In My Benz, and he’s an artist that I think is fairly good, with
room for improvement.
I just hope he taps into all the potential I strongly believe he has for his next project.
3 - Wifisfuneral ("Numb")
Granted I have only heard one project from Wifi, so this could completely change as time
goes on and as I check out his newer stuff, but right now I love what he brings to the
table.
Honestly the only negative I have right now regarding the When Hell Falls project I heard
from him is that nothing about his voice stood out to me as remarkable, maybe he’s changed
that up a little bit now, but on that project, it’s somewhat standard.
But everything else I fucked with a lot.
The 90’s flavoured beats he uses, his very fluid rapping, and the range of moods across
the project make for a great listen.
I will make an in depth video reviewing all his music after I hear all his projects, but
as things stand, I’d say he’s one of the 3 members I thoroughly enjoy on this list.
2 - J.I.D ("LAUDER")
J.I.D is definitely one of the most creative and underrated people to be found on this
list.
He also kinda represents what the XXL Freshmen used to be, artists that are talented and
have a dedicated fan base but haven’t really broke through to a wider audience yet.
I’d also say he’s easily the most versatile artist on this list, on just one of his projects
you’ve got Never, a very hard track with a great beat switch, you’ve got these eerie,
ominous tracks like Ed Edd N Eddy, and then there’s even incredibly chill, relaxing
songs like All Bad.
He’s got quite a great range, and it makes him an unpredictable artist.
I’m really looking forward to seeing where he goes in the future and I think he’s got
a promising career ahead of him.
1 - Ski Mask the Slump God ("Achoo!")
It had to be Ski for me at this top spot.
I may prefer his older stuff to his newer stuff, but I still think he’s pretty amazing
and it’s undeniable that he still has his own style.
It’s honestly hard to find stuff to say about him that I haven’t said before, but
man is he fun to listen to.
He has some of the best flows I’ve heard from a new age rapper, his tongue in cheek
lyrics are always pretty entertaining, and he has some of the wildest music videos I’ve
seen recently.
Ski Mask pretty much has everything he needs to succeed.
He’s got weird vocal inflections that you can recognise instantly, lots of personality
and character to his music, and all in all I think he’s just a great rapper.
If you haven’t heard him before and don’t know where to start, I’d highly recommend
Drown In Designer, it’s my personal favourite tape from Ski so far.
It’s definitely something that’s worth a listen.
(Outro)