Benz and a Backpack

Nipsey Hussle is gearing up for the release of his debut album South Central State of Mind, which should drop this winter. “Feelin’ Myself” is the first cut off the album, and it features Atlanta singer Lloyd. The video portrays Nipsey’s lifestyle from 2004 to 2006, then moves to 2010, displaying how his life has changed in that span of time.

Most of America was first exposed to Nipsey Hussle when he was featured in this years XXL Freshmen Read the rest of this entry →

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As a whole, this mixtape is only as good as its collective parts. And though Nipsey Hussle, Big Sean, Freddie Gibbs, Wiz Khalifa and J. Cole throw down on tracks 3-8, DJ Whoo Kid makes sure to remind all of us why the artists are always better than the DJ when he’s on the joint. Yes, whooooo kiiiiiid, we know its you, we know you like cutting in with little kids in the playground and horror noises, but da Juiceman has said “bread in the kitchen” enough… there is no need to “throw that shit back.”

Highlights are a dope beat on track 6, Fashawn going in on track 4, and J Cole showing his NY state of mind on “Who’s World.” All in all, its a good product from 10 esteemed young artists.

Since datpiff doesn’t want to tell you the artist order, and since its an incomplete version of the tape, we’ll post it below the jump for you. Download the full tape at XXLmag.com

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On Monday XXL released the cover for its 10 Freshmen for ’10 issue following a month-long promo campaign that featured videos of each rapper on the list flowing. After doing some digging I found out a few fun facts:

1. Drake and Nicki Minaj turned down the opportunity to be on the list because they felt they were too good for it at this point.
2. Apparently Drake also felt like it was a huge snub that he didn’t make the list in ’09, but it may have been better for his career seeing as half of the people on that list (see: Ace Hood, Cory Gunz, Mickey Factz, Asher Roth, Charles Hamilton) have plateaued like a motherfucker.
3. Either way, XXL missed out on the boy from T Dot and may have made another gaffe this year: XV. Dude made major noise with Everybody’s Nobody and has been steadily releasing material since. XXL better hope he stays below the radar so they don’t go 2-for-2!
4. Check back for more details about the XXL Top 10 Freshmen Party going down in NYC later this month. Seeing all these dudes at one time would be pretty ill.

Hit the skip for the 10 videos. Watch them all the way through (the longest is only about a minute), vote for whose verse you thought was the best, and if you have a sec leave a comment explaining why.
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The N(Y)C native is at the helm of this new school of rappers with the tiller firmly in his hand, rudder at his command. Easily the coldest spitter of the group, Cole has an advantage on every other rapper in XXL’s Top 10 Freshmen. Hit the skip for a breakdown of the list, plus music from Cole you may have missed over the past couple months.

J. Cole – College Boy

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J. Cole – Shook Ones Freestyle

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Return Of The Mack (Feat. Iyaz) [Prod. By J.R. Rotem]

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