Every 2026 XXL Freshman Puts Their Bars on Display in A Cappella Freestyles

The 2026 XXL Freshman Class arrives with the kind of individualized energy that makes the cover series stick in the first place. Chris Patrick, Belly Gang Kushington, Slayr, La Reezy, Trim, Trap Dickey, Babyfxce E, Hurricane Wisdom, YKNiece, Skrilla, Sosocamo and 10th Spot winner Miles Minnick each step into their own a cappella freestyle to show exactly how they separate themselves.

For more than two decades, XXL has ushered 206 rappers into its Freshman class and asked them to do the same thing: rap without a beat and make it count. There are no hard-and-fast rules here, which is probably why the segment still works. The point is not uniformity. It is invention. Every year, the freshmen decide how they want to present themselves, whether that means stripping everything down or turning the performance into something closer to a scene than a standard verse.

That flexibility has led to some memorable left turns. In 2025, fan-voted 10th spot winner EBK Jaaybo delivered bars from behind bars after his arrest in Arkansas while traveling to the cover shoot, a first for XXL Freshman history. Two years earlier, Finesse2tymes used a nearby stool to pound out a cafeteria-style beat for his freestyle. A decade ago, 2016 Freshman Desiigner leaned into the eerie pull of his