Dave East Looks Back on the 2016 XXL Freshman Class as It Hits 10 Years

Ten years on, the 2016 XXL Freshman Class still reads like a snapshot of a very specific hip-hop moment, the kind that ends up seeming bigger in hindsight than it did at the time. The lineup brought together Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, Kodak Black, Lil Yachty, Denzel Curry, Anderson .Paak, Desiigner, G Herbo, Dave East and Lil Dicky, and the anniversary feels less like a nostalgic checkbox than a reminder of how much of rap’s recent history passed through that cover.

To mark the occasion, XXL has teamed with Rémy Martin for the 2016 XXL Freshman Class 10-Year Anniversary series, hosted by DJ Drama. The campaign, which follows Rémy Martin’s broader push around a new definition of success, puts intention, authenticity and personal calling at the center of the conversation, with G Herbo, Denzel Curry and Dave East each reflecting on what has changed since that famous class arrived.

For Dave East, the anniversary is a chance to revisit a stretch of time that moved in two directions at once. Speaking to XXL as part of the series, he describes the last decade as both fast-moving and strangely prolonged.

"It’s been a fast and slow decade for me," Dave says of his 10-year grind. "Ten years ago, I wanted to get out of the projects and drive a Range Rover. That was my [idea of] success."

His sense of success has shifted in ways that feel bigger than a changed address or a better car. He continues:

"Now, I’m thinking way different, bro," he continues. "I want to own real estate. I opened a store [From The Deli] in Harlem."

Elsewhere in the conversation, Dave turns to the class itself and what it has meant to watch all those careers unfold in public. The impression he leaves is not of someone trying to crown a winner so much as someone taking stock of the reach the entire group ended up having.

"Just watching everybody’s career with everybody on the cover and what they’ve done over the last decade is remarkable," he shares. "I feel like we’re still so relevant."

DJ Drama, sitting across from him in the series, frames that impact in broader terms.

"I think the culture chose all of y’all, really," DJ Drama adds.

Since that Freshman appearance, Dave East has moved well beyond being just a rapper on a breakout cover. He has built a career that now stretches into acting, entrepreneurship and podcasting, including his role as cohost of the Let's Rap About It podcast. He is also a father of three, and that has sharpened the way he thinks about what lands through his music.

"I’m just more conscious now about lyrics and what I’m saying on songs ’cause it might be the little homie who just had his daughter," he explains. "I might be more relevant to him than his own family, just based off the music I put out."

Watch Dave East and DJ Drama’s conversation, powered by Rémy Martin, below, and visit the 2016 XXL Freshman Class 10-Year Anniversary Page powered by Rémy Martin here.

This editorial is presented by Rémy Martin.