Hey guys, CDTVProductions here, and XXL, the copyright claim kings have just released their
2018 XXL Freshman List.
A lot of people wanted me to talk about it, so today I’m gonna give you a rundown of
my thoughts on it and telling you if I think it’s good.
Now I’m not gonna touch on every artist on the list in this video, but I’ll definitely
rank all their freestyles and cyphers when they drop.
So this is CDTVProductions, you can follow me on Twitter under that name, and let’s
talk about this 2018 XXL freshmen list.
My Reaction to the List:
So if I’m being honest, my first reaction to the list was a bit of a mediocre one honestly.
Now i don’t really dislike the actual Freshmen that they picked, it’s more that it was
a bit predictable honestly.
See for me, a lot of the fun surrounding the Freshman list comes from the fact that I don’t
know who’s gonna be on it usually.
But when I looked at this one I didn’t feel any excitement because around 7 of the 9 picks
were so obvious, almost too obvious.
The only one I couldn’t really call was Wifisfuneral, because even though I know the
name, I’m not familiar with his music at this very moment.
I also haven’t listened to a BlocBoy JB album, but everyone’s heard Look Alive.
All the previous years introduced me to artists I’d never heard of before, even if I didn’t
like a lot of them, and that got me more excited for the cyphers to see what these guys could
do.
There’s not much of that here.
Maybe it’s just the fact that I’m more involved with and up to date with what is
currently going on in rap music than I was last year and the year before, but I just
saw this list and said “yeah, that looks about right”.
Of course, I am still very excited for the cyphers and freestyles, because that’s the
best part about these lists, but in terms of what my initial reaction was, it was kinda
apathetic.
Favourite Picks:
But now let’s talk about the Freshmen themselves and who my favourites are.
So I personally would say this is a better list than last year for me.
On the 2017 list, there was around 4 artist that I say ranged from Ok to great, whereas
on this one I’d say there are 5 or 6 that range from ok to great.
My absolute favourite picks on the list are Ski Mask the Slump God, JID and Stefflon Don,
out there repping the UK on XXL.
Now granted, I really haven’t heard much from Stefflon, but she absolutely killed it
on Look What You Made Me Do by Joyner Lucas and I can’t believe I’m mentioning this
in a serious rap video, but she actually killed Touch Down by KSI.
So I really like what I’ve heard from her so far.
As for JID, he’s definitely the one that I feel could get the biggest launch from this
list, and he deserves the platform.
My twin did a reaction to his The Never Story album, linked below, and we both thought it
was very enjoyable and JID clearly has so much talent.
I’m interested to see how he implements his unique style and standout voice into the
cyphers.
Then of course there’s Ski Mask, one of my personal favourites in the new wave of
rappers.
Whilst I had mixed feelings on The Book Of Eli, he’s still pretty great.
A brilliant and versatile flow that’s just sometimes marred by his tendency to use an
aye flow, the most recognisable ad libs in the game, and an animated, pop culture heavy
style makes him a very intriguing artist to listen to.
So I’m pretty happy that these 3 people made it to the list.
Least Favourite Picks:
So who are my least favourites?
Well I only really have one at the moment.
I know a lot of people will disagree, but it’s Trippie Redd for me.
Songs like Can You Rap Like Me? and Hellboy display the talent that he has, but I really
don’t like the scratchy style of singing that he uses on 90% of his music.
Now it’s important to note that I still think he deserves to be on here, he’s doing
the numbers and building the fan base, so I’m not saying he shouldn’t be on here.
It’s just that he’s my least favourite in a musical sense on the list.
Also Lil Pump is pretty bad too, but he’s bad in such an entertaining way that I’m
just on his side for the memes right now.
So yeah, that’s the only real least favourites I have on this list.
Anyone else I haven’t mentioned I either haven’t heard enough music from them to
really judge, or I just don’t feel strongly either way about them.
So Is It Good?:
So to answer the title, right now i’d say it’s not really great, but it’s not bad
either.
Like I said I think it is better than last year, but the main thing killing it for me
is how unsurprising it was.
With that being said, if we get some good/funny cypher and freestyle moments from this, it
could definitely improve how I view the list.
A month or two from now my opinion could completely shift, but only time will tell.
(Outro)