Revisiting The XXL 2016 Freshman – Their Success & Where Are They Now?
Lil Uzi Vert
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Lil Uzi Vert is good! He is one most successful freshman in the lit 2016 class; even before appearing on the XXL cover, he was heading for success with his single, “Money Longer.” The song later played a huge part in making the Atlantic and Generation Now artist sign to their label. And the breakthrough kept going as he would soon earn a feature on Migos’ single “Bad and Boujee” that same year. Uzi Vert was pivotal in that single; it is no surprise that the song peaked at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts. It was also the first single from the Migos to make the top spot.
Many might have thought he was heading for a fall after releasing his fourth mixtape Perfect Luv, which didn’t get as much attention as expected. However, Lil Uzi Vert exists to prove a lot of viewers wrong! One of his future releases would be “Xo Tour Life 3,” his top track, and a Video music award winner. Although it didn’t make the charts, “Do What I Want” is also one of Uzi’s big tracks. Others include “Erase Your Socials,” “That Way,” and “The Way Life Goes.”
Where Are They Now?
Lil Uzi Vert is still soaring. I like to call him the goat with his unconventional style of rap. It is attracting new talents. In 2020, his second album Eternal Atake was one of the biggest rap and trap albums; it also peaked at the number one spot on the Billboard charts. His collaboration project with Future, Pluto x Baby Pluto helped set him up as a major name in the game or years to come.
Uzi is up to something superb recently. He has been teasing his fans with singles like “Demon High,” a song that is set to be featured on his forthcoming album, The Pink Tape. His fans are definitely on a string now.
Vert recently released the EP, Red + White.
Lil Dicky
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After the cover, Lil Dicky started excelling through appearances on YouTube skits and commercials. He went on tour and has collaborated with several major artists. However, his music career peaked when he released “Pillow Talking” in 2017. In 2018, he aimed higher with a single, “Freaky Friday” which featured Chris Brown, DJ Khaled, and Kendall Jenner. The single was his biggest hit and would still be earning him dollars to date.
Where Are They Now?
Lil Dicky has not released a new album for a while, and fans are bothered. Nonetheless, fans will have peace of mind if they got to know who he is. While Lil Dicky is a great rapper, he doesn’t rap for the sole love of it, but instead to promote himself, comedy, and make some money. Lately, Lil Dicky now focuses on his FXX series, ‘Dave‘. There he wants us to see him for who he is. He releases music on the series, but doesn’t really put those songs out for streaming under the Lil Dicky moniker.
Lil Yachty
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Lil Yachty’s feature on “Broccoli” by DRAM was a Grammy nominee and 5x platinum-certified, but that’s not the end of his story. He released Teenage Emotions almost a year after the XXL cover. The album featured big names like Migos is one of his top songs, “Peak A Boo.” That same year, Lil Yachty would go on to close endorsement deals with big brands like Sprite, Nautica, and Target. From 2016 to date, he has released 3 more albums, Lil Boat 2, Nuthin 2 Prove, and Lil Boat 3. All these albums, like his first, have maintained a top 20 spot on the Billboard chart.
Where Are They Now?
What more could you expect from the creative; he is still making good music. Check out his latest mixtape Michigan Boy Boat. He also featured on “OK OK,” a song in Kanye’s Grammy-nominated album Donda. A more recent feature from him is on the Fivio Foreign debut album B.I.B.L.E, and the hype is growing. He has also written songs for other artists, including the City Girls “Act Up.” Nevertheless, Lil Yachty is considering trying some other genre of music. He states that his new album will be something different from rap.
His last solo single is the 2021 single, “Tunde.”
Kodak Black
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One might think that the jail sentences during and after the release of the cover would damage Kodak’s chances of being a successful rapper. However, the controversy surrounding the jail term helped build his popularity. Kodak released the Lil Big Pac mixtape, which featured the likes of Gucci Mane and others. While the mixtape maintained his relevance, his feature on French Montana’s single “Lockjaw” improved it. In 2017, Kodak showed everyone that he meant business as his single. “Tunnel Vision” became his first hit, peaking at number 6 on the Billboard chart. He didn’t stop there; his debut album, Painting Pictures, was already on a wheel, but he was arrested again for violating parole.
Looking back at the drama that occurred during the beginning of Kodak’s career and how he still shined, we can say two things. He is talented, and his management and marketing have been effective. They took advantage of the publicity garnered through his arrest to promote the debut album. The album was indeed successful, and so were his subsequent albums; Dying to Live and Bill Isreal.
Where Are They Now?
Kodak has spent most of his music career in prison, and the irony is how he leveraged that to be a successful rapper. In 2021, after he was released, he had more singles ready for the fans, “Last Day In,” “Every Balmain,” and others. All these singles addressed his time in jail. The mixtape Haitian Boy Kodak, which he released later that year, was on the ordeal of gangster rap. Kodak kept it coming as he gave us another hit late last year with the “Super Gremlin” single, which was on the number 5 spot on the Billboard charts. The song was the leading single for his most recent album, Back For Everything.
He surprised fans with a new EP titled, Closure on August 20th.
Anderson. Paak
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The Grammy award-winning artist has had an emphatic career after the XXL cover. It all started when his single “Till It’s Over,” featured in the Apple commercial in 2018. That same year, he released Oxnard under Dr. Dre and the Aftermath banner. The album featured many big boys including Snoop Dogg, J Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and Pusha T.
Ventura was another great album he released in 2019; it won the best R&B album at the 20l9 Bet Hip-Hop Awards. “Come Home,” a song on the album, which featured Andre 3000, also won the Best R&B performance at that same event. In 2020, Anderson .Paak became the first and thus far only freshman in the XXL 2016 class to win a Grammy with his song, “Come Home.” He has gone on to win 6 more Grammy Awards since then.
Where Are They Now?
Anderson .Paak has since teamed up with Bruno Mars to create the group, Silk Sonic, which might have been the biggest move of his career. The duo won several awards for their collaboration album and there remains so much potential for them for potential upcoming projects.
21 Savage
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21 Savage’s success skyrocketed after the XXL freshmen 2016 cover with his numerous award-winning albums and EPs. One of his best works Savage Mode, gained recognition as the 23rd spot on the Billboard charts. It also gained a lot of positive feedback from critics.
In 2017 he signed with Epic Records and later released his single “Bank Account” as part of his debut album. The song was successful and maintained the 12 spot on the charts. Among all these songs, “Rock Star” with Post Malone was the record-breaker. “Rock Star” peaked at the number one spot on the charts and was diamond platinum-certified. As his career progressed, 21 Savage collaborated with Drake to release hit songs like “Sneaking” and “Knife Talk,” which got people talking. Some other numerous big players he worked with are J. Cole, Lil Baby, and Nicki Minaj.
Where Are They Now?
21 savage has not dropped a new album this year, but he has some interesting features. One of them is “Thought I Was Playing” with Gunna and “Jimmy Cooks” with Drake. Words from the street say he is the reason for the resurrection of street rap. They say you can never find him dropping mid verses on any of the projects he has released, some of which include I am >I was and Savage Mode 2. No word yet one what’s to come from him, but sure whatever it is, its gonna be a bop.
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