XXL Freshman Cypher

Coi Leray Claps Back At 2021 “XXL” Freshman Cypher Critics: “Clearly IDGAF”

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Thankfully for Coi Leray, being the daughter of a celebrity taught her plenty about life in the spotlight. She and Benzino haven’t always seen eye to eye, but the Boston native’s resilient attitude definitely comes from him. It’s only been a few years since her career first took off. Already she’s given us two LPs, the second of which hit DSPs today (June 23). Leray has been undeniably excited to share her work with the world. However, that doesn’t mean she didn’t have time to clap back at trolls on Twitter earlier this week.

Upon seeing a post declaring her 2021 XXL Freshman cypher as “the worst ever,” the “Blick Blick” hitmaker made it clear that she’s unbothered by the comments. “And the only one who Top 10 Global in the world right now with three songs on the Hot 100,” Leray cooly wrote. “This didn’t determine my journey, I always knew I was destined for greatness. Now look at me, swimming in hits, baby,” she continued.

Read More: Coi Leray Drops New Album, “COI”

Coi Leray Responds to Her Haters

From there, the black-haired beauty reminded some users to worry less about what others have to say about them. As for her? “Clearly IDGAF 🥰,” Coi finished her rant, earning a few thousand likes. As HipHopDX notes, she recently spoke with Ebro Darden on Apple Music about the polarizing cypher, admitting that freestyling isn’t her top strength. “I sit down, I started writing on pen and paper first of course, and then elevated to my phone and then on [my] laptop, just writing on the notes. But if I do freestyling, the most freestyle I’ll do is melody passes where I’m not even thinking,” she shared.

Elsewhere in the news, Coi Leray made a splash during fashion week earlier this month when she showed up to the Saint Laurent runway without a bra under her sheer black jumpsuit. She’s been known to turn heads with her outfits in the past, but this was arguably one of her raciest looks to date. See photos at the link below, and check back later for more hip-hop/pop culture news updates.

Read More: Coi Leray Wears Sheer All-Black Outfit With No Bra To Saint Laurent SS24 Runway

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The post Coi Leray Claps Back At 2021 “XXL” Freshman Cypher Critics: “Clearly IDGAF” appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Megan Thee Stallion’s 5 Best Freestyles

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Megan Thee Stallion may be known for her pop hits and collaborations, but she has showcased her rapping skills on multiple occasions. Each album and EP boasts its fair share of viral hits. However, in the moments where she flexes her bars, she leaves the rap game with its jaws dropped. Megan Thee Stallion has performed a number of radio freestyles, where her lyrical ability shines. Mind you, she began her career by releasing freestyles on social media, which helped generate buzz before inking her first deal.

This is a list of Megan Thee Stallion’s best freestyles. The freestyles are listed in chronological order and draw from both her radio freestyles and freestyle tracks. Take a look below.

5. LA Leakers Freestyle (2019)

Megan Thee Stallion’s 2019 LA Leakers Freestyle may only be under 2 minutes, but she showed that a minute and a half was all that she needed. Megan slides over 2Pac’s “2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted” with ease. Her flow is smooth and her voice is commanding. Although her rhyme pattern is simple, it makes for a compelling freestyle that has viewers longing for Megan to rap over more classic beats.

4. Fire In The Booth Pt. 1 (2019)

Fire in the Booth is known for its long-form freestyles as Charlie Sloth hypes up the rapper with his booming voice and explosive sound effects. During her freestyle, Megan Thee Stallion raps over two different trap-style beats, which are what she sounds the most comfortable over. The first beat is reminiscent of Eazy-E’s “Boyz-N-The Hood,” a song that Megan later flipped in 2020 for “Girls in the Hood.” The second beat allows Megan to showcase a speedier flow with precision. The production choices play to her strengths, making Megan Thee Stallion’s freestyle on Fire In The Booth one of her best.

3. Sway In The Morning Freestyle (2019)

Much like her first LA Leakers freestyle, Megan Thee Stallion’s 2019 freestyle on Sway in the Morning is short yet still leaves a lasting impression. Similarly, she also raps over a 2Pac instrumental, this time it’s his classic diss track “Hit Em Up.” The menacing production pairs perfectly with Megan’s tough delivery as she rides the beat effortlessly.

2. XXL Freshman Cypher (2019)

With the first cover debuting in 2007, the XXL Freshman list comprehensively predicts the artists to look out for in the coming years. With each cover, XXL shares solo a capella freestyles and group cyphers with members of each class. Appearing as a part of XXL’s 2019 Freshman cover, Megan Thee Stallion was the clear standout among her class.

In the cypher, she appears alongside DaBaby, YK Osiris, and Lil Mosey, and showed her male contemporaries how it’s done. Her versatility shines throughout her freestyle compared to the other three rappers who either approached the assignment with slow or melodic flows. Megan comes out swinging with an impressive double-time flow. Her verse is short yet effective and gave good reason for why she deserved a spot on the Freshman list.

1. LA Leakers Freestyle (2022)

Megan Thee Stallion’s first LA Leakers freestyle in 2019 showed that she sounded very comfortable over 90s hip-hop beats. Her return to the Los Angeles radio platform in 2022 was another confirmation of that. This time, she tackled Warren G’s “Regulate” — one of the most iconic West Coast beats of all time. Yet again, Megan Thee Stallion put a southern spin on a classic instrumental. “Regulate” is a smooth, slow, and funky beat that Warren G floated over in 1994. In the two minutes that she spends freestyling over the beat, she weaves between different flows. She finds different pockets across the record, slowing down and speeding up as the beat progresses. It’s another stunning showcase of Megan’s technical prowess.

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42 Dugg, Flo Milli, Pooh Shiesty, And Rubi Rose Take Over The 2021 ‘XXL’ Freshman Cypher

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The next installment of the 2021 XXL Freshman Cypher is here. For this round, viral favorites 42 Dugg, Flo Milli, Pooh Shiesty, and Rubi Rose take on another hypnotic Nick Mira production to display their varying takes of the annual tradition.

Rubi Rose sets things off with a fittingly raunchy verse in her signature husky verse, followed by a braggadocious, bouncy approach from Pooh Shiesty. Flo Milli drops in and steals the show, turning up the energy with both her bright looks and quirky punchlines, leaving 42 Dugg to bring the baton home with a laid-back verse.

While Blxst and Toosii’s Cypher was competent and the first group of MCs was uneven but attention-grabbing, this year’s batch of Freshmen has certainly added to growing sense that hip-hop’s women are doing more to stand out than the men. So far, the consensus MVP of this year’s Freshmen has been Lakeyah, who’s sharp wit and precise flow impressed fans, while Flo Milli brought something a little different with her perky output. Even Coi Leray, maligned as her performance has been, brought something different to the table and looked like she was having fun instead of just trying to look cool.
Watch XXL’s Freshman Cypher with 42 Dugg, Flo Milli, Pooh Shiesty, and Rubi Rose above.

Pooh Shiesty is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Blxst And Toosii Keep The 2021 ‘XXL’ Freshman Cypher Rolling

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After yesterday’s leadoff, West Coaster rap-crooner Blxst and North Carolina’s Toosii accept the baton for the next leg of the 2021 XXL Freshman Cypher. Once again, their bumping backdrop is provided by Internet Money’s Nick Mira, giving the two rappers an exotic-sounding beat to flex over. Blxst’s verse is a boastful affair in which he offers “two places I won’t go back, of course, / That’s ‘broke’ and that’s ‘forth,’” while Toosii offers an extended verse from his previously teased “Ms. Parker” snippet.

All in all, their part of the Cypher is calm, straightforward, and surprisingly short, with Blxst obviously bringing a bit more effort than Toosii. It marks an intriguing departure from the proceedings yesterday, where Coi Leray’s antics captured the attention of fans on Twitter — and not in a good way. While her cohorts DDG, Lakeyah, and Morray acquitted themselves well — Lakeyah especially impressed a number of fans with her technical proficiency and witty wordplay — Coi Leray delivered an odd, unserious verse/hook/ad-lib combo, giving up after only a handful of bars to twerk instead. Responses weren’t kind, as many questioned her inclusion in this year’s Freshman class, as well as her rap skills in general.

Watch the latest installment of the 2021 XXL Freshman Cypher above.

Coi Leray’s Baffling ‘XXL’ Freshman Cypher Verse Draws Fire From Fans After She Gives Up And Twerks

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Each year since its inception, the XXL Freshman Cypher has offered the members of each Freshman class an opportunity to justify their inclusion — or totally embarrass themselves. For this year’s first round of Cypher verses, including Coi Leray, DDG, Lakeyah, and Morray, it appears controversial pick Coi has opted for the latter, delivering an utterly baffling verse reminiscent of Playboi Carti’s squelched ad-lib-spitting style before giving up on rapping and reverting to her trademark twerking (perhaps to distract viewers from the laziness of her verse). You could say that Coi, who’s got a better pen than she lets on, half-assed the assignment.

In fact, plenty of fans have taken their thoughts to Twitter to say that and more. While Coi has received a truly bewildering amount of hate online for everything from her body to her fashion sense to her biggest hit yet (only on Twitter is success a bad thing), she’s always had a fair amount of defenders willing to go to bat against the body shamers and rap chauvinists who impugned her hit’s unconventional style — which is also a departure from her usually polished rhymes on tracks like “Huddy” and “Slide” with Gunna. Those defenders are hard-pressed to stand up to the trolls this time, though, as she blew her chance to take control of the narrative with an impressive verse — or at least a finished one.

For what it’s worth, the Cypher isn’t always an indication of future success and there’s nothing stopping Coi from returning her focus to witty wordplay. Her move makes a certain kind of sense, as she catered to the fans who most appreciated her most successful single yet, “No More Parties,” who might not have been tuning in for anything more than vibes. But for her part, Coi seems to be taking the criticism in stride. Unfortunately, this was also a rare chance at a second first impression in the minds of many fans, who she’ll have to work that much harder to impress in the future. For proof, just check out the responses below.

Coi Leray, DDG, Lakeyah, And Morray Kick Off The 2021 ‘XXL’ Freshman Cypher

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Coi Leray, DDG, Lakeyah, and Morray kick off the 2021 XXL Freshman Cyphers for this year’s class, each bringing their own unique style to a beat produced by algorithm master Nick Mira. DDG opens proceedings with a typical West Coast/Michigan swing flow, then cedes the floor to Lakeyah, who undoubtedly delivers the best straight-up rap verse, hunting for the sort of credit that only comes from being an expert technician. Morray splits the balance between his signature crooning and some off-the-dome rhymes bigging up his cohorts.

That leaves Coi Leray, who is quite possibly the most controversial addition to this year’s list. Despite having three years of tried-and-true material including a handful of viral hits to her name, it was her song “No More Parties” that first exposed her to the wider mainstream audience, drawing comparisons to both Dej Loaf and Playboi Carti in the process. It’s also, oddly enough, the song least like the bulk of her output, so it seemed going in that the Cypher would be her chance to lay skeptics’ doubts to rest.

She absolutely does not do that, instead opting for a choppy, Carti-esque delivery on a relatively short verse that does little to allay the concerns about her placement before giving up and resorting to her trademark twerking. It’s an unusual choice for a rapper who is under fire and facing a make-or-break moment with all eyes on her. While it’s pioneering, to be sure (Megan Thee Stallion once pointed out that a female rapper would face a ton of criticism for rapping like Playboi Carti, and for all intents, it appears she was correct), and a boundary has been broken to allow women to branch out more stylistically, I can see Coi taking a lot more fire now — with this verse undermining much of the evidence that supporters could use to defend her.

It’ll be interesting to see how this Cypher will be received on social media as well as how it affects future installments and the ongoing debate about whether the Freshman Class even needs a Cypher anymore.

Watch the 2021 XXL Freshman Cypher above.