flo milli

Former XXL Freshmen Chika And Rico Nasty Congratulate The Women Of The 2021 Class

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For the last decade, the hip-hop magazine XXL dropped their Freshman list — their picks of the 11 names that were on the rise in the genre. This year’s list is a little different, as it includes the most women ever for a new class. Four female rappers — Flo Milli, Coi Leray, Lakeyah, and Rubi Rose — can be found on the 2021 iteration. Upon hearing the news, former XXL Freshman ladies Chika and Rico Nasty hopped on social media to show the newbies some love.

“Big Congrats to @_FloMilli @RubixxRose for making the @XXL list!!!” Rico wrote in a tweet. “Well deserved.” Flo Milli replied, “Thank you Rico, love you !” Chika gave a shoutout to Flo Milli as she’s a fellow Alabama rapper. “Congratulations @_FloMilli!” she wrote before adding, “Alabama royalty.”

As for the rest of the 2021 XXL Freshman class, Uproxx favorites like Blxst, DDG, and Pooh Shiesty can be found on the list. Other highlights include 42 Dugg, Toosii, Iann Dior, and Morray also appeared.

On a more recent note, Chika is just months removed from her Once Upon A Time EP while Rico Nasty found herself alongside Juicy J and Jasiah on a pair of tracks.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group

GoldLink Pines For A Distant Lover On ‘Raindrops’ Featuring Flo Milli

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Fresh off her appearance on XXL’s 2021 Freshman Class, Flo Milli turns around to lend a lyrical assist to GoldLink, providing a catchy hook on his new song “Raindrops.” Over a Bossa Nova-influenced guitar loop with a distorted sample of Tamia’s “Officially Missing You,” GoldLink expresses his wistful appreciation for an inaccessible paramour who gets plenty of attention and spends too much time away. Meanwhile, Flo Milli’s chorus swings from braggadocious to aspiring as she boasts “If I post my nudes, I / Have the world like, ‘Ooo ahh.’”

“Raindrops” is the latest single from GoldLink’s upcoming album Haram, the follow-up to his 2019 project Diaspora. Although the album was critically hailed, GoldLink believed that he was snubbed for the 2020 Grammy Awards, and the album peaked at No. 77 on the Billboard 200. A controversial Instagram post referring to Mac Miller caused a minor backlash against him, so with Haram, he appears to be refocusing on the forward-facing, genre-hopping music that first endeared him to a broad range of fans.

Lead single “White Walls” displayed more bombastic, mosh pit-inspiring energy, while with “Raindrops,” it’s clear that GoldLink’s attachment to smoother, R&B-influenced sounds remains intact.

Listen to “Raindrops” above.

Haram is due 6/18. Pre-save it here.

Here’s a Complete List of Every XXL Freshman Over the Years

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A look at all of the stars who have graced XXL Freshman covers over the years. Continue reading…

‘XXL’s 2021 Freshman List Includes Blxst, Coi Leray, DDG, And Pooh Shiesty

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The 2021 XXL Freshman cover has arrived! Each year, rap fans wait and speculate in anticipation to find out which artists made the coveted list, mostly so we can all speculate and wait on their activities for the future — or debate whether they deserved placement.

But this post is just to let our readers know who all made it. This year’s cover includes plenty of Uproxx favorites like Blxst, DDG, and Pooh Shiesty, as well as 2020 fan favorites like 42 Dugg, Flo Milli, and Toosii. There’s plenty of female representation on this year’s list, with Coi Leray, Lakeyah, and Rubi Rose holding it down for the ladies. And breakout artists Iann Dior and Morray round out the list after some attention-grabbing features introduced them to a whole new audience.

This year’s list looks pretty well-rounded, as the breakout artists included have all made impressive debuts, charted highly, or garnered plenty of viral attention in the past year. Many regions, races, and styles are represented, from Fayetteville, North Carolina, to South Central, Los Angeles, with many of the entries hailing from oft-overlooked origins when it comes to hip-hop such as Milwaukee, WI, Lexington, KY, and Corpus Christi, TX.

Last year’s cover included breakouts like Chika, Jack Harlow, Mulatto, and Rod Wave. And for those who didn’t make it, there’s always next year — or the chance for a surprise breakout.

Meanwhile, XXL is gearing up for the usual slate of Freshman programming, including freestyles, Cyphers, and profiles on these up-and-coming artists. Stay tuned.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Flo Milli Fans Are Convinced She Was Snubbed By The BET Awards

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Flo Milli, the breakthrough Alabama artist who put the early half of the quarantine in a chokehold with her fan-favorite mixtape Ho, Why Is You Here?, is nowhere to be found on the list of nominees for the 2021 BET Awards — and now, fans want answers. While the Best Female Hip Hop artist nominees include shoo-ins Cardi B, Coi Leray, Doja Cat, Latto, Megan Thee Stallion, and Saweetie, Flo Milli’s name climbed into Twitter’s top trending topics as many wondered why she wasn’t nominated herself after dropping beloved singles like “Weak” and “Send The Addy” and featuring on Yung Baby Tate’s viral hit “I Am.” She was, however, nominated for Best New Artist.

Some fans complained that Flo Mili’s absence — as well as those of names like Chika, Tierra Whack, and Yung Baby Tate — constituted colorism on BET’s part. “If Flo Milli was yellow, then she’d be on the list,” asserted one fan. Another grouped Chika and Tierra Whack with Flo Milli, asking, “Wtf is going on???”

“Flo Milli didn’t rebrand the entire state of Alabama to get snubbed like this,” one fan said. However, another pointed out the lack of statistical support for claims of the Mobilian’s popularity. “Everyone in the quotes acting confused on why Flo Milli not nominated when y’all don’t even support her offline,” they wrote. “Her mixtape peaked at #78 and none of her singles charted. Y’all need to stop showing fake love because she is talented.”

And while much of the outcry focused on Coi Leray’s two 2021 singles blowing up, they seemed to overlook her 2020 EP Now or Never, which was supported by a number of well-received singles, and the three years of foundation building she’d done with appearances on the Spider-Verse soundtrack and breakout single “Huddy.”

Of course, invested fans can spot a snub for any given award show and this isn’t even the first time that BET has been called out in this particular field. In 2017, Dreezy called out the BET Awards for including multiple women who hadn’t even released projects in the prior year, so while there’s no pleasing everybody, there’s at least been a tremendous amount of progress made in the years since. And hey, there’s always next year.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.