Before the 2020 XXL Freshman class will be revealed this summer, the Freshman hopefuls are here to show and prove why they deserve a spot in this year’s class. The 10th Spot voting, powered by SoundCloud, launches today (March 30), which means hip-hop's rising newcomers are vying for a spot on the 2020 XXL Freshman cover.
San Francisco's 24kGoldn is on the rise. The songs on his major label debut project, 2019's aptly titled Dropped Outta College, have over 39 million streams combined on SoundCloud. And when you take a look at his Spotify streams (he has over 12 million monthly listeners there), 24k continues going up. "Valentino," which is 24kGoldn's lead single from his debut project, is now certified gold, went viral on TikTok and was also the first track to land him a No. 92 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. The song currently has over 141 million streams on Spotify and the remix featuring Lil Tjay sits at 4 milli.
Riding that momentum, the Columbia Records artist continued building his buzz with the follow-up tracks "City of Angels," an uptempo, guitar-driven ode; and "Games on Your Phone," a melodic track dedicated to a special girl. Both tracks, also from his first official project, have earned him 55 million and 11 million Spotify streams, respectively. This year, he collaborated with on the bass-heavy track KRYPTO9095. With early success at the age of 19, it's safe to say 24kGoldn is off to do more big things.
Now that you've heard his pitch, remember to vote for your favorite artist beginning March 30. The 2020 XXL Freshman 10th Spot will run for one week. This is where the public gets the chance to vote an artist into the XXL Freshman Class. Go here to make your vote count for your favorite artist.
Once you've voted, head over to XXL’s YouTube page to take a look back at the 2019 XXL Freshman Class, which features DaBaby, Megan Thee Stallion, YBN Cordae, Rico Nasty, Gunna, Comethazine, Tierra Whack, Lil Mosey, Roddy Ricch, Blueface and YK Osiris.
And watch all the 2020 XXL Freshman pitch videos that have been released on XXL’s YouTube page here.
See Photos of Every XXL Freshman Ever Inducted Into the Freshman Class Over the Years