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The XXL Magazine released its 15th annual XXL Freshman Class list on June 14. Since 2007, there has been a list released in June for every year except 2008. The Freshman Class is a list of 10 or more artists to watch, mainly covering hip-hop. In the past the list has featured artists such as Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Future, Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti, Megan Thee Stallion and many more.
Whenever the list is announced, that Freshmen Class will be on the cover of the XXL magazine.
This year 12 artists were selected by XXL and fan votes. So just who all made the XXL Freshmen list for 2022?
Artists selected by XXL
Nardo Wick: Nardo Wick is a 20 year old from Jacksonville, Florida. His highest charting song is “Who Want Smoke?” It reached third on the Billboard hot rap songs list and was a platinum record. He is currently signed with RCA Records.
Doechii: Doechii is a 22 year old from Tampa, Florida. She is the first female rapper to be signed to TDE. Her song “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake” seems to be her most popular with over 35 million listens on Spotify.
SoFaygo: SoFaygo is a 20 year old from Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is currently signed to Cactus Jack Records which is owned by Travis Scott. His most popular song is “Knock Knock” which has over 182 million listens on Spotify.
Cochise: Cochise is a 23 year old from Palm Bay, Florida. His biggest song to date is “Tell Em” which has gained 258 million listens on Spotify. He is currently signed to Columbia Records.
Saucy Santana: Saucy Santana is a 28 year old from Perry, Florida. Before doing music, Santana was a makeup artist for the group City Girls. Santana can be seen on a few episodes of Love & Hip-Hop Miami. His song “Material Girl” has nearly 37 million listens on Spotify. He is currently signed to RCA Records.
Big Scarr: Big Scarr is a 22 year old from Memphis, Tennessee. His song “SoIcyBoyz 2” is certified gold while his album “Big Grim Reaper’ reached number 12 on Billboard’s top Hip-Hop albums. He is currently signed to 1017 Records, which is owned by Gucci Mane.
Artists soar to XXL list
KenTheMan: KenTheMan is a 27 year old from Houston, Texas. Her song “For Me” is her most popular with 20 million listens on Spotify. She is currently signed with Asylum Records.
Big30: Big30 is a 22 year old from Memphis, Tennessee. His song “Allegations” is certified gold, and his mixtape “King of Killbranch” reached 13 on the Billboard 200. He is partnered with Interscope Records through his deal with Moneybagg Yo’s Bread Gang and N-Less Entertainment.
KayCyy: KayCyy is a 24 year old singer born in Kenya but raised in Minnesota. The artist has writing credits on songs by Lil Wayne and is on Kanye West’s album Donda, which he is also featured on. He also won a Grammy for contributing background vocals to the single, “Hurricane” by Kanye West. he is Currently signed with Columbia records.
Kali: Kali is a 21 year old from Roswell, Georgia. Her song “MMM MMM” has over 24 million listens on Spotify.
BabyTron: BabyTron is a 22 year old from Warren, Michigan. “Jesus Shuttlesworth” is his most popular song with 3 million Spotify listens. He is signed with The Hip Hop Lab.
Babyface Ray: Babyface Ray is a 31 year old from Detroit, Michigan. His highest rated song is “If You Know You Know” with 9 million listens on Spotify and he is featured on Future’s album I Never Liked You. He is signed with #Boyz Entertainment LLC.
With these 12 new artists becoming Freshmen, all eyes will be turned to them to see where their careers go from here. Over the next month you can go to YouTube or the XXL magazine website as they release freestyles, cyphers, interviews and more with each artist.