{"id":574588,"date":"2026-07-30T00:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T00:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/574588\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T00:02:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T00:02:11","slug":"denzel-curry-praises-the-2016-xxl-freshman-class-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/574588\/","title":{"rendered":"Denzel Curry Praises the 2016 XXL Freshman Class’ Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the 2016 XXL Freshman Class, one of the most influential groups of\u00a0 rappers ever assembled, a pivotal moment in hip-hop’s evolution. The legendary\u00a02016 Class<\/a>\u00a0introduced fans to 10 new forces in rap:\u00a0Lil Uzi Vert,<\/a> 21 Savage,<\/a> Kodak Black,<\/a> Lil Yachty,<\/a> Denzel Curry,<\/a> Anderson .Paak,<\/a> Desiigner,<\/a> G Herbo,<\/a> Dave East<\/a>\u00a0and Lil Dicky<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In partnership with R\u00e9my Martin\u2014who launched a campaign last year celebrating a new definition of success\u2014the 2016 XXL Freshman Class 10-Year Anniversary series, hosted by DJ Drama, brings the same spirit to life by discovering how intention, authenticity and personal calling have shaped the achievements of G Herbo,\u00a0Denzel Curry and Dave East.<\/p>\n

In celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the class arguably deemed the best Freshman Class of all time, in this series, Denzel Curry connects with XXL to reflect on how the other members of the class inspire him and how he views success.<\/p>\n

DJ Drama, who served up the beat in the 2016 cyphers, chats with Denzel about being part of a class that outshines many others.<\/p>\n

“Oh man, the most legendary class all around,” Denzel says of his 2016 classmates. “To be honest with you, I don’t think there will be no other class that’s gon’ beat that class. However you want to look at it, we are the most successful class.”<\/p>\n

Since appearing on the cover, the South Florida MC has watched the other artists in the class make their own milestones in rap and beyond. The ongoing competitive drive among the group has motivated him in his own rap career.<\/p>\n

“When the list came, and seeing 21 [Savage] go crazy, and seeing [Lil] Uzi [Vert] go crazy, and even seeing [Anderson] .Paak doing the Super Bowl [Halftime Show], it just keeps me on my toes, and it just keeps me going,” Denzel says.\u00a0“Yes, there is a competitive nature when it comes down to me because in hip-hop it’s embedded in that. You want to know who\u2019s the best in the neighborhood\u2026 It\u2019s just always gonna be a part of hip-hop.”<\/p>\n

“Them being successful helped me be successful,” he adds. “And I’ma always give them credit because they make me better. And I just hope with my music, I’m doing the same thing \u2019cause I feel\u00a0that’s how we hold each other up as a community.”<\/p>\n

Take a look below as Denzel Curry reflects on the legendary 2016 XXL Freshman Class with DJ Drama, powered by R\u00e9my Martin. And visit the 2016 XXL Freshman Class 10-Year Anniversary page powered by R\u00e9my Martin here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

See 2016 XXL Freshman Class 10-Year Anniversary – Documentary & More<\/a>Watch Denzel Curry\u2019s My Call 2016 XXL Freshman Class 10-Year Anniversary Interview Powered by\u00a0 R\u00e9my Martin\u00a0<\/p>\n

This editorial is presented by R\u00e9my Martin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

See 2026 XXL Freshman Class<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This year marks the 10th anniversary of the 2016 XXL Freshman Class, one of the most influential groups…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[321,93,61,60,43,2699,242408],"class_list":["post-574588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-videos","tag-xxl-freshmen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}