Each year, XXL pays homage to the top new artists in hip-hop by releasing the “Freshmen Class” cover. The list often sparks heated debates about who did and didn’t make it.
Young Thug, Migos and Rapsody are rappers who created a legitimate buzz over the past year, but they were all absent from the list.
Rolling out recently spoke with Vanessa Satten, editor-in-chief at XXL, to discuss why Young Thug, Migos and Rapsody didn’t make the list.
Young Thug has become one of the most talked about rappers in 2014 and seems to be having a big year. Why didn’t he make the list?
A big year for a rap artist isn’t based off of two songs. It takes a lot more than that to have a huge year. Young Thug has had a nice burn for a few months, but I don’t think he has dominated an entire year. I don’t think two songs can do that. Also, Rich Homie Quan and Sage the Gemini both had bigger songs. Although Young Thug had a buzz, it wasn’t the biggest buzz of the year. He was asked to be a part of the cover, but he never showed up. He canceled the night before and I don’t know why. You would have to ask him why.
The Migos have also gained a lot of attention lately. What was the determining factor to leave them off the list?
We don’t include groups. Groups have too many members to be included on the cover. Three groups would equal 10 members and would take away from solo artists. When you include groups, you will get members who aren’t necessarily rappers. Groups create a numbers issue when we’re dealing with the cover. We’ve never done groups, but we have included a write-up on Migos in this issue. And groups don’t tend to get as big as solo artists and we’re trying to predict the future.
This year, there aren’t any female rappers on the list. Rapsody released a critically acclaimed mixtape, She Got Game, in August that received a 4.5 user rating on Hip-Hop DX. Why didn’t she make the list?
We’re not trying to fill quotas. Our job is to not pick rappers from every region, gender and ethnicity. We’re trying to pick people who we believe in and not to fit a quota. We had other people who came up first. This year, we don’t have white rappers; we never had an Asian rapper. We’re trying to pick a list that we believe in and we’re not trying to fit a quota because it changes the angle of what the list is.
