The 2016 XXL Freshman freestyles are officially done and dusted for the year – now it’s time for the cyphers, and first up is a hat-trick of hip hop’s finest: Desiigner, Anderson .Paak & Lil Dicky.
For anyone scratching their head right now, each year XXL matches up artists from their Freshman class along with a DJ, and together they film a freestyle cypher. The result is always entertaining, whether or not some perform better than others. To kick things off this year, this trio of buzz-worthy emcees are paired up with DJ Drama.
Each raps in turn over a beat by Natexcharity, with Desiigner up first. He looks a tad nervous which is no surprise given his recent much-maligned XXL Freshman Freestyle, and he kiiiinda cooks it in a few places, but it has to be said that his voice is damn pleasant to listen to.
Anderson .Paak takes the opposite approach to Desiigner, opting for a clear narrative even if he’s going much slower. It’s funny, fresh, and super impressive, especially considering .Paak is really a singer, rather than a rapper. Best bit? Lemonade lemonade baby unfaithful/What more can I say?/I’m fucking the fleshlight to cope with the pain.
Lil Dicky doesn’t go for long (HA), but his flow is really consistent. Idk though, maybe this is just me but his middle aged dad Hawaiian button-up t-shirt and geeky maths-nerd curly hair made this part a bit uncomfortable.
To each their own, though – who do you reckon came out on top for this?
Image: XXL