XXL recently dropped its Freshman Class of '11 cover, which is starting to lose its luster as this year's cover got a few things right (Kendrick Lamar, Yelawolf, Big K.R.I.T.) and possibly tainted its reputation by taking Uncle Russell's money in exchange for Diggy Simmons coverage.
XXL is correct, Kendrick Lamar is a going to be a big deal, but his Black Hippy crew deserves equal accolades. The magazine already gave Jay Rock his shine, so why not reward Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q for the same hard work instead of boring us with features on Meek Mill, Mac Miller and Fred the Godson? The silver lining is the Freshman Class cover is taking on the Madden cover curse and highlighting next year's winners of the Craig “You Won't Be Around Next Year” Mack Award. Perhaps it's a blessing Schoolboy and Ab-Soul were not invited to the shoot.
With Ab-Soul out on the road with Murs for the Road To Paid Dues tour, I'm going to assume his follow-up to last year's Long Term 2: Lifestyles of the Broke and Almost Famous mixtape is near completion, if not finished. Soul broke us off with he and Kendrick's newest dedication to choice liquor called “Moscato,” in which Soul relates his un-wind prescription with “let's head home / crack a bottle of the Sutter Homes and hit some trees”. Amen, amigo.
Ab-Soul is rapidly becoming the Black Hippy crew's Nate Dogg of choruses. He brought the gangster dramatics to Schoolboy's “What's The Word?” and he's struck gold once again on “Moscato” with “when things get hard to swallow / we need a bottle of moscato / puts me in the mood for your lovin'.”
Expect Ab-Soul's Longterm: Mentality sooner than later.
