Casey Carter's: The 10 Freshmen

Everyone is anticipating XXL's 2010: The 10 Freshmen cover so I decided to put my own together. Here are the artist who were on last year's cover (in no particular order):

1. Wale
2. KiD CuDi
3. Charles Hamilton
4. BoB
5. Asher Roth
6. Cory Gunz
7. Blu
8. Mickey Factz
9. Ace Hood
10. Curren$y

In my opinion, the only artist above that I feel that have gone on to the next level are Wale & KiD CuDi. Asher Roth, BoB, Blu have all had a nice hype, but I think it's already died down. Ace Hood & Charles Hamilton have both been humiliated in this industry in different cases. Cory Gunz & Mickey Factz are having a slow start & Curren$y seems like he's starting a little slow too, which in my opinion is bull 'cause Weezy shoulda been put him on. SMH.

Anyway here goes my list...IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER!

J. Cole: Well DUH. He's the first artist to sign to Hov's Roc Nation label & he is lyrically one of the
best in the game! Both mixtapes (The Come Up & The Warm Up) have gotten a lot of love & his feature on Jay-Z's BP3's "A Star Is Born" didn't hurt him either.

Nipsey Hussle: The new kid on the block that keeps it crackin in the hood & in your ipod/cd players. He's been compared to the legendary Snoop & is proving he can live up to that title! Nipsey's here to make sure all of you know what it is on the West Coast, THE BEST COAST! ;)

Nicki Minaj: I've NEVER been a fan of female rappers. I have nothing against them & do listen to their music, but I've never been like "Damn, she's filthy!" until Ms. Minaj came out. She's just so dope & so unique! She's turned her music into a culture with all the "Harijuku Barbie" stuff & her lingo as well. What other female rapper you know do that?!

Drake: He's like the "Smart Guy" of the game! He done skipped every grade & graduated & is now livin the damn life. He's worked with Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Mary J. Blidge, & so many more. He's even been nominated for a Grammy & hasn't even dropped an album yet! WELL DAYUM!

Big Sean: Signed to Yeezie's G.O.O.D. MUSIC & Island Def Jam, Big Sean has had lots of success with his UKnowBigSean mixtape...I'm sure he's been doing a lot of shows here & there, but I'm waiting for him to start shinin a little more!! We need an album or another mixtape pronto!

LOS: It still kills me how many people aren't up on this guy! He comes off so hard everytime! He was once signed to Bad Boy but it seems like things weren't working out? Hmmm..Anyway I'm sure 2010 will be a HUGE year for LOS.

Wiz Khalifa: Everyone is on this kid! He has the Internet goin nuts with Twitter, digital mixtapes & his UStreams. Before dropping his album Deal or No Deal he dropped the Burn After Rolling mixtape which both have been receiving great feedback.

Chip Tha Ripper: I'm not even gonna lie, I didn't know nor care about this guy until I downloaded his mixtape this weekend. He's a new problem! I don't have much to say but just DL The Cleveland Show (below) & see why it only took me only a weekend to see why Chip is so dope.

Tyga: There was so much confusion at first when Tyga came out. Was he signed to YoungMoney? Was he not? Well we know now that Tyga is officially apart of the super squad they call Young Money. I'm not really a fan of his commercial ish (like that "lime in the coconut" crap) but in his mixtape & unreleased musc he comes of in ways that should be illegal!

Pac Div: I'm not even sure if groups can be on the list, but if they can, these guys really deserve it. The really killed it this year with thier Church League Champions mixtape & even got recognition & love from Diddy on this project!

Again, this is only MY opinion. I'm sure 2010 will be a very big year for the artist above & I can't wait to see who actually makes the list!