The 2025 XXL Freshman Class, One Year Later: Where Are They Now?
Never Stop
The 2025 XXL Freshman Class spent the past year turning momentum into milestones. These 12 artists have been busy making moves, headlines and more.
Editor’s Note: This story appears in the Summer 2026 issue of XXL Magazine, on newsstands now and available for sale on the XXL website.
It's been a memorable journey for the 2025 XXL Freshman Class over the past 12 months. Eem Triplin, 1900Rugrat, BabyChiefDoit, Ian, Lazer Dim 700, Gelo, Loe Shimmy, Nino Paid, Ray Vaughn, Samara Cyn, YTB Fatt and 10th Spot Winner EBK Jaaybo have been turning momentum into milestones.
Since appearing on the Freshman cover last year, Eem, Rugrat and Lazer Dim have been busy dropping plenty of singles. Lazer was the most prolific in 2026, dropping over 30 tracks and nearly 50 videos. This past June, he delivered another album, The Rules of Success, featuring a whopping 30 songs.
Meanwhile, EBK Jaaybo spent the entire year in jail on weapon and drug charges, but he stayed active dropping his project, Don't Trust Me last May, and songs like "Someone You Love" and "I'm Coming." Despite his incarceration, Jaaybo released a new single, "Til the World End" featuring Lil Yee, this past August.
Samara Cyn followed her cover appearance with her 2025 project Backroads and returned in March of 2026 with a seven-track EP titled Detour. This past July, she partnered with DJ Premier for a Major League Soccer campaign, performing a cover of A Tribe Called Quest's classic song "Can I Kick It?" for Amazon Music Original.
Elsewhere, Loe Shimmy sharpened his melodic street-rap sound last year with songs like "For Me" featuring Brent Faiyaz, "Tubi Movie" and "3am" with Don Toliver. In May, Loe received arguably the biggest look of his career with his appearance on Drake's Habibti track "I'm Spent." This past July, the Florida rhymer delivered his debut studio album, Pretty Girlz Run The World, featuring guest appearances from Sexyy Red and Summer Walker.
These are just a handful of standout moments from the Freshman Class members as they continue to stack accolades in their careers. Take a full look at what all 12 2025 XXL Freshmen have been doing to keep themselves busy by making moves, headlines and more within the past year.
See What the 2025 XXL Freshman Class Has Been Up To
A look at what the 2025 XXL Freshman Class has been up to is included in the 2026 XXL Freshman issue and is available to purchase here. In addition to interviews with the 2026 XXL Freshman Class and DJ Drama, there are also conversations with T.I., Swae Lee, Sexyy Red, Young M.A, Diamond*, Cash Cobain, Skilla Baby, Lil Tjay and more, plus exploring the cultural impact of the 2016 XXL Freshman Class and where its members are today.
