LUCKI has criticized XXL over its Freshman freestyles, accusing the magazine of setting up its annual class of rookies to “fail.”
The Chicago rapper aired his grievances in a voice note shared on X (formerly Twitter) after XXL claimed that one of its 2024 Freshmen bailed on their customary freestyle.
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“The fact that XXL could get mad that somebody don’t wanna do their freestyle […] Bruh, it’s 2024. The fact that they still got the format the same as it was in 2013, that’s how you know XXL is in it just for the engagement part,” he began. “They know the freestyles is gonna be the most viral part.
“It’s 2024; n-ggas don’t even record music the same way. Fuck recording; n-ggas don’t even consume music the same way they was in 2013! The fact that you make these young artists go up there and freestyle on any beat, to something they don’t got already. Nobody even do that in the first place.”
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He continued: “It’s not no fucking young Nasir from Queens gon’ pop up. It’s no lyrical geniuses. It is, but people don’t even care about the lyrics. The fact that they still got them doing that, you obviously setting them up for failure.
“It’s 2024. If they want people to care about the Freshman List, they gotta change the Freshman List to get in [touch] with the times.”
LUCKI added in a follow-up Tweet: “I guess ima die on this hill but I’m not wrong yall. This literally the rap version of the best players in the NBA not doing the dunk contest anymore. It’s Just a different game [shrugging emoji].”
https://twitter.com/FLAWLESSLUCKI/status/1808780522963021981]
LUCKI’s comments come after XXL, which unveiled its 2024 Freshman class last week, called out an unnamed artist for ditching the freestyle portion of the shoot at the last-minute and providing a “pathetic” excuse.
Editor-in-chief Vanessa Satten wrote: “The shoots didn’t go off without a hitch, though. One Freshman got so shook over the cypher that he ditched the shoot literally five minutes before it was going to be filmed.
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“He pretended to go to his car for clothing, hopped in and got outta there. He and his team then refused to answer our or their publicist’s calls. It would’ve been nice for them to return one call.”
She added: “I’ve never seen anything like that before. Some of you will probably laugh at what he did because you think he’s poppin’ anyway, so it ain’t nothin’, but I think it was a pathetic way to handle things. And it definitely caused some havoc and felt like a ruthless way to conduct business.”
Rich Amiri, who is included in this year’s class alongside the likes of Cash Cobain, That Mexican OT and BigXthaPlug, later outed himself as the culprit but took issue with the magazine’s version of events.
In a series of since-deleted tweets, the rising Boston rapper accused XXL of “lying” and said: “[I didn’t] pretend to go for no clothes i just walked out.”
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However, a trailer for this year’s Freshman freestyles shows Amiri spitting some bars. 4Batz is the only artist not included in the clip.
