I'm not all that familiar with everyone on the list, which is probably a good thing since what I write down will be my gut reaction, but to keep things fair, I'll listen to a couple songs from each artist and let you know whether or not they're any good. (which is completely different from whether or not they reach success) I'll probably end up choosing one of their shittier songs, so if you have any recommendations, feel free to let me know.
Of course I'm already familiar with Chance the Rapper, as you can read my Acid Rap review here, so I don't really have all that much to say about him, but for all those unfamiliar with what I think, here's the rundown: I don't find too much joy in actually listening to Chancellor and his ad-libs are one of the most remarkably terrible things to happen in music over the last ten years, but I still recognize his talent and know that he's probably good for the balance of hip hop. I mean, at least he's creating some variety in a city overrun by the surge of drill and trap rap. He's also created his own lane that no one (thankfully) has really attempted to replicate. Chance isn't someone I'm dying to see in the future, but yeah, I'm not going to shit on creativity.
Rich Homie Quan
Ah yes, this fucker. You already know Rich Homie from his contributions to the mainstream radio over the past year ('Type of Way", "My Nigga") and absurd mixtape titles, but make no mistake, this dude is ass. I like to see myself as having a fairly open mind (Hell, I just gave Future a positive review), but I listened to this man's entire I Promise I Will Never Stop Going In mixtape a while back and for the life of me I couldn't find an enjoyable moment. It's not even like the Migos, where they're so over the top that it's funny to listen to. No, this shit is simply boring, uneventful, and pisses me off. But all that means he'll probably be the most successful of the bunch.
Isaiah Rashad
Once again we've reached a rapper that I've already covered on the site. (You can read my Cilvia Demo review here) I've gotta tell ya, this is the one you should probably keep up with if your goal is to find enjoyable music. His sound took a while to really grow on me, and I even hated some songs at first, but his ability to mesh such intense rhymes with laid back production is rather unique, and to make things better, he's no slouch on the mic either. Definitely my favorite of the crew so far and a true gem in the TDE conglomerate.
Ty Dolla $ign
This seems to be representative of the truly awful direction R&B has taken as of late: I didn't think it was possible to hear someone sound like T-Pain but sound more like a pussy, but here we are. I'm probably a dick for not listening to more than a couple of his songs, so I won't completely dismiss the rest of his career, but just listen to "Paranoid" or "4 A Young" and tell me it's good. You'll be met with me spitting in you goddamn lying ass face, but at least your opinion will be voiced.
Lil Durk
As of now, Lil Durk and Tyga are currently engaging in a beef, which thankfully saves the Drake/Jay-Z feud from being the biggest load of pussy shit all year. I listened to a couple of this motherfucker's songs and nothing really jumped out at me, but there's not the slightest molecular change in a million years that I would ever consider taking dude serious until he dissociates himself with the scum of the earth, Tyga.
Kevin Gates
I lightweight fuck with this dude. Aside from the overly dramatic mixtape covers he's forced upon the public's eyes over the past few years, he's been the best thing to come out of Louisiana since Lil Boosie. (I'm only being halfway sarcastic) I was even considering reviewing his latest project, but apparently I had more important things to do. Anyways, this is a perfect case of someone able to paint a vivid picture of the hood by using vocals alone instead of incredibly descriptive lyrics. Don't be surprised if Kevin Gates ends up being the best complete artist out of the pack.
Troy Ave
I've been seeing this name all over the blogosphere for the better part of the year now and for some reason I never gave him a chance, but if his entire body of work reflects "Everything" and "Lord As My Witness", I've been fucking up. This dude is actually pretty damn dope. On the former song, Troy hold his own with Pusha T, which speaks volumes considering King Push is one of my favorite rappers. But yeah, expect some type of review from me whenever Troy Ave releases an album, because it might end up being pretty good.
Vic Mensa
Yet another rapper I've already written about here. Vic Mensa's influences from Chance the Rapper are so heavy that I'd consider it complete biting, but he's a much better rapper, so I guess we can temporarily put him on the "good' side of the blog, and honestly, he probably has the highest ceiling of everyone on this list. I don't know if he's ever going to blow up, though. I thought INNANETAPE would catapult him into a bigger audience, but he hasn't done much of late, so I really have no clue as to what the future holds for Vic Mensa. I don't really give a fuck either, so take that how you will.
Lil Bibby
XXL had to include one of the huge up and coming drill rappers, but I found it interesting that they chose to roll with the obviously less talented Lil Bibby. (Translation: Lil Herb is better and should have been on this fucking list) Anyways, I still kind of like this guy. He's far from a lyrical messiah and he might have one of the world's most garbage names I've ever seen, but he's still a nice ambassador of one of hip hop's fastest growing sub-genre's
Jon Connor
For years now, Jon Connor has been the physical embodiment of "meh". I mean, for such a talented lyricist, it's actually remarkable how much charisma this man lacks. I get that he has to be on here to appease most blogs, but you all can give up on this guy ever blowing up. For heaven's sake he's signed to Aftermath, you're out of your mind if you think he'll shine next to Kendrick and Eminem. But that ends my bizarre rant against Jon Connor because I still kind of fuck with him.
Jarren Benten
Jarren Benten is a skilled technical rapper and he actually has much more of a personality than one would expect, but for his own sake, he needs to get away from Funk Volume as fast as humanly possible. The same goes for Dizzy Wright because Hopsin's label completely reflects his personality: lame as all fuck. Hell, they could send Hopsin to the farthest ends of the universe to wherever the shit ends and I'd still want the motherfucker gone more than that. But don't get it twisted, Jerren Benten is nice.
August Alsina
Ol' August stirred up a small bit of controversy the other day concerning his beef with Trey Songz, so I've been familiar with him for a while but I was surprised to realize that he's actually alright. He''s much more R&B, which isn't exactly my area of expertise, but he writes descriptively and has a nice voice, so from now on I'll know him as the guy better than Ty Dolla $ign. Definitely keep your eyes peeled for August Alsina because he has the star potential top be something huge.
So that wraps up my brief overview of the 2014 XXL Freshman list. Like every other year, we've got some artists with serious potential, some that have already blown up, and a select few that are down right terrible. Let me know if you feel like I'm missing out on someone's signature style, but for anyone that wants to throw a fit because I don't like your favorite artist, just remember that the equation for the amount of fucks I'm capable of giving multiplied by the amount of times I would actually spare that fuck looks pretty close to this----> 0 x 0 = ___. Enjoy your day.