The first single, “Hey”, is a bright hip-hop/pop song with a fast pace but smooth vibe all the way through. The second single, “Forrest”, is a hyper-rap/pop song that takes you on a musical merry go round with a looping flow and a hypnotic beat that builds. Finally, “Sliding Down” is a soft spoken southern trap love song delivered over a good vibration and hard hitting 808s.
As a refresher, my name is Darrin Jones and I’m a 25 year old independent artist from Columbus, Georgia. I have amassed over 100k followers across my social media channels and my music mixes vintage pop vibes with a modern rap/hip hop flow. Stacked with youthful bravado, my music has a psychedelic, new wave sound that people of all ages and audiences can relate to and enjoy.
Taylor Swift set some serious records with the release of her latest album, Midnights, including holding every spot on the Billboard Top 10, the first person, man or woman, to accomplish the feat. (Drake held nine.) So when we saw she was coming out with remixes of “Anti-Hero,” the single that held the top spot, we were curious which top-tier EDM artist she would end up tapping. READ MORE HERE
Coming off his debut album release, Seven Lions releases a special VIP version of his cult classic collab with Kill The Noise, “The Blood,” from 2019. The haunting track delves into three distinct drops of heart-pumping psytrance, head-banging dubstep and elements of techno. READ MORE HERE
In computing, the function ctrl+alt+del most commonly brings up the task manager, an operating system component that gives a user access to some of the computer’s most internal processes and information. Here, you can inspect hardware usage, add/remove programs and processes, look up app history, and more. In short, it’s the not-so-secret window into your favorite electronics’ soul.
CURRENTLY WORKING ON: As-yet-untitled project due this fall.
WHO ELSE SHOULD BE PART OF THIS YEAR’S CLASS: “I ain’t gon’ lie, Nardo Wick gotta be on there. For shit sure. Before even me. Not even to discredit myself or anything like that, just give a nigga their flowers type shit. Who’s here is who I expected to be.”
INFLUENCED BY: “Myself and whoever on trap music. You know, the culture of whatever I’m on. I’m really influenced by myself. I be in my own lane.”
AS A FRESHMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL: “Class clown, bursting out. I’m checking you all day. I’m checking the teacher. I’m making her laugh. That’s how I’m passing. Making everybody laugh. Give me some D’s. Shit, in the hallways. Wasn’t in class. Shit, but I was that nigga, though.”
TRUTH ON BEING AN XXL FRESHMAN: “[It’s important for me to be a part of the 2022 XXL Freshman class because of] my flow. Who can copy that? Who can rap to be like me? If you ask me, nobody. Anybody can sound alike or anything voice-wise, but when it comes to tempo or random beats, it goes.[Being a Freshman became a dream of mine] when it happened. When I dropped my first video. Actually, when I first did my first song is when I seen I could be able to do this. It was never a thing I wanted to do. I just tried the shit one time and it went. Just like my partner was saying, you ever had some shit going and you never paid attention to the other shit you were doing because this shit was bringing you in so much good shit? It’s a thing like that.If you ask me, it’s been my time, but I ain’t rushing. I ain’t forcing nothing. I’m in my own lane. I feel like whatever comes my way is a blessing.
[When my fans find out I’m on the XXL Freshman cover], they’re gonna go crazy. ’Cause like, this early in the year in my career, like for me, it’s big, if you ask me. For the city, it’s gon’ be big.”
Russian producer, DJ and composer Blind Mutation continues to flourish as a composer and DJ while releasing music/videos. She’s released a variety of long mixes on Soundcloud capturing different styles and sounds within techno and experimental electronic music. Her biggest influences are Aphex Twin, Arca, Clams Casino, Hans Zimmer, I Hate Models, Jon Hopkins, Clint Mansell and Svarog, which explains her impressively wide array of musical talents. She’s truly an exciting artist to watch who’s creativity seems limitless.
NOTABLE RELEASES: Songs: “Walk,” “Material Girl,” “Walk Em Like a Dog”; Projects: Keep It Playa, Outside, It’s a Vibe; Guest Appearances: R3hab’s “Put Your Hands on My ___,” Tay Money’s “Hello”
LABEL: Do What You Want/RCA
CURRENTLY WORKING ON: New music arriving this summer.
WHO ELSE SHOULD BE PART OF THIS YEAR’S CLASS: “Enchanting is really dope. She can rap, plus she has a Summer Walker side and I just love her melodies and her flow. She’s a really dope artist. So, I’m surprised she ain’t here with me. That’s my sister.”
INFLUENCED BY: “Gucci Mane, Nicki Minaj. Lately, Moneybagg [Yo]. Jacki-O, Trina, Khia, you know, Florida girls. Just growing up in Florida, that’s always been our vibe. Listening to Trina and Jacki-O, those were our leaders, those were our mothers being from Florida. Gucci Mane has been my favorite rapper since I was 14 years old. I used to get in trouble for listening to Gucci Mane because my mama wasn’t having it. A lot of my influence, beat choices that I do, things that I say, I get from Guwop.”
AS A FRESHMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL: “I was a funny student. I was smart, but I was rebellious. I was skipping school, smoking weed at the baseball field. I liked math and Spanish.”
TRUTH ON BEING AN XXL FRESHMAN: “[Being an XXL Freshman is] such a big deal for me because I feel like being a Freshman, that gives us our sense of recognition and validation. Big artists always get their flowers and stuff. With us just being new and coming, it’s just nice to have something that’s dedicated to us.
[I bring] loud and proud. Black, feminine, flamboyant, gay boy. Never seen this shit before. None of them out there is like me, period. Just my aura, my attitude. Just me being myself. One-of-one. It could only be one Santana. I know other people out there may wear the wigs or makeup or whatever, but I think just being me simply makes me stand out from everybody else.
[XXL Freshman class is important because] you can just always create new audiences. You have new eyes. You have people that probably don’t pay attention to [Saucy] Santana, but pay attention to XXL and the Freshman list, and check out for them. I like to seize the moment of everything and every opportunity because you just never know who’s watching.
My fans are gonna be happy and they gon’ gag because we know this is something big. Especially for us, with being gay, we just always feel like we’re counted out. This is gonna be big for me and my community.
Once the cover comes out, it’s on the flo’. We going to the strip club. I’m throwing it in bitches’ faces. For real. Meet me at Allure [Gentleman’s Club].”
As one of Italy’s finest DJs, Tommy Mambretti is a renowned veteran in the music industry. At just 15 years old, he started mixing at the most prominent Italian clubs, such as Covo Di Nord-Est in Santa Marghertia Ligure. Fueled by his passion for music, Tommy ended up living and working in Miami for 15 years, taking in all the new trends and styles of house music.
NOTABLE RELEASES: “Jesus Shuttlesworth,” “Prince of the Mitten,” “Emperor of the Universe”; Mixtapes: Bin Reaper, Bin Reaper 2, Megatron; Guest Appearances: Lil Yachty’s “Hybrid”
LABEL: The Hip Hop Lab Records/Empire
CURRENTLY WORKING ON:Bin Reaper 3 project due in October.
WHO ELSE SHOULD BE PART OF THIS YEAR’S CLASS: “I can’t speak for everybody else, but I think y’all did a pretty good job ’cause y’all got me on there.”
INFLUENCED BY: “Chief Keef. When he came out, I was like 11 or 12. I just found that shit fascinating at the time. I liked all that shit, but like probably ‘Love Sosa.’ Really, the whole Detroit rap scene. Doughboyz Cashout. I was like 12, 13. Drake, that was like earlier influence. Lil Uzi [Vert]. He had a new sound. I found that important.”
AS A FRESHMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL: “Bad as hell. A couple fights. Just everything bad. I didn’t do work. I just didn’t care about school. Mr. Porter, my physics teacher in high school. I fucked with dude. He was just too cool.”
TRUTH ON BEING AN XXL FRESHMAN: “I just feel like [being a Freshman] is not something everybody can do or everybody gets to do. If you get the chance to do it, you should always be happy to take it, you know? It’s an opportunity.
I always kind of remember [the Freshman classes] ’cause I always been on YouTube and shit as a kid, just listening to rap. You just gonna see it. It’s gonna pop up in your recommended or whatever ’cause it has so many views. But the one where I was like, Damn, this shit’s kind of crazy, it was the one with [Lil] Yachty and all of them. I thought that shit was crazy ’cause it was like all them people on that one and there was just a lot of shit going on. I probably started rapping like a year, year-and-a-half after that. For the first year or two me rapping, it was just in my friend’s closet having fun. I was never serious at first. It just became serious. I’d say I started rapping for real [in] 2019, and I started thinking of all the stuff I want to end up doing and [being a Freshman] was just one of the things.
Originality [is what I bring]. If you hear me, you gonna know, ‘Oh, that was a BabyTron song.’ You might hear me rap on a Harry Potter beat or you might hear me rap on an Aretha Franklin sample or an ’80’s techno beat. You just never know. You just gotta listen. It’s just punchlines, like new generation, Lil Wayne-type shit. It’s fun. Straight rap.”
NOTABLE RELEASES: Songs: “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake,” “Persuasive,” “Crazy”; Projects: Oh The Places You’ll Go, Coven Music Session, Vol. 1; Guest Appearances: Isaiah Rashad’s “Wat U Sed, David Guetta and Afrojack’s “Trampoline” with Missy Elliott and BIA”
LABEL: Top Dawg Entertainment/Capitol
CURRENTLY WORKING ON: As-yet-untitled album due later this year.
WHO ELSE SHOULD BE PART OF THIS YEAR’S CLASS: “Monaleo. I find her being just a dope-ass person. I think she puts in the work and has the talent. I don’t even know why she’s not on here to be honest. I think she’s genuinely really fucking hard.”
INFLUENCED BY: “Kanye West. Drake. Tyler, The Creator. Lil Wayne. Nicki Minaj. Lauryn Hill. Erykah Badu. Those are artists that have an equal balance of creativity and honesty. Throughout their whole careers, they keep growing. I feel like when an artist starts to feel old or washed up to the public, it’s when you can feel that they’re not growing and trying new things. They’re not challenging themselves. They’re not students anymore. Nicki is still a student. She’s still tapping into new flows. Tyler is still a student. Kanye is still a student. Drake is still a student. That’s why they’re the greatest.”
AS A FRESHMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL: “I was lame as fuck. I knew I wasn’t gonna be lame forever, but I was lame because I was scared to be me. I would act dumb and really childish and lame because I was trying to be somebody else. That’s very lame to me. And everybody can sense it. We all know that person who’s trying to be somebody they’re not and you’re like, ‘Nigga, you’re lame as fuck. Just be yourself.’ I went to a performing arts school. I was in chorus. I was taking music theory. [And that’s where I learned] how to compose music. I know how to actually write music. Not just lyrics. And I had a singing group that I was with in the ninth grade. I was like the leader of this group. I was writing our songs and shit like that for this gospel choir. So, I was really heavy in music.”
TRUTH ON BEING AN XXL FRESHMAN: “[I started realizing that Freshman was a big deal in] 2016, when I saw Kodak Black. He was a regular nigga out of my city and I saw him on XXL. I was like, no, not only is XXL serious, but he’s fucking serious. So, then I started paying attention really closely.
I’m bringing a musicality and creativity that hasn’t been touched in a while. Like a Tyler, The Creator flavor. An alternative flavor. I think that hip-hop has been one wave for a long time and I’m bringing a little alternative, awkward tea. Editorial tea. Soften it up a little bit.
[My fans are] going to really like [me being on the cover]. I think that they’re going to feel like it’s a win for them. And that’s kinda the reason why I do this. Because people want to feel like they won something.
I feel like that’s the reason why niggas be so into sports when they watch sports and their favorite team wins. They feel like they won. Same thing with rap. They’re gonna feel like they won and I want them to feel like that. I want them to see the cover and the a cappella freestyle. Everything is a stepping stone. Even negative shit. And this is a stepping stone.”
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