Videos by According2HipHop
The annual XXL Freshman Class is a comprehensive list curated by XXL Magazine that highlights the most promising new artists from the previous year.
XXL Unveils 2026 Freshman Class
On Wednesday (June 24), XXL revealed the members of the 2026 class. And it features some of the heavy hitters in the genre.
Check out the full list below as caught by Kurrco on X.
Slayr
Trim
Babyfxce E
Hurricane Wisdom
Sosocamo
Chris Patrick
Belly Gang Kushington
La Reezy
Trap Dickey
YKNiece
Skrilla
Miles Minnick
Thoughts on 2026's XXL Freshman Class? 👀🎓
— Kurrco (@Kurrco) June 24, 2026
👤 Slayr
👤 Trim
👤 Babyfxce E
👤 Hurricane Wisdom
👤 Sosocamo
👤 Chris Patrick
👤 Belly Gang Kushington
👤 La Reezy
👤 Trap Dickey
👤 YKNiece
👤 Skrilla
👤 Miles Minnick
Beats by DJ Drama pic.twitter.com/Wh1HfoX4C1
DJ Drama will produce the annual cypher, where the selected artists will have a chance to showcase their talent for unfamiliar fans.
As usual, the XXL list reveal led to an outpouring of reactions on social media.
“I think this is the first year I don’t recognize a single name,” one user wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“I think this is the first year I don’t recognize a single name,” a second user chimed in.
“We went from 2016 legends to belly gang kushington in 10 years, the fall off needs to be studied,” a third user remarked.
Among the listed artists, the most well-known is Belly Gang Kushington. Kushington gained notoriety last year with tracks such as Birds Like Popeyes, DopeBoy Destined, and Friend Do.
In a sit-down with Billboard, Kushington says that sometimes he is still in disbelief about all he has accomplished in such a short time.
“I can’t believe we did that much — tour and all types of s—t, shows, songs and videos,” he said to the outlet. “I’m looking at the videos sometimes like, “That s—t only eight months ago? That’s—t had to have been three years ago!” Every hustler plans for it to work, but this still feels like the beginning. I don’t even count the wins, just coming to work every day.”
