XXL Freshmen 2014

Isaiah Rashad will kick off the #XXLFreshmen14  AMAs on Reddit tomorrow. As the TDE rapper will be unveiling everything you want to do and more, make sure to tune in. Rich Homie Quan, Ty Dolla $ign, Vic Mensa, Kevin Gates, Jon Connor, and Jarren Benton will also be partaking in the AMA events, starting tomorrow. Pee...

Watch Vic Mensa's video for "Down On My Luck." In the clip the rapper-singer hits the club, playing out a host of scenarios. From getting hit by a car to being arrested, the XXL Freshman crafts up quite an entertaining visual. Press Play...

When Nas released his debut album Illmatic 20 years ago on April 19, 1994, he knew he had something great on his hands. What he didn't know was that Illmatic would go on to be considered one of the single greatest bodies of work in hip-hop history, and one of the best debut albums in music, period. In that er...

Directed by Travis Satten (@travissatten) Produced by ApK (@weareapk) Chance The Rapper is one of the 12 Freshmen on XXL's 2014 Freshmen list revealed last Mon., May 5, on BET's 106 & Park. All last week we've been providing you with a behind-the-scenes look at the selection process, the photo shoot, and the work it takes to pull it all together. But today ki...

Want to know what goes into selecting the hottest new artists for XXL's coveted Freshmen cover? The magazine's editor-in-chief Vanessa Satten and senior editor Dan Rys recently chopped it up with NPR news for their Microphone Check segment and gave an insightful interview about what goes into putting the anticipated issue together, the two extra positions in this year's class, adding R&B arti

The photo shoot for the XXL Freshmen cover happens in one gigantic day, with the 12 artists, the XXL staff, each artist's entourage, and the people that make up the infrastructure behind the scenes that delivers such an iconic moment all running around in one building. That inc...

Picking the XXL Freshman Class is overwhelming. When anyone asks what the process is like, I explain that for a good few months we at XXL are really popular people. Everyone is our friend and wants to stop by the office and chill with us. Some are obvious about why they are coming around, and others try to play coy, like we don’t know what they are up to and why they’re there. But we go ... Read M

The 2014 XXL Freshman Class cover shoot was insane, wild and utterly incredible, but above all, it was shrouded in mystery. With 12 artists coming in from across the country—complete with entourages, managers and family members—as well multiple photo and video crews, the result was a day that would inspire a serious case of FOMO for any hip-hop fan. Well, X...

XXL takes you behind the scenes of the #XXLFreshmen14 cover! Check out "Behind The Scenes Photos From The XXL Freshmen 2014 Shoot."

Find out everything you want to know and possibly more as the #XXLFreshmen14 are hosting "Ask Me Anything" sessions on Reddit. Kicking off on May 13 and wrapping on June 3, fans will be able to interact with this year's class asking every question one could possibly desire...

From 106 & Park to the #XXLFreshmen14 release party along with interviews and much more, check out "A Photo Gallery Of Everything XXL Freshmen 2014 ."

XXL Freshmen 2014 marks the seventh time we've given shine to a bunch of up-and-comers in the game on our cover. It all started with the "Leaders Of The New School" issue above from 2007, where we named hip-hop's next superstars. We took a year off in 2008 but came back strong in 2009 with a lineup that included Wale, B...