BTH 2012 Freshman List

No matter what artists XXL chose for their always scrutinized Freshman cover, nobody's going to be completely happy. I'm sure even those who were choosing artists for the cover weren't even completely sold on some of the finally choices. To each his own right? Rather than complain about their 2012 Freshman cover, we went ahead and made our own list of hip hop artists on the rise this year. Ready...and...debate! Hit the jump for our list.

XV - The L7 Motto ft. Sez Batters [Video]

Vizzy has some fun with Drake's instrumental as he comes up with his own motto. L7: Love, life, loyalty, and living long like legends. I always said that XV needed that viral track/slogan to get his campaign really going. Could this be it?

Previous: XV - Batteries ft. Trae The Truth [Video]

XV - Batteries ft. Trae The Truth [Video]

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Vizzy shot a music video for the loosie track he dropped back in September. 'Batteries' is produced by The Awesome Sound, who XV has worked with plenty of times in the past, and features a verse from Trae The Truth. I'm on my "Vizzy for XXL 2012 Freshman Class" campaign.

Previous: XV - Squarian Anthem

XV - Squarian Anthem (prod. Odd Couple)

Vizzy drops a track for his Squarians out there before he hits the road on his Midwest State Of Mind Tour in one week. If you're a viewer living in the midwest, check out the list of stops he's making here to see if he'll be playing a show near you.

Previous: XV Talks Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole's Production, & More

XV Talks Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole's Production, & More [Video]

Jay Wise - Take Flight ft. XV & Allen EZ [Video]

Jay Wise, a 26-year-old Puerto Rican artist from NYC, gets a Vizzy feature for this track that will be featured on his upcoming mixtape, The Wake Up Call.

Download: Jay Wise - Take Flight ft. XV & Allen EZ

Previous: XV - #EndOfTheWorld (prod. The Awesome Sound)

XV - #EndOfTheWorld (prod. The Awesome Sound)

Vizzy, one of our front-runners for the 2012 XXL Freshman Class honor, drops off another free track before the release of his debut album, The Kid With The Green Backpack. My personal New Year's Resolutions: stop the world from ending in 2012. You are all welcome in advance.

Previous: XV - The Kick [Video]

XV - The Kick [Video]

There's very little music that XV drops that disproves that he will be the next big thing in hip-hop. Among the 50 candidates for XXL's 2012 Freshman Class honor, this Wichita, KS emcee is certainly one of the most deserving. Between all of the free projects that he's dropped in the past few years, getting signed to Warner, and a hit single with Pusha T, 2012 is bound to be Vizzy's year to take over.

Previous: XV - The 27 Club (prod. The Awesome Sound)

XV - The 27 Club (prod. The Awesome Sound)

Something gives me the feeling that Vizzy may have a little side project in the works. After his last track was a tribute to Chaka Khan, he pays tribute to a few other great rockers on this new track, called 'The 27 Club'. We'll have to wait and see what his next move is.

XV - Chaka Shao Khan (prod. DJ Tech-Neek)

"In the Christmas spirit, XV takes to his soundcloud to release some NEW music. With producer of XV’s “The Kick”, DJ Tech-Neek, flipping an ill Chaka Khan sample that feels soulful, powerful and flawless…XV creates, 'Chaka Shao Khan'."

Previous: XV - Awesome [Video]

XV - Awesome [Video]

Vizzy's very dope Zero Heroes single finally gets its own set of visuals. Loving the South Park inspiration as well. You can also hit the jump to check out a freestyle XV did for Hard Knock TV.

Previous: XV - U.F.C. ft. Kristina Rose [Video]

XV - U.F.C. ft. Kristina Rose [Video]

The visuals for this track from Vizzy's Zero Heroes mixtape were directed by Rex Arrow Films. Hopefully, with the amount of material we've been getting from XV lately, The Kid With The Green Backpack will be upon us shortly.

XV - Blame Yourself ft. GLC, Emilio Rojas, & Casey Veggies

Vizzy links up with some familiar faces. With all this new material being released by the Wichita artist in the past few weeks, I would expect a new project is somewhere in the near future.

XV - Boss Level (prod. Skrillex)

Seems like a good fit for Vizzy to hop onto a dubstep-style, Skrillex instrumental. The saying "Boss Level" reminds me of so many old video games (mostly Sega for some reason) I used to play when I was a kid. What "boss levels" do you get reminded of from hearing this track?

XV - When We're Done [Video]

Off Vizzy's Zero Heroes mixtape.

Previous: XV - Wichita (prod. Just Blaze) [Video]

XV - Wichita (prod. Just Blaze) [Video]

Vizzy takes us on a tour of his hometown to create the visuals for the intro track of his latest project, Zero Heroes.

XV - Batteries ft. Trae Tha Truth

Vizzy continues his hot streak with another hot track this week. Still hoping this is leading us to a brand new XV project, but that still remains unknown.

XV - The Kick (prod. DJ Tech-Neek)

Maybe these last few, new Vizzy tracks are a sign of something new on the horizon. Whether that's going to be a new mixtape or even his debut album, Kid With The Green Backpack, we'll try to keep you posted.

XV - BITSTU

"Hard in the paint, that's a Van Gogh erection..."

Vizzy is back in the studio and the sample may seem very familiar to many. It's Jai Paul's "BTSTU", which was also used by Drake for "Dreams Money Can Buy". So who wins the title for best flipped beat?

JMIC - Let My Tape Rock ft. XV

Not too familiar with JMIC, but a new XV verse is always nice.