Terrible. That’s all I have to say about that. There were far better rappers out that have had a hell of a lot more play than a vast majority of these people on the cover, but yet, I really don’t know what XXL is seeing with these particular artists. I voiced my displeasure briefly, but I still had to go in-depth and really analyze what kind of asinine decision the editing staff made. So let’s get into the actual people on the cover, if you didn’t know already.

French Montana – This guy has BEEN around for at least a while now, so I don’t understand how he makes the Freshmen, but I feel like it’s because he signed with Bad Boy and has been collaborating with everyone lately, but the fact of the matter is, he’s one terrible rapper. I don’t care about the Coke Boyz (or whatever that group calls themselves). The trap music lovers may like this, but I’m not with it at all

Macklemore – never heard of him, but listened to a couple of his songs on YouTube. Nothing struck me at first, I wasn’t feeling his flow. He sounded kind of boring to me, to be completely honest, so it’s all a matter of I guess seeing what else he can come with in the future

Don Trip – never heard of him either, although there was a little bit of buzz around him. I’ll look into him and give his music a shot. Heard he’s not bad

Future – So…..2 Chainz couldn’t qualify? 2 Chainz can rap way better than this guy, and even though that’s not necessarily saying much, I felt like Future didn’t have as big as a buzz than 2 Chainz. He’s pretty much known for being on YC’s ‘Racks’ song, and he utterly made me want to decapitate my ears on ‘Ring Ring’ with Rick Ross. This guy sucks. Get outta here.

Kid Ink – More lightskin rappers? Why? We already have Tyga to suffer from. I heard that this guy’s older stuff isn’t bad, so let me guess? He’s Wiz Khalifa 2.0 or what? Listen, XXL needs to change the criteria of this list, because there’s some malarkey stirring up in here.

Danny Brown – I tried listening to his XXX mixtape a couple of months ago, and the man sounded like Tyler, The Creator, but just more murderous, and it was kind of disturbing. I couldn’t take him in to be honest. Maybe I’ll try again, because his name has been afloat too.

Machine Gun Kelly – the immense displeasure I have for this guy is not even a joke. Okay, he’s signed with Bad Boy (which doesn’t mean SHIT), and okay he’s got the white people behind him, but this guy SUCKS. His Lace Up mixtape? ZZZZzzzzz I’ve never been so unimpressed in my life. Well, that’s not true, because Mac Miller is trash too. This guy sounds too much like Yelawolf, and he just yells all of the time. It sucks that Eminem set such a high standard for white rappers, because they’re not even close to the talent level that he had when he came out. Poor things.

Hopsin – now I know that this guy who was dissing Tyler, The Creator with a series of tracks didn’t make the list. I swear this guy’s overrated. Like I’ve stated before, CHANGE! THE! CRITERIA! I know for a fact that a lot of people may disagree, which is perfectly fine. You like some of these people? Cool. I’m just stating my views, so don’t get all uppity, hot & bothered by my words. Moving on.

Roscoe Dash – this guy’s been around too? I don’t understand, but he’s essentially been on everyone’s track pretty much being the next T-Pain with his auto-tuned self, and his all the way turned up annoyance just disturbing my peace. Man, I’m literally over here shaking my head with this tomfoolery (to quote Mr. Craig Irish)

Iggy Azalea – Here’s a fact: I only found out about her because Chuuwee was tweeting about her. He sent me a link to a track of here spitting over the same beat from ‘Look out for Detox’ by Kendrick Lamar (here’s the video). NOT ONLY did she use the same beat, but she used THE EXACT SAME FLOW! So, I was like…okay, maybe she can actually spit. I downloaded her mixtape Ignorant Art, and I gave it a fair listen. SUB-PAR BULLSHIT! Honestly, I respect the fact that she’s the first female artist on the cover, but COME! ON! She’s mediocre at best. I’m pretty sure her boyfriend, A$AP Rocky, could have replaced her spot.

With that being said, here are my notable snubs:

(as stated above) A$AP Rocky, Chip tha Ripper, Earl Sweatshirt (given the fact that he was on hiatus for a while, I understand), Emilio Rojas, Kreayshawn, LOS (OH MY GOD, THIS GUY’S BEEN GETTING SNUBBED FOR HOW LONG NOW?!), Laws, ScHoolboy Q, Stalley & XV

All of those rappers should have been garnered some recognition WAY MORE than this random collective bunch of people. Yet again, another disappointment, but probably the biggest disappointment I’ve seen in a long time, but this is why I don’t feed into the mainstream shit too much, or at least not anymore, since I’ve opened my ears to real talent. Only time will tell how these people will blow up, but for now, I shall remain as part of the opposition for this class. So, for now

That’s My Word & It STiXX