The announcement of our 2015 XXL Freshman Class, of course, also means our Summer 2015 issue has arrived and it’s packed full of top-notch stories. We spent time with hip-hop’s pint-sized power duo Rae Sremmurd, who can’t stop dropping hits, and spoke to Bobby Shmurda in an exclusive interview from jail as he waits for his trial to begin at the end of the month. We spent the day with the Migos in Atlanta as they gear up to release their debut album in July and caught up with Troy Ave in New York City before he drops his own LP, out June 5. Boosie BadAzz let us into his thought process in writing Touch Down 2 Cause Hell and A$AP Rocky’s engineer Hector Delgado broke down the magic that made At.Long.Last.A$AP tick. Gucci Mane spoke to us exclusively from prison—and not just to give advice. And French Montana penned a few heartfelt words about the loss of his friend and fellow MC Chinx, who was tragically killed last month.
So we’ve got plenty to come as we roll out this issue, which hits newsstands later this month. But today, it’s all about congratulating the 2015 XXL Freshman Class. The process of selecting our Freshmen every year is an eight-month process, with thousands of hours dedicated to listening to new music, meeting and interviewing hundreds of potential Freshmen picking the brains of everyone and making and re-making (and re-making) the list over and over again to determine who we feel should represent this year’s Class. We’re proud of our picks. We hope you’ll agree.
Congratulations again to the 2015 XXL Freshman Class of DeJ Loaf, Fetty Wap, GoldLink, K Camp, OG Maco, Raury, Shy Glizzy, Tink, Vince Staples and Kidd Kidd. The future is now
