XXL Editor Explains Cardi B, Young M.A, YFN Lucci & Famous Dex Omissions From 2017 Freshman Class (VIDEO)

(AllHipHop News) Every year a debate rages about the selections for the annual XXL Freshman Class cover.

This year’s crop was hit with the same criticism from fans and pundits who wondered why certain artists were not included on the list.

XXL Editor-in-Chief Vanessa Satten stopped by The Breakfast Club to discuss some of the major omissions from the 2017 Class.

On Cardi B:

We were on the fence. And felt, was it more TV or was she going to go more in the Hip Hop direction with the music? Where would the career kind of more be? It felt like it was very much TV heavy. She was definitely on our radar, but she just didn’t come in the final ten for us.

On Young M.A:

Young M.A said that she was beyond it. She felt like she should be on a solo cover by now. So we said okay, we’ll just keep it moving… Once you show you’re not really so into it and your aspirations are somewhere else and you think you’re beyond it, we just say okay… Sometimes the timing just doesn’t fit right. She seemed to have a big run a couple of months ago. So for us, it just didn’t seem like the best fit for right  now, including she didn’t seem as interested.

On YFN Lucci:

YFN Lucci didn’t want to play any music for us. He refused. Then the day before the shoot or a couple of days before the shoot, they called us and said he wanted to play music. At that point, it was too late for us. We had tried every which way. They weren’t playing music for us. They called us a few days before and said he’d come up. I could be getting this wrong. I believed he said he wasn’t going to play music unless he was guaranteed on and wouldn’t talk to us. If you’re not going to play music and work with us and try to be apart of the whole thing and show any interest with it, then we’re going to keep it moving after that.

On Famous Dex:

We argued a lot over the Famous Dex situation and what we should do with that… There’s a lot of political issues right there that I’m not really sure how long it’ll take to clear up before you get to the next level…I would say [Dex assaulting a woman] was part of it. There’s a hurdle to get over there, and I don’t know if right now it’s going to happen. There was a lot of talk about that… You can argue either way. You can say [XXXTentacion] has got issues. You can say Famous Dex has issues. I think the difference with Famous Dex having it on camera creates a different situation. We saw it. I think the thing with X is also he’s the People’s Champ and hasn’t been found guilty of anything. You kind of have to let that play out. That’s who the people wanted.

Other questionable snubs include Tee Grizzley, Don Q, Russ, 6LACK, Nick Grant, Dae Dae, Nav, and Ski Mask The Slump God.

The 2017 XXL Freshman Class consists of A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Aminé, Kamaiyah, Kap G, Kyle, Madeintyo, Playboi Carti, PnB Rock, Ugly God, and XXXTentacion.

Introducing the 2017 XXL Freshman Class! A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Aminé, Kamaiyah, Kap G, Kyle, Madeintyo, Playboi Carti, PnB Rock, Ugly God and XXXTentacion #XXLFreshmen #GenerationNext • • Shot by @travis_shinn. Set design by @jjchanstudio. Lettering design by @oliviercastelly • Link in bio

A post shared by XXL (@xxl) on Jun 13, 2017 at 9:58am PDT