Revisiting The 10 XXL Freshmen of 2010 – Their Success & Where Are They Now?
Nipsey Hussle
Nipsey Hussle was the future of the West Coast before Kendrick Lamar. His mixtape, Slauson Boy Volume 1 was his introduction in 2005. Then he signed to Cinematic/Epic Records and released Bullets Ain’t Got No Name, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. The following year he released Vol. 3. The projects propelled him to the 10 XXl Freshmen mention.
After the XXL freshman cover, the Los Angeles rapper started the Marathon series which would become three albums The Marathon in 2010 and The Marathon Continues in 2011 but before the third album he left Epic records in 2011 in order to focus on his own moves in the industry without them.
In 2013 he released his mixtape, Crenshaw. His 2014 mixtape Mailbox Money kept the buzz building, even selling copies for $100 each.
Where Are They Now?
Nipsey’s official debut studio album, Victory Lap was released in 2018. He had been working on it since 2013. The album was Grammy nominated for Rap Album of the Year and many believe he deserved to win the honor.
Nipsey Hussle was tragically murdered on Sunday March 31, 2019. The rapper was one of three people shot outside of Marathon Clothing on West Slauson Avenue in South Los Angeles.
#TheMarathonContinues
Wiz Khalifa
Wiz Khalifa was a major independent artist at the start of his career, reminiscent to the movement Chance The Rapper has created for himself. Khalifa’s first album, Show and Prove was released in 2006 and the buzz created from the project landed him a deal with Warner Bros. Records the following year. He released several mixtapes and buzz singles awaiting his major label debut, but progression was at a standstill. The label was slow in delivering on his second album, so he decided to leave the label and released Deal or No Deal in 2009. A year later he released Kush and Orange Juice, a project that became his calling card in this industry as an artist at the forefront of the smoker movement. He received the 10 XXL Freshmen of 2010 honor shortly after that project. He then signed to Atlantic Records, a bit of a strange move because the label’s parent company is the aforementioned Warner Bros.
After signing with Atlantic Records, the proud cannabis user from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania released his first single “Black and Yellow”, which hit the Billboard Hot 100 in 2010. The song became the theme song for the Pittsburgh Steelers championship run. His major label debut album Rolling Papers was released in March 2011 with Atlantic Records. The album hit number two on the Billboard charts. Around the same time he started dating model, Amber Rose, with whom he would get married in 2013 and they would have a son together.
In 2012 he released his sophomore album O.N.I.F.C which sold 131,000 copies in it’s first week, and spawned two more hits “Work Hard Play Hard” and “Remember You”. Two years later he released his third major label album, Blacc Hollywood another successful release. Before the release however he announced that he and Amber Rose had split.
Where Are They Now?
Earlier this year Wiz released his fourth major label project, the self-titled, Khalifa. The project may be his weakest performing project, but Khalifa isn’t hurting. Last year he released the song, “See You Again” a tribute to Paul Walker, which was featured on the Furious 7 soundtrack. The song featured Charlie Puth. The song spent 11 weeks at number one on the charts, tying for the most ever for a Hip-Hop song. The video has been viewed 1.9 Billion times on youtube, second most all time.
Wiz Khalifa released Rolling Papers 2 in June 2018, his 6th solo album. There have been no announcements for a new project.
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