Posted by 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.
Inglewood, Calif. native D Smoke caught his big break by winning Netflix's Rhythm + Flow hip-hop reality competition show in 2019, but he's far from green. Coming from an extremely musical family that includes a mother who was a minister of music, TDE singer SiR as a sibling and uncle Andrew Gouche, who was Prince's last bass player, D Smoke unsurprisingly got into playing the piano and rapping at the ripe age of 10.
After years of honing his craft to perfect his lyricism, his flow and his ability to seamlessly shift between rapping in English and Spanish, D Smoke's Rhythm + Flow win solidified his place in the game. In October of 2019, the 34-year-old rhymer released his Inglewood High EP, and in February of 2020, his debut album, Black Habits, was released. Bars with substance, odes to family and singing alongside his mother are included on his debut effort. His songs "Last Supper" and "On Paper" have amassed over 7 million and 2 million Spotify streams respectively, and continue to grow. Now, D Smoke eyes a spot on the Freshman list.
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