All tagged KayCyy

Ranking The 2022 XXL Freshman List

Ranking The 2022 XXL Freshman List

Nate Spurlin

With the release of the annual XXL Freshman list commemorating twelve up and coming Hip-Hop artists that are expected to make an impact in the genre throughout their careers. Selected to the 2022 XXL Freshman List are Nardo Wick, Doechii, SoFaygo, Babyface Ray, Kali, KayCyy, Cochise, BIG30, KenTheMan, Big Scarr, Saucy Santana, and BabyTron. Some of these names are artists I’ve written or talked about within the past year and others are artists that I’m being exposed to for the first time. Having listened to a lot of their music and curated a playlist with some of their best tracks, here are my rankings for the 2022 XXL Freshman List.

Fivio Foreign Provides A Blueprint for New York Drill on ‘B.I.B.L.E.’

Fivio Foreign Provides A Blueprint for New York Drill on ‘B.I.B.L.E.’

Nate Spurlin

Two of my favorite drill tracks of all time are ‘War’ by Pop Smoke featuring Lil TJay and ‘Mannequin’ created by the same duo. Both tracks stand out in Pop Smoke’s discography as the perfect contrast with Pop Smoke’s menacing presence and Lil TJay’s melodic vocals complimenting each other. This provided a splash of diversity for a discography that felt one-dimensional at the time, serving as foreshadowing for what the next step for the subgenre should be. On B.I.B.L.E., Fivio Foreign follows the same formula with most of the features providing a contrast to the aggressive drill style while going a step further by picking beats with soft melodic foundations.