YBN Almighty Jay’s Pitch for 2019 XXL Freshman

Before the 2019 XXL Freshman class will be revealed this summer, the Freshman hopefuls are here to show and prove why they deserve a spot in this year’s class. The 10th Spot voting will launch on March 25, which means hip-hop's rising newcomers are vying for a spot on the 2019 XXL Freshman cover.

YBN Almighty Jay is the spark plug of the Young Boss Niggas crew (also home to YBN Nahmir and YBN Cordae). The Galveston County, Texas native first made waves in 2017 with the release of "Chopsticks," which has been streamed nearly 30 million times on Spotify. Once romantically linked with Blac Chyna, Almighty Jay became a gossip blog fixture in the way his brethren had not. Yet the music grind has always been there: Jay graces 10 of the 23 tracks on 2018's YBN: The Mixtape with his smooth, high-energy flow (see the infectious single "2 Tone Drip," which has more than 17 million Spotify plays).

2019 got off to a turbulent start for YBN Almighty Jay, as he was the victim of a brutal assault and robbery in New York City earlier this month. But that has not hindered his music's performance. The video for "Let Me Breathe," his first release since the incident, has already been viewed more than 4 million times on YouTube, doubling the view count of its January predecessor, the YBN Nahmir and Lil Skies-featured "Think Twice."

Now that you've heard his pitch, remember to vote for your favorite artist beginning March 25. The 2019 XXL Freshman 10th Spot will run for one week. This is where the public gets the chance to vote an artist into the XXL Freshman Class. Go here to make your vote count for your favorite artist.

Once you voted, head over to XXL’s YouTube page to take a look back at the 2018 XXL Freshman Class, which featured Ski Mask The Slump God, Lil Pump, Smokepurpp, J.I.D, Stefflon Don, BlocBoy JB, YBN Nahmir, Wifisfuneral and Trippie Redd.

And watch all the 2019 XXL Freshman pitch videos that have been released on XXL's YouTube page here.

See Every XXL Freshman Class Cover Over the Years