XXL Magazine unveiled its 2015 Freshman Class last week. The longtime hip-hop publication has flipped this annual magazine cover from a simple novelty into a significant cultural imprint. People care when the XXL Freshman cover drops, as it provides hip-hop heads a glimpse into the future of rap. While not every artist featured on the cover blows up, XXL has managed to peg a few stars in the making such as Lupe Fiasco, Wale, J. Cole, Big Sean, Meek Mill, Curren$y, Wiz Khalifa and Kendrick Lamar.
What immediately stands out from this year’s cover (aside from the ridiculous vote-in selection of rap veteran Kidd Kidd) was not one, but two female MCs, both of whom have made a name for themselves over the last 12 months.
Detroit’s DeJ Loaf’s style is about as unique as her name. Softly aggressive, or aggressively soft, DeJ is unmistakeably feminine on the mic, but will not hesitate to rhyme about emptying the clip on the first person to talk slick. The official video for her hit “Try Me” has over 23 million YouTube views, while her seductive song “Me U & Hennessy” has been recently remixed with Lil Wayne.
While Weezy collabing with DeJ, Tink was already mobbin with rap royalty. A protégé of super-duper producer Timbaland, the Chicago native — who was high school classmates with and born on the same day as Jabari Parker — first made waves when Timbo hit up The Breakfast Club and acted like he didn’t want to leak some of her music, knowing full well that was half the reason he was there. She was actually a large part of the the song “Movin’ Bass”, off Rick Ross’ album Hood Billionaire. The version that made the album featured Jay Z, but not Tink, yet the Tink version was decisively better.
You’ll notice Timbo doesn’t work with just anybody. After years of working with a legendary female MC in Missy Elliot and the queen Aaliyah (and Magoo…let’s not ever forget that abomination is still on Tim’s résumé), Tim has worked extensively with Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, Hov, Bey and not many others. Timmy’s musical palate is uncompromising; he won’t work with someone he doesn’t feel has the talent to properly bring his production to life. But the way he talks about Tink though…
Vince Staples debut EP Hell Can Wait received glowing reviews from critics and Fetty Wap may have the song of the year. But this year’s freshman class appears to be lacking in legitimate star-power, which may be more of a reflection of the rap game than the those making the call at XXL (Bobby Shmurda had the biggest song of 2014, but he’s locked up right now, and you can’t make the freshman cover from the penitentiary). But Tink and DeJ Loaf might have the greatest “it factor” of any of these artists, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for hip-hop.
In years past, every new female rapper was made to almost sound like a dude (like Lil Kim or Foxy Brown, who initially sounded like each other) which caused unavoidable beefs. More recently, Nicki Minaj (who once passed on an XXL Freshman cover invite) became an international superstar, which also pissed off Kim, who felt Nick swaggerjacked her style without paying homage. Then Nicki and Iggy Azalea (XXL Class of 2012) spawned an alleged mutual contempt after Nicki indirectly referenced (we assume anyway) Iggy’s inability to write her own rhymes while receiving a BET Award. Before that Mexican standoff has the chance to conclude, Iggy also had to fend off the attacks of Azealia Banks, the rapper whose controversial interviews and insults garners 1000% more attention than her music ever has to this point. The two can’t seem to agree on (among many things) who owns the rights to the name “Azealia”, or “Azalea”— that’s right, they spell it differently.
Sidebar: Then there’s Lil Mama— Twitter had raised shading her to an art form.
Can you imagine if every male rapper who used the prefix “Young” “Kid” or “Lil” had a problem with every other male rapper who used the prefix “Young” “Kid” or “Lil”? The only thing that comes close to this was the brief disagreement between Rick Ross and Slim Thug over the “Boss” moniker. What about rappers calling out other rappers for ghostwriting? Yeah, it happens occasionally, but not nearly as much as the actual ghostwriting that takes place in the rap game. Shyne and Guerilla Black both sounded like Biggie once upon a time, but many other artists have infringed on the lanes of others without even so much as a “warning”— word to the black Frank White.
The point is, most females MCs can’t give their music the attention it deserves because they deal with a wave of criticism and animosity, largely from other female MCs, or from fans and media who feel the need to constantly pit them against one another. Tink and DeJ Loaf represent the new wave of female MCs. Their job is to make a lane for themselves by being themselves, which can hopefully result in more ladies who are able to carve their own lane and showcase their unique abilities.
There’s so much diversity in hip-hop these days that we’ve almost reach the point of having legitimate sub-genres, much like rock-and-roll possesses. Talib Kweli is nothing like Kid Cudi, who is nothing like Gunplay, who is nothing like Eminem, and it’s all accepted. But for whatever reason, we seem to only think there’s one sound, one style or one path to being a successful female rapper at a time. DeJ and Tink have versatility on their side, and if used properly, can make this year’s freshman class one of the most memorable to date.