The annual XXL Freshman Cyphers are a useful index of hip-hop’s increasing splintering, a display of the myriad sorts of rapping that are gathering traction among younger artists. They also serve as a camera-hides-nothing survey of up-and-comers who — thanks to the power granted to them by the internet — increasingly seem to believe that they have little to prove. The idea of freestyling over an unfamiliar beat as a worthwhile challenge feels particularly antiquated these days, a radio-appearance relic in an online-video age. But that dissonance makes for fascinating moments when artists can’t seamlessly walk the tightrope between the two.

These clips — 10 artists in three groupings likely never to again share a stage — include some impressive rapping (Megan Thee Stallion, Rico Nasty, DaBaby) and some conceptualist verse (Blueface), and are useful in poking holes in careers that have been quickly and unjustifiably inflated (Lil Mosey, Comethazine). But the rappers reveal the most when caught responding to someone else’s performance: Megan Thee Stallion barely tolerating Lil Mosey; YK Osiris in slack-jawed awe of DaBaby’s arrogant ferocity; Blueface and YBN Cordae hitting the woah while Rico Nasty speed talks; Comethazine staring out into the ether while Tierra Whack, going a cappella, offers a master class in rapping, an art form of which Comethazine has little understanding. CARAMANICA