News broke earlier this week that Rich The Kid turned down an invitation to accept a spot on the 2018 XXL Freshman Class cover because he was only chosen because the magazine needed a replacement for Lil Skies. Apparently, Lil Skies never showed up for the customary photo shoot, video bio, and cypher. On Wednesday, April 25, he released a video of him explaining his reason for turning the opportunity down.
"Lil Skies. I don't be responding to all this s**t - this, that, and the third. But, no, I did not show up. And it's not like no hate s**t towards XXL and all that. It's just, no bro, I'm not like... If you're gonna play the game, play the game right," said Skies. "I can't be chosen before the people even get the vote. That's just not fair to me. That's not me being fair to Y'all."
It hasn't been unheard of for some of the game's past up and coming artists to throw away their opportunity to garner publicity and a little bit of status from the XXL Freshman Class title. There are a variety of reasons for why those who have stiffed the publication went about doing so, whether it be that they've felt some type of way about being overlooked for too long or that they've simply amassed enough of a following to not need a XXL co-sign.
What made Skies peel off from the likes of Lil Pump, Smokepurpp, Blocboy JB, Trippie Redd, YBN Nahmir, J.I.D, Stefflon Don, and whomever else gets afforded a spot, is more in line with the basic notion of integrity.
"So, yea, just understand that I did that for my fans. I did that to show the real s**t," he said.
