XXL Freshmen 2019: Predicting All 10 Members

The rising stars of hip-hop that we deserve to see.

By Alex McMurray /

Every year, XXL magazine releases its freshmen list. This list puts together 10 of the biggest up and coming and established rappers of the year, giving them a freestyle and a cypher to show the world who they are. The announcement of the lineup has become one of the most hyped events for rap fans and this year will surely be no different.

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The list comes with a lot of prestige. Previous inductees include Kendrick Lamar, Mac Miller, XXXTentacion and Denzel Curry. There are few rappers in the game right now who would not want to be thought of in the same breath as these stars so the list will likely have a lot of the most important up and coming names.

XXL have allowed readers to vote for the 10th member the past few years and with those votes currently wrapping up, now is a good time to predict who should be on the cover. Continue reading to find the 10 artists that should be XXL Freshmen in 2019.

10. YBN Cordae

Although YBN Nahmir was the first member of the young rap group to make it into a freshmen class last year, most fans see Cordae as the best member of the group. Nahmir's inclusion in the list was mostly due to his incredibly viral songs Rubbin Off The Paint and Bounce Out With That, whereas Cordae did not have very many viral hits that year.

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Since then, he has had a few notable songs. While the most viral of his songs is Kung Fu, he really stepped into the limelight when releasing his song Old N****s. This song was a direct response to J Cole's song 1985, a song very critical of the new wave of rappers. The response to this was fantastic and immediately showed the lyrical quality of the YBN crew member.

In each of the past few years, the list has included one or two fantastic lyricists. Last year had J.I.D and the year before had Denzel Curry. Cordae would fit right at home with those talented artists and his cypher and freestyle would surely be the standout of the group.

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