Two of Detroit’s rising rap stars land spot in XXL magazine’s Freshman 2022 class

Since 2007, XXL magazine's Freshman Class has been one of the most coveted, and debated, lists in rap music.

The annual list highlights roughly a dozen upcoming artists who the magazine feels is worth keeping an out for in the near future.

Over the last 15 years, four Detroit artists have been featured on the list: Big Sean (2010), Danny Brown (2012), Dej Loaf (2015), and 42 Dugg (2021).

XXL magazine announced the 2022 class and this year, Detroit will have two new artists joining the Freshman roster, Babyface Ray and BabyTron. Both were featured in Metro Times in the past year.

Babyface Ray released his album FACE back in January and received praise from outlets like Rolling Stone and Complex. He was one of our February cover stars, as we spent an evening with him during a show at Saint Andrew's Hall.

Rapper BabyTron was the winner of this year's fan vote for the 10th spot. In previous years, XXL only picked 10 artists. It's wavered throughout the years, but the 10th position remains pretty sought after. BabyTron was one of seven artists featured in our 2022 Best New Detroit Music issue back in March, appearing on the cover. He released his latest project, Megatron, on March 4.


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