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xxl magazine Tag

July 15, 2021
Latest News

Rubi Rose, Pooh Shiesty, Flo Milli and 42 Dugg’s Roundtable

[ad_1] Creating the XXL Freshman cover and its supporting content is typically a hectic but rewarding experience during the day of the shoot, which went down in Atlanta in May this year. Selected artists get pulled in different directions all day, and other than grouping up to hear the cypher beat, don’t often get time to sit down and converse with one another. The roundtable interview discussions that follow each cypher offer them that opportunity, with Rubi Rose, Pooh Shiesty, Flo Milli and 42 Dugg being the last batch to have their thoughts shared on the entire experience.Lexington, Ky. native Rubi Rose speaks on the celebratory nature of the day’s events and meeting people who...

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July 14, 2021
Latest News

Blxst and Toosii’s 2021 XXL Freshman Roundtable Interview

[ad_1] The XXL Freshman process is an extensive one. It starts with months of artists pitches that includes interviews and listening sessions. Next comes the shoot, crammed with back-to-back activities including the freestyles, cyphers, ABCs, photoshoots and more. The day can truly be exhausting, but at the end of it all, 2021 XXL Freshmen elects Blxst and Toosii finally got a breather and reflected on the busy journey in their roundtable interview following the cypher they bodied.At the top of the segment, the two genre-blending artists share their thoughts on being a Freshman. For Blxst, the West Coast rhymer whose rapping and singing skills helped build his hype with esteemed projects like No Love Lost...

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July 14, 2021
Latest News

Toosii and Blxst’s 2021 XXL Freshman Cypher

[ad_1] 2021 XXL Freshmen Toosii and Blxst similarly operate as R&B guys at heart who are good in the streets. The content of their music will zigzag between topics of broken hearts in one bar and focus on spraying heat that pulls back the faces of their enemies in the next. Whether it’s singing or rapping, they can finesse both. The two talented artists hold it down in a cypher together that was initially set to include other switch-hitting acts like The Kid Laroi, who couldn’t participate last minute, and Iann Dior, who opted not to rap on the day of the Freshman shoot. Toosii, reppin' Syracuse, N.Y. and Raleigh, N.C., and Blxst, from South Central, L.A., deliver straight bars to...

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July 14, 2021
Latest News

DY Krazy Elevates His Sound With Beats for Juice Wrld and More

[ad_1] Production CreditInterview: Kemet HighEditor’s Note: This story originally appeared in the Spring 2021 issue of XXL Magazine, on stands now.With a production style that blends trap, gospel, R&B and Chicago juke music, DY Krazy, 26, has helped shock the pulse into songs like Lil Baby and EST Gee’s “Real As It Gets,” Juice Wrld’s “Titanic” and Lil Uzi Vert’s “Lullaby.” Here, Krazy speaks about his growing track record in the 808 Mafia super team.XXL: What did you think about Lil Baby and EST Gee’s performance on “Real As It Gets”?DY Krazy: I fuck with it. Lil Baby is one of the main artists I work with. I knew he was going...

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July 14, 2021
Latest News

DDG, Lakeyah, Morray and Coi Leray’s 2021 XXL Freshman Cypher

[ad_1] The 2021 XXL Freshman cyphers are finally here and best believe that they’re starting off with a bang. The first group with the task of showing and proving why they landed a spot on the coveted cover consists of 10th Spot winner DDG, Quality Control Music signee Lakeyah, soul crooner Morray and social media savant Coi Leray.Each of the four acts use bull-ish bars and no-Auto-Tune warbling to skate through an enchanting beat, twirled with assuaging key melodies and pounding bass drops. That soothing foundation is set by none other than Internet Money creative Nick Mira, who serves as this year’s Freshman beat curator. Nick, who recently launched his own Mira Touch record label, produced...

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July 13, 2021
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DDG, Lakeyah, Morray and Coi Leray’s 2021 XXL Freshman Interview

[ad_1] The surreal feeling of turning a dream into reality is unmatched. Those pivotal moments are often filled with feelings of anxiety, peace and motivation, all wrapped up into one. 2021 XXL Freshmen DDG, Lakeyah, Morray and Coi Leray reflect on that during their post-cypher roundtable interview, along with their thoughts on what went down in Atlanta on the day of the Freshman shoot in May, their influences and their shared mindset of growing even bigger and better in the future.DDG turned years worth of YouTube vlogs and social media leverage into the foundation of his budding rap career. Though he’s recently switched lanes to focus on rapping and left his YouTuber...

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July 13, 2021
Latest News

Iann Dior Names His Top Five Favorite Rappers

[ad_1] Asking someone to name their favorite artists is a complicated task. Sometimes, the salute comes from the catalog quality. Perhaps it’s a stylistic component that makes them reign supreme. Possibly, the rationale could fall squarely in having an undeniable imprint on the culture. When Iann Dior offers his handful of favorite artists to XXL, he does so by doubling down on each of those notions.To introduce the set, Iann begins with his favorite artist, J. Cole. “He tells stories in his music and I feel like a lot of people don’t really do that,” the 2021 XXL Freshman explains.The next person Iann mentions is one of a Cole’s direct peers. And honestly, a...

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July 12, 2021
Latest News

Nick Mira Makes the Beats for the 2021 XXL Freshman Class Cyphers

[ad_1] Nick MiraThe Virginia-bred producer and Internet Money creative speaks on being the musical curator for the 2021 XXL Freshman Class.As Told to Georgette ClineEditor’s Note: This story originally appeared in the Summer 2021 issue of XXL Magazine, on stands now.“When I first heard about [myself and Internet Money being selected as the musical curators for XXL Freshman this year] I was really excited. It’s really cool for me because me being a kid in school watching the videos at home and then a couple of years later, I’m being able to have this opportunity to play my own beats that I’ve made… I’m very grateful for XXL picking us.So, basically, since...

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July 12, 2021
Latest News

Iann Dior Lists His Top Five Favorite Hip-Hop Albums

[ad_1] Arresting narratives have always had an allure on Iann Dior. As someone who possesses a golden pen that flipped pages of his poetry into gold and platinum-selling songs, it comes as no surprise that projects containing plenty of lucid storytelling have earned the stamp of approval in this 2021 XXL Freshman's list of his top five favorite hip-hop albums.For many J. Cole fans like Iann, the audio recollections of Cole’s adolescence power the reasoning behind 2014 Forest Hills Drive getting its due respect in this all-time discussion. “In high school, that had a big impact on me,” Iann rationalizes.Immediately following with magnus opus-type quality on the table, the hip-hop and pop genre bender, who topped the...

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July 10, 2021
Latest News

Rubi Rose’s 2021 XXL Freshman Freestyle

[ad_1] As hip-hop prepares to celebrate its 48th birthday next month, the genre has elevated to heights that its founding fathers may have never thought possible. The influx of artists trying to get recognized for their rhymes isn't enough to stand out from the competition these days. 2021 XXL Freshman Rubi Rose's voice has set her apart from many of the rap newcomers in her league. While her liberating lyrics of sex, power and boss moves have become fodder for social media captions and the TikTok set, it's how Rubi delivers the music that leaves a lasting impression. Her deep, sultry tone has pushed her 2019 track "Big Mouth" to over 15 million Spotify streams and...

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