XXL announced their 2021 Freshman Class last week. The new list of the hottest up-and-coming artists in the game included Detroit native 42 Dugg, Chicago emcee Pooh Shiesty, Toosii, DDG, and more. Most notably, however, this year’s Freshman Class boasts the most women to ever be crowned with the honorary title in history.
Flo Milli, Coi Leray, Lakeyah, and Rubi Rose all earned spots on the list, a positive signal towards a new generation of hip hop dominated by women rappers. Over the weekend, established game players City Girls connected with Coi Leray and Lakeyah, linking up with the new Freshman to kick it backstage.
On Saturday (June 19), the ladies of rap linked up behind the scenes of a Mississippi concert that the Miami duo, Lil Baby, Moneybagg Yo, and Coi Leray were all scheduled to perform at. As the ladies relaxed backstage before the show, they pulled out their phones to do the viral “Twerkulator” dance together.
All dolled up for their performances, the ladies, minus JT, turned up together in a TikTok shared to Lakeyah’s account. Elsewhere, Lakeyah shared footage of JT right before hitting the stage.
Seeing the ladies of rap embrace the incoming generation of female rappers with open arms is always exciting to witness considering they’re often pitted against each other. Nicki Minaj recently reached out to Coi Leray with advice on keeping her head up despite the negativity.
“Don’t do that. Chin up,” responded Nicki. “Always remember this, when black ppl not fkn w|you #TheyWillBoo,” she added. “Those ppl were on their feet. That means they may not have known the song, but they were interested in getting to know more— so they were observing u. Charge it to the game & move on”