Mixtape Review: XXL’s 10 Freshmen For ‘10
Yesterday, XXL Magazine and DJ Whoo Kid gave us a handful of new tracks from some of the best new artists in the game with their 10 Freshmen for ‘10 mixtape.
The tape helps to defend the new class of emcees against bitter fans and critics who argue that a different group of ten are more deserving. It also serves as a quick glimpse into each artists’ style.
Regardless of whether or not these are the best freshmen emcees in the game, I applaud XXL Magazine for continuing to create a great deal of buzz around ten hard working artists each year.
As far as the actual music goes, I was hoping to hear all new material. Unfortunately, none of Nipsey Hussle or OJ Da Juiceman’s tracks were new.
Below, I’ll take a closer look at a few of the stand out tracks:
Freddie Gibbs – “Born to Roll”
Freddie Gibbs stole the tape’s spotlight with his impressive flow and gangsta lyrics, destroying the classic Masta Ace track, “Born To Roll.”
Here’s an excerpt:
“Tales of a nigga livin in his momma basement,
Listen to her bitchin every morning, it’s the same shit,
Time for me to get out on this corner, make a cane flip,
Post up at a nigga residence and be invasive,
I’m knockin at your door bitch like I was maintenance and you sprung a leak
Heard that you get pounds of that grape shit every other week,
So my inclination to take shit at its fuckin peak…
Some might say that I think illogical,
Cause I still believe in God, but down to dance with the devil to make a dollar though…
Keep my name hot in the hood,
And my dick in a hood bitch,
Niggas violate, we slice ‘em and dice ‘em like wood chips,
Or we straight Vanilla Ice ‘em, and get on some Suge shit
Hang a nigga from 40 stories watch him drop like Wiley Coyote,
New in your hood, but G.I. to the Chi, them niggas know me,
Gangsta Gibbs from the guts never gave a fuck,
Excuse me while I get my paper and my haters up.”
I like how Gibbs referenced Suge Knight dangling Vanilla Ice over a balcony. That’s still a hilarious image!
J.Cole – “Who’s World Is This”
J.Cole didn’t murder the instrumental of Alicia Keys’ “Diary,” to the degree that I expected. Having said that, the track is still noteworthy as the Roc Nation emcee spits some clever lines with:
“Straight out the ville and I made it,
Hope you feeling my latest,
Ay, what I spit on this page is highly anticipated,
Contagious, so when I spit it you gone get it,
Slightly different from these rappers who just spit it but don’t live it,
See I ain’t no flashy nigga, so don’t expect me to floss,
These niggas out here rappin with they fucking fingers crossed,
I was a dreamer then I came up with a plan,
Where I land, I put it all in God’s hands.”
The image of lesser rappers spitting lines with their fingers crossed has me cracking up!
Fashawn – “So Hard Freestyle”
The Fresno representative of this year’s class goes in over Rihanna and Jeezy’s “Hard,” with:
“I did it without a track from Kanye,
Beat from Dr. Dre,
Hook from T-Pain,
Co-sign from Jay,
A sixteen from Drake,
A Cameo from Snoop,
Dance like Soulja Boy, you gotta salute,
How I came in the game,
Took it back to the essence,
Put it back in perspective,
What an immaculate conception,
I’m complex,
Still ain’t made the cover of Complex,
Bomb sets for trying to intercept my conquest.”
It’s good to hear Fashawn making use of the impressive freestyle that dropped a few weeks ago. If you still haven’t heard the Boy Meets World album, you can hear Fashawn discuss it in our recent interview.
Pill – “Angels Freestyle”
After hearing Pill’s opening lines, I knew this freestyle was going to be a good: “Dressed to kill, my outfit is a murderer/ Break in your bitch pussy, they consider me a burglarer.” The Pink City native rarely disappoints.
Check out the whole tape below, and be sure to catch DJ Whoo Kid mispronounce Wiz Khalifa’s name at the beginning of “G’d Up,” ha! I know it’s a hard name to pronounce, but how did this make it on the final copy?
Artists Tagged
Fashawn
Santiago Leyva
Label: Unsigned
Hometown: Fresno, CA
Due to his classic hip hop style, flow, and lyrical content, Fashawn has received a number of comparisons to a young Nasir Jones. These comparisons became even more rampant after the Fresno California native released his debut album, Boy Meets World, which featured album artwork similar to Nas’ Illmatic.
The success of Boy Meets World helped Fashawn grace the cover of XXL Magazine this spring as one of 2010’s artists to watch. Most recently, he re-worked Nas’ classic Illmatic, giving it a West Coast feel in Ode To Illmatic.
Freddie Gibbs
Freddie Gibbs
Label: Unsigned
Hometown: Gary, IN
After being kicked out of college and discharged from the military, Freddie Gibbs found his home in gangsta rap. The Gary, Indiana native uses his lyrics to vividly portray stories of his home town's crime infested streets. This talent was quickly noticed by Interscope, who signed Gibbs to a record deal within his first year rapping. Despite showing him early love, Interscope kept Freddie Gibbs' music shelved for years.
Now that Freddie Gibbs has been released from that contract, he's already dropped two of 2009's best mixtapes in The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs and Midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuisk and is prepping for 2010's Str8 Killa, No Filla release. It's only a matter of time before the labels come knocking on Gibbs' door.
J.Cole
Jermaine Cole
Label: Roc Nation
Hometown: Fayetteville, NC
After hearing J.Cole’s self-produced track, “Lights Please,” Jay-z signed the North Carolina artist to his Roc Nation label. This record deal put a lot of attention on the young emcee, who quickly released one of 2009’s best projects in The Warm Up mixtape. Now, unlike a number of popular southern hip hop artists who release material regularly to stay relevant, J.Cole has managed to keep his buzz alive for a little over a year since releasing that tape. His impressive lyricism even landed him a guest spot on Jay-z’s The Blueprint 3 album, opening the door to nation-wide exposure. J.Cole’s debut album is set to be released in late 2010.
Nipsey Hussle
Ermias Ashgedom
Label: All Money In, Cinematic Music Group, Epic
Hometown: Crenshaw & Slauson, CA
Nipsey’s music is often a reflection of his surrounding environment, as he gives us a view into the harsh realities of the LA street life. Before his hip hop career, Nipsey was involved with South Central's Rolling Sixties Crips, and even owned his own clothing store.
Nipsey Hussle's motto of “All Money In, No Money Out,” stresses the labor, regardless of the fruits of one’s labor. This hustle mentality coupled with an impressive amount of co-signs and comparisons to fellow L.A. emcee Snoop Dogg, has brought Nipsey's music to the public eye.
Pill
Tyrone Rivers
Label: Asylum Records
Hometown: Atlanta, GA
Pill’s music is refreshing, as he paints a portrait of the streets in a very natural and real way, effectively shaming all the artists who pretend to be from his part of town. The XXL Magazine Freshman turned heads with his debut video for "Trap Goin' Ham," directed by Motion Family, as it graphically portrayed the poverty taking place in Pink City, five minutes away from a police precinct and seven minutes away from the state capital.
So far all of Pill's releases have been named after the various locations in which he grew up. 4180: The Prescription refers back to the Kimberly Court Projects on 4180 Cant Street and 4075: The Refill refers to the address of Pill’s aunt’s house. His next release, hosted by DJ Drama, should be a major turning point in his career as he's sure to be exposed to a wide fan base. Gangsta Grillz 1140: The Overdose is set to drop on June 1st.
Wiz Khalifa
Cameron Thomaz
Label: Rostrum Records
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
Despite having a smash single in "Say Yeah," Wiz Khalifa spent 2 years sitting on the shelf at Warner Bros. Records. However, after leaving his major label situation during the summer of 2009, the XXL Freshman’s career really started to take off.
Due to an impressive amount of grass roots marketing, orchestrated by his current management team at Rostrum Records, Wiz's most recent project, Kush and Orange Juice, became a trending topic on Twitter and the talk of major music publications upon its release. Wiz Khalifa's once hard-to-pronounce name is now becoming more common place in hip hop discussions.
