Watch J.I.D and Ski Mask The Slump God’s 2018 XXL Freshman Cypher

One of the most anticipated parts of what comes with the XXL Freshman Class each year is the cyphers. These groups of XXL cover stars have garnered a lot of attention in years' past, as it's a platform for each artist to show off their skills on the mic. This cypher, which features Dreamville's own J.I.D and slick-tongued South Florida wordsmith Ski Mask The Slump God, is sure to impress thanks to their chemistry and elite rap skills.

J.I.D, who prides himself on keeping it real, starts things off over the Sonny Digital-produced beat as Ski Mask paces in the background. The Atlanta MC jumps directly into it, rattling off bar after bar with no hesitation. "Lame niggas I gotta put it in layman's terms/I'm finna murda you, niggas, you better spread the word," is part of J.I.D's early approach, and he continues to turn it up from there. "If you don't like it, tell a nigga jump/If he feelin' Kermit, if he sleepin' on me/We can make it permanent, and leave him stinkin'/He a really permeate, he really reekin.'"

Ski Mask The Slump God, whose 2018 XXL Freshman freestyle is the most-watched freestyle of this year's class at 3.3 million views, is clearly impressed by J.I.D's work when he says, "Ouch." Rather than continue over Sonny's beat, the "Catch Me Outside" rhymer decides to go a cappella, similar to what his late friend XXXTentacion did in his 2017 XXL Freshman cypher. Ski paces a little bit then goes right into his humorous, yet lyrically dense verse which can be heard from a feature he did on Grio$'s 2017 track "Party in the Hills." "Smoking on Afghan, matter fact Saddam/No ceilings like Weezy, but she's feeling linen/Because I turned a chicken up into a bhicken" he quickly spits in his trademark style.

He then gets a couple of clever name-drops off: "But fuck all the drama, you can meet my llama/Black diamonds like Kony, matter fact Obama/My jewelry's so water, water like Osama."

The duo quickly bonded on set at the 2018 XXL Freshman shoot, and were excited to rap with each other. Let's hope this cypher leads to an eventual collab between the two talents.

Watch J.I.D and Ski Mask The Slump God's 2018 XXL Freshman cypher above. And check out their roundtable interview and solo freestyles below.

See Behind-the-Scenes Photos of J.I.D and Ski Mask The Slump God's 2018 XXL Freshman Cypher