Voting Closed: The 2026 XXL Freshman Field Awaits This Summer’s Reveal

For nearly two decades the XXL Freshman cover has been a bulletin board for rap’s next wave — a yearbook that reads like a festival lineup and a ledger of who to watch. Voting for the 10th spot in the 2026 XXL Freshman class is now closed, and the long list of nominees that fans weighed in on reads like a cross‑country tour of underground momentum and label bets.

XXL will announce the final class this summer. Until then, the conversation lives in the margins: social feeds, regional scenes and the short clips that pushed some names into broader view. The ballot this year leaned heavily into the South — Atlanta and Detroit names pop up repeatedly — but also drew from Dallas, Brooklyn, the Bay Area and beyond, even as far as London and Havana.

Among the roster of contenders were familiar local faces and artists with industry ties: Baby Kia (Atlanta); DeeBaby (Houston), who has built a steady YouTube presence; Dess Dior (Atlanta); Montana 700 (Dallas); Kocky Ka, listed with Quality Control Records out of East Brooklyn; Benji Blue Bills, whose entry was credited to Warner Music Group; and NASAAN (Detroit). There were hometown standouts — Joony from Silver Spring, Md., and Raq Baby, listed as Chicago/Atlanta — plus cross‑regional names like Skrilla (Philadelphia) and Lelo (Detroit).

Some nominees carried visible production teams in their credits — photographers and directors like Jimmy Fontaine and Garrett Bruce — a reminder that the Freshman campaign is as much about visual identity as it is about bars. Each “Watch Video” clip on the ballot doubled as a highlight reel: a quick camera pan over a block party, a clipped studio session, a staged closeup of the rapper’s chain and face tattoo. Those six‑second impressions do a lot of heavy lifting in these cycles.

“Our goal every year is to reflect what listeners are gravitating toward, and to surface artists who are already moving their cities and pushing culture forward,” an XXL spokesperson said. “The Freshman metric has never been just about who’s hot this week — it’s about pointing a flashlight at scenes and sounds that deserve a wider stage.”

Elsewhere in the submissions, you can track the geography of the current underground: multiple Atlanta entries (Baby Kia, Dess Dior, Sk8star, Swavay), a Detroit cluster (Lelo, Luhh Dyl, NASAAN), and representatives from the Carolinas, Louisiana and California. International representation came through as well, with London’s TKandz on the list and Havana’s Hurricane Wisdom noted among the nominees.

Speaking to the pattern of past Freshman classes, the project’s cultural power is uneven but real. Some alumni go on to headline tours and claim mainstream radio while others leverage the exposure into regional dominance or creative partnerships. For newer artists, a Freshman spot can change tour routing, festival invites and the economics of an entire campaign.

For now, attention turns to who will make the final 10. The voting period closed quietly; the reveal will not. XXL’s summer announcement historically maps the magazine’s editorial mood — are editors leaning hard into regional drill, melodic rap, genre‑blending producers or breakout entrepreneurs wearing multiple hats? The selection often says as much about hip‑hop’s current infrastructure as it does about singular artistic merit.

Until the class is unveiled, the long ballot remains a resource: a snapshot of momentum and a to‑watch list. Fans who cast votes will be checking the magazine’s site and socials this summer for the final roster, and artists on the ballot will be watching how a Freshman placement — or the lack of one — affects their next moves.

See Every XXL Freshman Class Over the Years