Some people just naturally have the "it" factor, and 24kGoldn is a strong example of that. In addition to the feel-good music like "Valentino" and "City of Angels" that has earned him fans across multiple genres and a place in the 2020 XXL Freshman Class (with enough 10th Spot votes to win), the 19-year-old San Francisco rapper has a great sense of humor. His charisma shines through in his music, but especially so on camera, where he can freely think on his feet and say whatever comes to mind. Funny enough, XXL's ABCs is all about how well an artist comes up with word associations on the spot; 24k's spin on each letter of the alphabet is a good time.
24kGoldn starts off his ABCs by shouting out Atlanta, the location of this year's XXL Freshman shoot, which went down in June. Later on, he shares more about the activities he enjoys. For D, he chooses the word defense. His reasoning? "Because when I play basketball, that's the only thing I'm good at," he says.
He then does some quick promo, and shares a cool story about his childhood once he gets to E. "E is for El Dorado, my debut album," explains 24kGoldn, born Golden Landis Von Jones. "Growing up, my mom's coworkers used to call me El Dorado, like the golden one, and now I've grown into that name." What a fire origin story.
There's even a moment he uses to get the attention of a famous celebrity. "K is for Kendall Jenner," he starts with a smile. "Just checkin' in on you, wondering how you're doing. You know, we ain't spoke in a while. But, yeah, you know, I'll see you when I see you."
The former University of Southern California student also shows respect to 2017 XXL Freshman XXXTentacion for the letter X. The late rapper, who was shot and killed in 2018, is an artist 24k appreciates for creating music without limitations. "That was a artist that I admired in the sense of him being able to defy genres and defy norms and defy standards, you know?," he expresses. "He could make a sad song and then make a Spanish song and then make some screamo shit. And that's the same type of vibes I'm on. There's no rule. This is 2020. You can do whatever the fuck you want as long as somebody likes it."
Check out the rest of 24kGoldn's ABCs below.
See the 2020 XXL Freshman Class