One of the most conspicuous absences from the 2016 XXL Freshman cover was Post Malone. If Desiigner made the cover, why not Post Malone, who has produced not only a mega-hit but a solid overall body of work? XXL editor-in chief Vanessa Satten explained why Post Malone was not included during an interview with The Breakfast Club Monday morning.
When asked by DJ Envy whether Post Malone was considered for the cover, Satten responded, "We were told by his camp that he wasn't playing attention to hip hop so much. He was going in more of a rock/pop/country direction."
This shouldn't come as a major surprise to anyone who has seen the video for Malone's single "Go Flex." As HNHH user /u/stop playin wit my fuckin name succinctly put it, "This nigga combined the sounds of like Future & The Lumineers." It's quite possible that his sound has been more a product of the style of FKi, his go-to production team, than of his own musical tastes.