Now that everyone knows more about the 2024 XXL Freshman Class through interviews, Mean Comments and ABCs, it’s time to see how showcase their talents in the cypher. After BigXThaPlug, Bossman Dlow and Maiya The Don caught wreck in the first cypher, That Mexican OT, ScarLip, Skilla Baby, Lay Bankz and Cash Cobain get their chance to show off today. Rapping over a beat with pounding bass and ethereal chords produced by Southside, each Freshman brings the energy to the verses they deliver.
Straight outta Bay City, Texas, That Mexican OT comes out swangin’ with his bars before turning up with head-spinning, rapid-fire wordplay. “H*, stop calling me the No. 1 Latino rapper, b**ch/Because I’m sh*ttin’ on the Blacks and Whites, it not just Mexicans,” OT raps. “‘OT, you made the XXL list?’ I’m screamin’, ‘F**k that sh*t’/You can catch me sippin’ on some medicine where Texas is.”
The Bronx’s own ScarLip brings the energy and an undeniable emotional connection with her boisterous bars. “Show no emotions, growing up we had to fight tears/Bloodshed, tears shed for anyone who might care,” she snaps. “Can’t stop, won’t stop, the finish line is right there/Creep up in they dreams, pen game give ’em nightmares.”
Next up, Skilla Baby puts on for the Motor City, delivering hard-body bars for the trenches. “I f**k with Southside ’cause I know he got my back/I’m the richest young ni**a doing this sh*t without a plaque,” he boasts. “Pushing records out the studio, I treat it like my trap/Henri from BMF, ain’t doing sh*t without my strap.”
BX rapper and producer Cash Cobain jumps in the mix next. The “Fisherrr” co-creator keeps it laid-back and uses the opportunity to rich flex. “Walk inside the club with that sh*t tucked in (OK)/It cost about a dub for me to go clubbin’ (OK),” he rhymes. “Fast broads, fast cars in my budget (OK)/And I still be on the block, b**ches love it.”
Lay Bankz rounds things out. The Philadelphia native shows no sisterly love to her rap foes. “Steady bursting bubbles and bruising egos/Just being me though/My body tea though/And b**ches Cheeto,” she spits. “A lot of sh*t you seen these b**ches doin’, yeah, I started it/Party music, no I ain’t create it, I was part of it, the evolution.”
Check out That Mexican OT, ScarLip, Skilla Baby, Lay Bankz and Cash Cobain showing off in the 2024 XXL Freshman cypher below.
The Freshman issue is on newsstands everywhere. In addition to interviews with the 2024 Freshman Class and producer Southside, there are also conversations with Sexyy Red, Ski Mask The Slump God, Mustard, Rubi Rose, Ken Carson, Ghostface Killah, Lola Brooke and more, plus, a look back at what the 2023 XXL Freshman Class has been doing. Also, there are stories on the ongoing scamming and fraud plaguing hip-hop, and how podcasters and streamers are playing a major role in rap beef. The issue is on sale here, along with some exclusive Freshmen merch.