The Most Ignorant Image Of The Week

This is what happens when multifaceted rappers have way too much time on their hands. Here’s the back story: In 2008, XXL made a magazine cover documenting the top ten rising starts in hip-hop, "The Top Ten 09 Freshmen", which included, Mickey Factz, Charles Hamilton, Asher Roth, Blu, Wale and more… Strangely XXL made the bold decision to put Ace Hood on the list instead of XV, and many hip-hop fans weren't too happy about it, including me. People began flooding XXL's blog site asking questions like "Where's XV?" "Where's Drake?". Most of the artists on the list are connected to each other by one or two degrees of separation and they were all major players in the internet rap movement except for Mr. Hood. Ace Hood is simply part of different scene; he can't be compared to "blog rappers" or anyone that's associated with the new hipster rap genre. I like Ace, but personally I'd rather see him compared to Plies, or Gucci Mane – major label, flashy southern rappers that are getting nation-wide commercial airplay.
What if Ace Hood wasn't on the cover? Who should have taken his place? XV? Drake? Skyzoo? Maybe Skyzoo didn't make the list because he's an "underground rapper" that is often ignored by mainstream media. Maybe Drake didn't make the list because he's a Canadian rapper that wasn't as popular in the US during most of 2008… So what about XV? Maybe XV wasn't on there because the entire "Top Ten Freshmen of 2009" cover was a well designed product of a joint lobbying effort from major label executives to promote their newly signed artists on a grand scale. Whatever the case, the controversy still looms. Now that it's 2009, XV decides that he's not going to continue to rant about XXL, and burn a potential bridge, he instead decides to send them a subliminal "F-You" through this beautifully crafted, ignorant image of the week.