Before the 2018 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 has ficially launched, which means hip-hop's rising newcomers are vying for a spot on the 2018 XXL Freshman cover.
Kent Jones first said, "Hola, cómo estás" to the hip-hop world in 2016, with "Don't Mind," a summery smash hit that courts women various nationalities and native tongues. The multilingual song reached No. 8 on the Billboard pop chart and has been streamed more than 300 million times on Spotify. The Tallahassee, Fla. native—who drops bars just as deftly as he carries notes (and plays piano)—followed that platinum single with his Too Much Too Soon mixtape, which features a fun posse cut with E-40, Lil Dicky and Ty Dolla $ign called "Sit Down."
While he's spent much 2017 cooking up in the stu—also dropping f his Luh Tape mixtape—he's returned in 2018 with a contagious, danceable single called "Merengue," just another taste what's to come from the DJ Khaled protégé's upcoming full-length album.
Now that you've watched his pitch, it's time to vote. The 2018 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've voted, head over to XXL’s YouTube page to take a look back at the 2017 XXL Freshman Class, which featured A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Aminé, Kap G, Kamaiyah, Kyle, Madeintyo, Playboi Carti, PnB Rock, Ugly God and 10th spot winner XXXTentacion.
And watch all the 2018 XXL Freshman pitch videos that have been released on XXL's YouTube page here.