For those that have been following this years XXL Freshmen today was an important day. We finally got our first dose of the cyphers!
I was somewhat excited for the cyphers to come out. Even with this year's lack-luster line up. I was even excited when I saw that the first cypher was Kidd Kidd, K Camp, Tink & Raury. I knew Tink and Raury would do just fine, but the other two would pose a problem. I was right. Starting the cypher off with a weak beat and the weakest rapper out of the four almost made me be done with the cypher altogether. Kidd Kidd sounds out of breath as he "talk raps" and tries his hardest to fit in impressive wordplay. It just came across as first-grade raps with lines we've heard before.
Right after Kidd Kidd was K Camp. K Camp's verse was as good as a K Camp verse can be. It was okay at best. His 2k line was probably the most satisfying line he said but nothing was mentioned that made you run it back or react. His verse was extremely short as well. I clocked forty six seconds.
At this point in time the cypher's quality is shifting. Tink comes in with a maturity about her that is automatically respected. She sounds similar to Ladybug Mecca with a delivery that emulated Kendrick, Lauryn Hill and many other rappers that it's hard to pinpoint. It's clear Tink had the best freestyle out of everyone. Her raps come first and she doesn't use anything else but her talent to prove that, which she sort of expresses in her freestyle.
Lastly we have Raury. I really liked Raury's verse. I love that he still didn't stray away from what he talks about. He used this platform to express the messages he wants to convey to the youth. He flowed pretty nicely and you got something out of what he said. That's all you can ask for in these rap situations. I wish that Kidd Kidd and K Camp could have been replaced with Alex Wiley and Mick Jenkins. This would be a whole different article and cypher if they were.
You can check out the Cypher below.
I was somewhat excited for the cyphers to come out. Even with this year's lack-luster line up. I was even excited when I saw that the first cypher was Kidd Kidd, K Camp, Tink & Raury. I knew Tink and Raury would do just fine, but the other two would pose a problem. I was right. Starting the cypher off with a weak beat and the weakest rapper out of the four almost made me be done with the cypher altogether. Kidd Kidd sounds out of breath as he "talk raps" and tries his hardest to fit in impressive wordplay. It just came across as first-grade raps with lines we've heard before.
Right after Kidd Kidd was K Camp. K Camp's verse was as good as a K Camp verse can be. It was okay at best. His 2k line was probably the most satisfying line he said but nothing was mentioned that made you run it back or react. His verse was extremely short as well. I clocked forty six seconds.
At this point in time the cypher's quality is shifting. Tink comes in with a maturity about her that is automatically respected. She sounds similar to Ladybug Mecca with a delivery that emulated Kendrick, Lauryn Hill and many other rappers that it's hard to pinpoint. It's clear Tink had the best freestyle out of everyone. Her raps come first and she doesn't use anything else but her talent to prove that, which she sort of expresses in her freestyle.
Lastly we have Raury. I really liked Raury's verse. I love that he still didn't stray away from what he talks about. He used this platform to express the messages he wants to convey to the youth. He flowed pretty nicely and you got something out of what he said. That's all you can ask for in these rap situations. I wish that Kidd Kidd and K Camp could have been replaced with Alex Wiley and Mick Jenkins. This would be a whole different article and cypher if they were.
You can check out the Cypher below.
(Video Cred: YouTube.com)
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