This year’s XXL Freshmen cover was revealed yesterday, with the ‘Dirty Dozen’ being Ty Dolla $ign, August Alsina, Chance The Rapper, Rich Homie Quan, Isaiah Rashad, Lil Durk, Kevin Gates, Troy Ave, Vic Mensa, Lil Bibby, Jon Connor and Jarren Benton…the latter of whom was voted in by fans. One person who should have been on the list but cancelled at the very last minute, though? Young Thug! I’ll get into those details in a second…but I’d like to add my little inside info first. I originally received the list before everyone got together to shoot the cover, and there were 10 people listed, as well as one slot that was TBA. The only two missing from that list were Kevin Gates and Chance The Rapper, and judging by the popularity of Chance, I’m going to make an educated guess that Kevin was the last-minute addition. Just a little tidbit!

Now on to Young Thug! During her interview with Sway In The Morning this morning, XXL’s Editor in Chief Vanessa Satten revealed the ATL rapper was scheduled to be on the cover, but called 10:30pm the night before the cover shoot and said he wouldn’t be making it. Interesting move! They also discussed other artists who are bubbling right now that didn’t make the cut…like Sage The Gemini (he was left out because he had a major label debut already) and IAMSU!, who they said is likely to be a contender for next year, and broke down why they included singers for the first time ever. Check out the full interview below!

Marisa Mendez