A Decade On, These Rappers Are Still Here: Max Continues To Explore the 2012 XXL Freshman Class, Part X

For ten years, I’ve inexplicably been tracking the careers of the ten artists that made up XXL’s Freshman Class of 2012. The Freshman Class, for those of you unaware, is a list of rappers that XXL believes to be on the way up at the time of their appearances on the magazine’s cover, but as their relevance has slipped significantly throughout the years, so have the preferences of the tastemakers at the publication, as each successive year’s list has been filled with increasingly ridiculous names (both in level of talent and their actual stage names) that could only appeal to the young teenage audience who wouldn’t know how to purchase a magazine if their lives depended on it anyway.

At least the 2012 list featured acts that wound up having various degrees of impact on our chosen genre. I can’t say the same for some the more recent submissions. I mean, Megan Thee Stallion, sure, fine, she’s out here making moves, but the 2013 list featured Trinidad James. Why though?

As always, here’s past Max explaining this particular side project for the newbies who have stumbled into HHID over the past year for whatever reason (the Patreon, RandoMax Radio, the Twitter feed, whatever I have links for in the sidebar):

“Ever since I made the horrible decision to maintain a 7-Up-esque series following the rappers chosen for [the XXL Freshman Class] in 2012, keeping tabs on each of the ten artists and their respective careers since gracing the magazine’s cover, I’ve found myself struggling to both:

(a) still care, in most cases, and

(b) find music representative of the growth one would assume each man (and one woman) had undertaken in order to organically prolong their professional lifespans.”

Do any of the featured artists still have something to say, ten years removed from their appearance on the XXL cover? Are any of them still making music worth listening to? And finally, is any of this enough to justify this series continuing past this entry? Read through to find out!

But before skipping straight to how I will likely find a way to dismiss Future’s contribution to the culture again (that seemed to be a real point of contention with some of you last time around, for whatever reason), why not suffer as I did and catch up on this series from the very beginning? This way you can also track the progress of the ten lucky artists who’ve had to put up with me being very critical about their respective careers for the past decade, and who knows, you may be in a different headspace today and might want to know how I felt about Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” back when it was still popular.

Part I (2012)
Part II (2013)
Part III (2014)
Part IV (2015)
Part V (2017) (I had skipped the 2016 installment due to a blog hiatus and was making up for it here)
Part VI (2018) (This is the 2017 installment running five months later than intended)
Part VII (2018) (And now we’re back on track)
Part VIII (2019)
Part IX (2020)

Below are my thoughts on songs each represented artist released between December 1, 2020 and November 30, 2021, with any exceptions listed below.

As always, thanks for reading!

MACHINE GUN KELLY (formerly MGK, formerly MACHINE GUN KELLY, formerly MGK, formerly MACHINE GUN KELLY)

What I wrote before: “....I’m more impressed with how Coulson convinced Puff Daddy’s Bad Boy Records to release [the pop-punk album Tickets To My Downfall] than I am that he… switched [musical genres] on us…but hey, whatever keeps him feeling creative, I guess…”

Song I listened to this time around: "Papercuts”

He may be better known these days as an actor, or as Megan Fox’s boyfriend that claims to “be” weed, or even for his blossoming bromance with comedian-slash-professional tabloid distraction from Travis Scott Pete Davidson, but Coulson “Machine Gun Kelly” “MGK” “Coul Slaw” Baker is still a musician first and foremost. Just not so much a rapping musician anymore: his 2020 album Tickets To My Downfall hinted at a genre switch-up that largely abandoned his hip hop roots in favor of the pop-punk sound that was popular on the radio in the mid-to-late 2000s. This year’s “Papercuts”, the lead single off of the upcoming Born With Horns, solidifies that career move with Baker’s strained warbling amid guitar riffs that sound a little too close to Green Day’s "Brain Stew” for comfort. This is certainly a far cry from the guy who went after Eminem in 2018: this version of Kelly may still be signed to Puff Daddy’s label for all I know (is that still valid information, by the way? I don’t care enough to actually look it up myself), but it appears that his worldview, and general popularity, has shifted just enough that he doesn’t feel the need to express himself in bar form anymore. It’s still too early to determine whether or not he was just using our chosen genre as a stepping stone for his own diabolical purposes (*cough* Miley Cyrus *cough*), but the guy we hear on “Papercuts” is nothing special: purportedly a song about his struggles dealing with his fame, he just sounds like a whining baby, and he isn’t even really whining about fame, just about… nothing. Every lyric presented here is Kirkland Signature teen angst, so there’s little surprise as to who he’s currently being marketed toward. (“Hello world, you fucking suck”? Really? That’s the best you can do, Coulson?) Maybe his heart really is in this pop-punk stuff, I don’t know, but there are many better artists out there doing it, and MGK will always be seen as the guy with more famous friends, the could’ve been but never-was that failed to master two musical genres instead of just the one. At least there’s still Hollywood, right?

DANNY BROWN

What I wrote before: “…the man’s boasts and braggadocio sound more exciting when filtered through his, er, excitable flow, which is a big part of why he’s amassed as large of a fanbase as he currently has...”

Song I listened to this time around: "Dylon”

Building a song around an old, outdated joke from Chappelle’s Show certainly seems to be within the wheelhouse of one Daniel “Danny Brown” Sewell, so that’s exactly what he does with “Dylon”. (He even includes the Dave Chappelle sound bite in question toward the end, because explaining a joke always makes it funnier.) Brown didn’t release a new solo project in 2021, but he’s hardly been quiet, choosing instead to boost the profile of the various members of his Bruiser Brigade crew, all of whom dropped projects this year, culminating in the group effort TV62, which “Dylon” appears on. He hasn’t grown any less ridiculous, however: “Dylon” is all boasts-n-bullshit, delivered through his nasal cavity straight into your bloodstream. Over Raphy’s darker boom bap, Daniel runs through a novella’s worth of shit-talk while sprinkling in the occasional insight (“N----s searching for the clout ‘til they caught in a drought”), all of which is delivered with the boundless energy of a toddler on speed. This isn’t the best Danny Brown song, but it’s wholly representative of what he brings to the table, and it’s easy to discern why we’re all standing by waiting for what else he has up his sleeve. And yeah, he probably wins this list yet again, I’m not sure yet, we’ll get there.

KID INK

What I wrote before: “...why should we ever consider Kid Ink? The answer is, you shouldn’t...”

Song I listened to this time around: “Red Light”

Turns out Brian “Kid Ink” Collins is still here getting his Great Value Breezy out in these streets, as he released a new project, Alive, in 2021. “Red Light” was its first single, and if you’re a Kid Ink stan that has somehow found my blog despite all of my attempts to hide the truth away from you, just know that I didn’t entirely hate this. Producer ISM provides Ryan Gosling-in-Drive energy with an instrumental that, oddly, loses much of its impact the moment drums make an appearance – this is the rare instrumental that doesn’t require percussion to create a vibe. That doesn’t mean Kid Ink does a good job on “Red Light”, but admittedly he’s done much worse elsewhere. Rap-singing through two verses and an unnecessary chorus, one of those numbers that is performed with the exact same level of energy as the stanzas so this all sounds like one long fucking verse, Collins delivers boasts-n-bullshit that position him as some sort of authority on ballin’ (“You ain’t living in the Hills, ain’t the right place”; “Way a n---a did the math, thought I had a degree”), when the reality of the situation is that his cosplaying of an unrepentant woman-beating dickbag has carried him much further throughout his career than expected, because cancel culture isn’t a real thing so why wouldn’t Kid Ink glom on to that sack of shit? “Red Light” doesn’t hint at anything new coming from the Kid Ink sphere anytime soon, but his creative juices seem to be flowing, and he’s still putting himself out there with I can’t imagine much of a return on his investment here, but this year I can’t say that he’s on the downswing, which you’re free to use as
a pull quote for your EPK, Collins.


FUTURE

What I wrote before: “...Future’s sole trick has been tired, folks, which of course means his career will obviously continue to thrive...”

Song I listened to this time around: "Picasso” (Migos featuring Future)

I get that this is a Migos song and, as such, we have to contend with three additional artists on top of Nayvadius “Future” Wilson here, but “Picasso” is an interesting experiment, if only because you get to hear how one dude influenced an entire rap group in real time. “Picasso” sucks overall, though: the instrumental is trap nonsense and the artists seemingly wander in whenever the fuck they feel like it to spit a verse, a hook, or, primarily, ad-libs on each other’s shit. But this isn’t a write-up about Migos, so let’s refocus on Future specifically here. I’m going to say the same shit that I always do, though: the man’s druggy, slurred, Auto-Tuned flow that doesn’t allow casual listeners to truly comprehend what he’s advocating for and bars critics from paying closer attention because the man ran out of shit to say five years ago, is Future’s weapon of choice, and he wields it well enough, as his fanbase has remained consistent over the past decade. As per usual, the man sounds like he hasn’t given a fuck in years, but that’s not a quality that makes for good music, especially when everything he records these days plays like the same song on repeat. Still, some of you two get excited whenever he pops up anywhere, whether it be alongside Drake on a terrible Right Said Fred-aping track, or alongside Young Thug, or on a different track with Drake, or some new shit with Young Thug, and you know what, I just realized Future tends to work with the same people over and over again, which certainly doesn’t help my perception that everything from his direction sounds exactly the fucking same. Occasionally he’s saved by his choice in beats (“Mask Off” comes to mind), but there’s no such assistance coming his way on “Picasso”. I don’t get how someone can sound this fucking bored behind the mic and somehow not alienate listeners who turn to hip hop for escapism, you know? No amount of drugs on this planet could make me give a shit about Future’s performance on “Picasso”. Someone from the Dungeon Family needs to stage an intervention.


ROSCOE DASH

What I wrote before: “…the guy who is the most in danger of being dropped from this series in future editions…”

Song I listened to this time around: "YES I CAN”

Roscoe Dash consistently pops up throughout this series as the one artist most likely to give it all up so that he can devote more time to the gig economy, and “YES I CAN” (the all-caps is intentional, I guess) doesn’t sway me from that position one fucking inch. Consisting of a garbage beat marred further with garbage lyrics and a trash-ass hook, “YES I CAN” might have been intended as Dash’s reentry point into the rap game, but all this song proves is that his only reference point for how the genre sounds comes from somewhere in the early 2010’s, as this shit sounds dated, and not in a throwback-y nostalgic way. The man literally cannot adapt to how the genre has evolved to this day, as he continues churning out proto-Soulja Boi-level claptrap aimed at a club audience who outgrew these antics at least a decade ago, and besides, we’re still in a fucking pandemic, so anybody going out to enjoy Roscoe Dash’s new music should be smacked across their maskless face. I’m running out of ways to describe how much of a non-entity the man is in hip hop, which I do feel bad about, believe it or not, because our genre should feel inclusive to a wide array of artists from various diverse backgrounds, but if “YES I CAN” is the best the man can do in 2021 then we have a problem, because you can tell his heart isn’t in it. There are other jobs out in the real world, and Dash may need to pull a Kenny Rogers, although I doubt he truly knows when to walk away.


HOPSIN

What I wrote before: “…when Hopsin embraces his gimmick…he excels…”

Song I listened to this time around: "Your House”

Last year, Hopsin used his eye and ear for the tiniest details for the power of good, summing up the absurdity of COVID quarantines with a song that was both hilarious and frustrating, the latter only because he released the song while we were all still living through lockdown and weren’t looking for a recap so soon. But it was inevitable that he would dig through his closet for his old bag of tricks again, so this year I’m unhappy to report that “Your House” is a song that exists. Following his rhyming hero Eminem’s blueprint for descriptive personal raps set to an angst-y rock soundtrack that sounds like it stormed the Capitol on January 6, “Your House” finds Hopsin detailing the abuse his mother suffered at the hands of his father when he was younger and not in any position to do anything but wish he could stay over at “Your House” tonight. Like the aforementioned Marshall Mathers, this song feels custom-built for angry teens with misdirected anger who may not be fully cognizant of what’s driving them to depression, and that’s a valuable demographic for the music industry, so why Hopsin hasn’t sold millions of copies of his projects is a bit of a mystery, because there is no shortage of kids pissed off at the world out there. He knows how to work his gimmick to his advantage, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to creating music that listeners of all ages can relate to. I appreciated the writing here, as it sounds like it comes from a genuine place and we’ve all been frightened of things we don’t understand, but the self-produced music here was fucking awful and diluted the vivid storytelling, as did the moment during his third verse where he sits down to speak directly to the listener on some, “We’ve had some fun here tonight, but you know what isn’t funny? Domestic abuse,”-type after school special shit. Didn’t trust the audience to get that you weren’t on the side of condoning your father’s actions here, huh?


MACKLEMORE

What I wrote before: “...I assume the whole Macklemore thing is done now, though, right? The world doesn’t need any more songs from the man, and surely he’s saved up enough money (frequenting thrift shops and the like) to live comfortably, no?”

Song I listened to this time around: "Next Year" (featuring Windser)

Coincidentally, “Thrift Shop” popped up on my satellite radio just yesterday (the clean version, unfortunately, but all of the censored moments reminded me just how gleefully profane it is), and while it’s a novelty rap song through and through, one that holds zero weight, it’s still one that represents the very best of our culture, and I’m serious stop fighting me here: it’s a fun, very silly, overall good time complemented by Benjamin “Macklemore” Haggerty’s elastic flow (and guest crooner Wanz’s goofy-as-shit hook) that is wholly disposable, but enjoyable in the moment. Definitely one of those songs where endorphins start flowing once those horns kick in because you hadn’t heard the song in a long time and why the hell not, right? “Thrift Shop”, as ridiculous as it is, still holds up better than that song where Macklemore is all, “Thank God I’m not gay, but if you are, I’m okay with that,”, anyway. “Next Year”, a new song from Haggerty that seems to imply a new album is forthcoming, follows that optimistic path, the gimmick this time being how this year sucked and how next year is going to be great, a conversation many of us have with Father Time on the last night of December, usually while under the influence of some controlled substance. It is a little weird that the song dropped in 2021, considering that, while this year has been ass, it was last year that was the motherfucking worst, but Benji makes no specific references here, choosing instead to lay on the ambiguity pretty thick, administering blanket statements that could apply to everybody if they really thought for a moment about them. Resolutions are even brought about in a vague manner, in case you two were confused about what holiday he’s referencing here. “Next Year” comes equipped with a hook from Windser that does its job and nothing more, and the production is supplied by his former partner-in-crime Ryan Lewis (was that supposed to be a bigger deal?), but even though it would appear that he was aiming for the days of “Thrift Shop” glory, Macklemore can’t reach those heights ever again, and to his credit, he knows that. This wasn’t a good song, but it also wasn’t a bad one: it’s a song crafted by a dude who did it just because, kind of like that Christmas song I wrote about last year. His career isn’t anywhere near over, but he knows his place in hip hop, which is more than could be said for a lot of these motherfuckers out here.
 

DON TRIP

What I wrote before: “...he may need to partake of some flourishes…in his future output in order to maintain any sort of relevancy as a solo artist. That, or just be [a part of a] group full-time...”

Song I listened to this time around: "I Wish”

I couldn’t find any activity for Memphis native Christopher “Don Trip” Wallace over the past year – perhaps he’s simply laying low until the pandemic is actually over, as opposed to how folks are merely pretending that there never was anything to worry about to begin with? Anyway, that meant I had to reach all the way back into mid-2020 for any content, eventually landing on “I Wish”, his bold cover of the Skee-Lo hit that largely abandons the whimsy of that family-friendly track in favor of a few vague threats of the “I wish a n---a would”-variety. There isn’t a ton for Trip to wish for anyway, it seems: per this very song (and the other stuff I’ve heard from him), he’s already successful, he already has money, and he’d much rather spend time with his children watching Peppa Pig and singing “Baby Shark” than fucking with his old friends who are still jealous at his glow-up. So “I Wish” is a document of his fulfillment, I guess. The beat is dark, but melodic, and Trip talks his shit with slurred conviction that makes it difficult to decipher just what it is he’s bragging about at points, but it never sounds bad or objectionable. Not the most inspiring song I’ve listened to today, but this is better than most of the stuff I’ve listened to throughout this series from Chris, so we shouldn’t count him out just yet.


IGGY AZALEA

What I wrote before: “...Iggy has clearly run out of things to say – I fully expect her to phase out of our chosen genre any day now…”

Song I listened to this time around: “Sirens"

Perhaps “Sirens” wasn’t the best choice of song for me to run with this year – after having listened, it’s clear that it was intended more as an introduction to her album The End of an Era than as a proper standalone song. But honestly, I don’t give a shit about Amethyst “Iggy Azalea” Kelly, and “Sirens” features two verses and waaaay too many hooks, so it counts. And it sucks. Iggy raps on this track sounding like an alien that still hasn’t yet grasped the English language despite living on Earth for the past ten years – I mean, “Grab phone, I’m about to go viral”? Who in the fuck talks like that? It was too much effort to toss in a “your” in between “grab” and “phone”? And that’s just during one of the choruses, but it’s not as though the verses fare much better, Iggy’s boasts-n-bullshit coming across more fraudulent than typical for a musical genre built atop a foundation of braggadocio. The instrumental is pretty much garbage: nobody, absolutely nobody, will ever play this one in a club willingly. But you couldn’t dance to it anyway if you fucking tried, so what we’re left with is a waste of space. Curiously, Azalea only makes one reference to her “thick like peanut butter” body on “Sirens”, an all-time record, considering she’s fully aware of why anybody might still be paying attention to her in the first place, because it sure as shit isn’t the musical output. Some streaming service needs to gift her a reality show or something – she needs to get out of the music industry. She has nothing more to say here. Let her make her money elsewhere, I don’t care. “Sirens” isn’t exactly cultural appropriation (aside from the fake accent she still adopts when rapping, alas), but she needs to stop regardless.


FRENCH MONTANA

What I wrote before: “...the guy has always epitomized style over substance…”

Song I listened to this time around: "I Don't Really Care"

There’s an easy joke to be made about the fact that Karim “French Montana” Kharbouch named a song “I Don’t Really Care”, but I’m going to do my best to suppress that urge in order to give you a proper review. No promises, though. Frenchy’s been in the game for a while now, longer than his ten years since his appearance on XXL’s Freshman list would insinuate, but he’s never once aspired to be a “dope rapper”. Throughout his many mixtapes (both his own and those from his Coke Boys squad), the man coasts on vibes, which tend to be his only contribution to the tracks he appears on, whether they be solo efforts or overpopulated posse cuts where his presence is quickly eclipsed – his every word spoken on any given song is a component of a catchphrase spit into a microphone, never an actual bar. This has suited him nicely throughout his run: I can’t imagine enjoying any French Montana song where the guy had Something Important To Say, because his persona’s all about fun vibes, whether they stem from clubbing, drinking, fucking, or selling drugs. He spends a bit of time doing all of that shit on “I Don’t Really Care”, where Frenchy pretends to be indifferent to how the rap game has long since passed him by, as he continues to chase trends while claiming that “I make trends and forget about ‘em”. (Sure, that’s why you had Benny the Butcher appear on one of your songs last year, because you’re setting trends.) French Montana always comes through with an energetic delivery and a smattering of Auto-Tune that is only there because, again, vibes, but his solo tracks are always a fucking chore to sit through, as you’re always left wondering how this shit could have sounded with several other voices added to the mix, and that’s not the mark of a successful rapper, that’s more of a DJ Khaled-type of thing. Which is to say, French Montana is DJ Khaled if DJ Khaled also rapped on his songs. Also, this song sucks and proves that the man doesn’t really care about how his music actually sounds. Sorry, I held out as long as I could.

-Max