Voting is now open for XXL’s tenth spot for its annual “Freshman Class” cover, featuring the publication’s picks for the ten hottest up and coming rappers in the game. One thing is for certain, 2017’s tenth spot includes loads of women. Out of 116 nominees, 11 are women.
Voting opened on March 27th and closes on April 2nd at midnight. You can vote for whomever you want as often as you like, but you have to wait four hours in between each vote.The artist with the most votes that hasn’t already been chosen for the class, wins the “Freshman Class” tenth spot.
Men tend to have an advantage because one of the dynamic that plays into who wins is big ups from established players in the game, and not surprisingly, men tend to support other men. To counteract that impact, we say vote for each and every woman listed below as many times as you possible can!
Women on the 2017 list:
070 Shake: North Bergen, NJ
BIA: Boston
Cardi B: Bronx
Crystal Caines: Harlem
Kamaiyah: Oakland, California
Kari Faux: Little Rock, Arkansas
Leaf: Brooklyn
Little Simz: London
Noname: Chicago
Princess Nokia: New York
Young M.A: Brooklyn
For a sense of what’s to come, the 2016 cover included the following: Anderson Paak, 21 Savage, Kodak Black, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Dicky, Dave East, Denzel Curry, Desiigner, G Herbo and Lil Yachty (who won the tenth spot). The last women to land a place on the list were Dej Loaf and Tink, both on the 2015 cover.
Check out Princess Nokia’s pitch for the “Freshman Class” below: