Denzel Curry
Miami
Denzel Curry had a pretty good year. He dropped his album, Imperial, back in March, XXL named him a member of the 2016 Freshman class in June, and his Black Metal Terrorist tour kicked off in September. Curry broke out in 2011 after a string of mixtapes caught the ears of Earl Sweatshirt and SpaceGhostPurpp, who brought him into Raider Klan. Curry parted ways with SpaceGhost in 2013 and released his debut LP, Nostalgic 64. He continues to pursue his solo rap career repping Miami and Carol City because of the draw of the "people and the energy around it."