Earlier this month, Kanye West received a great deal of bad press after a misunderstanding where he tried to get everyone in the crowd to stand up, during a concert in Australia. After pointing out a couple of fans in the audience, Kanye later realized that one of the individuals was in a wheelchair and then continued the concert by performing his hit ‘Good Life’. After a number of misleading headlines, incorrectly suggesting that Kanye shamed the disabled man, Kanye performed a hometown surprise set at Chicago’s AAHH! Fest, just a few days later. In the audience was another very special surprise guest, but he wasn’t there to perform, he was there to enjoy some good live music.
Yearly, hip-hop magazine XXL does a freshman cover, showcasing nearly a dozen rising stars. Sometimes, these lists are underwhelming, leaving obvious choices out (Drake, Young Thug, Tyler, the Creator, A$AP Rocky, etc) but sometimes they can also be packed with to-be stars.
Now that a couple years have passed, it would definitely be interesting to observe how well some of 2011’s freshman have fared, because frankly, the gap between superstars and unknowns is huge.
Let’s begin.
Meek Mill
At the time of the 2011 XXL Freshman cover, Meek Mill was just a young guy entering a game with a fierce voice, a record deal from Rick Ross and an allegiance with the promising producer Jahlil Beats. Mind you, the 2011 XXL Freshman cover was published before the release of Meek’s first singles through MMG (“Tupac Back”, “Ima Boss” respectively) so looking back now, you can see the hunger and charisma in the young MC. Since the cover, Meek has been one of the leaders of street music and while his authenticity has helped him, it has also harmed him- he’s currently in jail.
Lil B
The mysterious, illusive and always positive figure known as Lil B (or the BasedGod) has survived what many expcected to be a short career. He still releases music regularly to entertain and inspire his fans, as well as becoming an omniscient figure to pop culture, even getting co-signs from Katy Perry, Wiz Khalifa and others.
Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration
Kendrick Lamar
Since 2011, Kendrick Lamar has definitely turned heads and leaped past his peers and competitors. In early 2011, Kendrick wasn’t really known to a large audience, besides a co-sign from Dr. Dre and a few features. The cover was issued before his independent album Section.80 was even released, but since then, K. Dot has built his fan base across the world, as well as dropping a phenomenal Interscope debut, earning 7 Grammy nominations and going Platinum in the U.S.
YG
West coast MC YG has had his fair share of ups and downs, going from hit singles to jail time. While it seemed like he would forever just be looked at as a regional artist, YG, Rich Homie Quan and Jeezy challenged that notion with a worldwide hit- “My Nigga”. Soon enough, YG had another hit, with the help of superstar Drake-“Who Do You Love”. After doing well with both singles, the time seemed just right to execute his plan and drop his debut album My Krazy Life. With fellow Pusha Ink collaborators DJ Mustard and Ty Dolla $ign flourishing and his album recieving some of the best reviews for a rap album this year, YG is finally on top.
Mac Miller
Mac Miller went through a real transformation since his appearance on the 2011 XXL Freshman cover. He sold 145,000 copies of his debut album Blue Slide Park in one week, making history-but that wasn’t enough for him. Mac went back to the drawing boards, moving to California, learning how to produce and linking up with LA based labels TDE and Odd Future, to find his sound and make the best music possible. Since then, we’ve got Macadelic, Watching Movies with the Sound Off, Faces and countless EPs, beat tapes and one-off projects.
Yesterday, I witnessed one of the best concerts I will ever see in my life. I have gone to a lot of different shows in my life and since my first concert ever as a kid, the Spice Girls (embarrassing, I know), I have been to over 100 shows, and it is rare that I attend one without getting my money’s worth. Despite the catalogue of great shows I have seen, yesterday stood out for many reasons, and because of an artist who wasn’t even listed on the concert’s billing. Kanye West performed at Chicago and Common’s first annual AAHH! Fest, and although it was the first, as Common said “it won’t be the last.” Special guests are always a treat at a concert, but given the circumstances and the A+ performance by Kanye, this special guest made the show not only ‘special’ but also remarkable, memorable, exceptional, and a million other words I would need to fully encompass the atmosphere that surrounded Chicago’s Union Park last night.
Yesterday the first (“but not last”) AAHH Fest! was held in Chicago’s Union Park. The hip-hop festival, pun intended, was certainly a breath of fresh air to showcase Chicago’s role in rap and hip-hop, and much more. Thanks to Chicago’s own, rapper Common, and in partnership with Donda’s House the Common Ground Foundation and the Lupe Fiasco Foundation, concert goers saw performances by Common, Lupe Fiasco, Twista, Jay Electronica, Jennifer Hudson, De La Soul, MC Lyte, many local performers who performed in the event’s early show, and a number of surprises performances from SZA, Lil Mama, Vince Staples, and of course Mr. Kanye West.
Last night after much anticipation, Common brought Kanye West on the stage to perform at 16-song surprise setlist at the first annual AAHH! Fest in Chicago. Only The Early Registration and a bunch of dedicated fans were there to catch the performance in the front row. Check out some of our great and exclusive pictures and videos of Mr. West.
With only ten days until the eligibility period ends for the 57th annual Grammy awards, we have compiled a list of our predictions for some of our most anticipated categories.
Hip-Hop is a young man’s game, but as the pioneers of Gangsta Rap have became film stars and headphone moguls, the subgenre faded off into the distance, making way for the shiny suit era (post-Biggie Bad Boy), middle class rap (Kanye West, Childish Gambino), and emotional rap (Drake, Lil B).
There are just 15 days (September 30th) until the eligibility period ends for the 57th annual Grammy awards. In what looks to be an arguably week year for critically acclaimed albums, and what has also been the year for surprise releases, some of your favorite artists could still swoop in and steal the most prestigious award in music. We certainly wouldn’t rule it out.
Last November, Tyler the Creator got his wish when he convinced Kanye to perform Tyler’s favorite Ye song ‘Late’ at the Odd Future Carnival, a song that Kanye had not performed in years. Although Kanye consistently delivers two-hour long setlists at his tours, full of hits from his debut The College Dropout to his latest Yeezus, there are many B-side songs that we would love to see live. We reached out to Kanye fans at KanyeToThe to compile a (dark twisted) fantasy setlist full of other B-Side classics.
Yearly, hip-hop magazine XXL does a freshman cover, showcasing nearly a dozen rising stars. Sometimes, these lists are underwhelming, leaving obvious choices out (Drake, Young Thug, Tyler, the Creator, A$AP Rocky, etc) but sometimes they can also be packed with to-be stars (2011’s issue).
Now that a couple years have passed, it would definitely be interesting to observe how well some of 2012’s freshman have fared, because frankly, the gap between superstars and unknowns is huge.
Let’s begin.
Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration
Future
The autotune crooner was already known by the time this cover was released and he’s done well for himself. While his record sales are mundane for someone at his status, his singles are still popular. Future Vandross has went completely left from his original trap persona to dive into writing for R&B artists and defying the odds, as most wrote him off to be a one hit wonder since his hit ‘Tony Montana’.
Kid Ink
Back in 2012, to the general public, this guy was just a Chris Brown look-a-like with an overly simple rap name/aesthetic. But to the mixtape circuit, he was moving around and grinding heavy. The grind finally paid off once he scored two Chris Brown features and DJ Mustard produced hits. The sad thing is he’s only known for singles.
Danny Brown
Detroit MC Danny Brown was known by 2012 but he’s only worked harder since the cover has passed, dropping a critically acclaimed album, opening for Eminem and touring worldwide. He has no plans of stopping and is fully satisfied with sacrificing radio spins for quality music.
French Montana
French’s album flopped. But he didn’t let that stop him, he instead continued to release hits as well as linking with Khloe Kardashian the goddess, solidifying his pop culture relevancy. Let’s see how he responds to the break-up.
Macklemore
Who would’ve thought? The seemingly random white rapper Macklemore, independent, corny and somewhat conscious, went on to release his Grammy award winning album in late 2012 and ran 2013 as the biggest pop artist. I still don’t get it.
The Early Registration 