Dallas hip-hop fans were none too happy about the perceived slight, but Post Malone's team has now made clear that it was simply a mistake. "They just looked at his Wikipedia page, read the first line and didn't do any additional research," Beau Benton, Vice President of Media at Republic Records, said over the phone on Wednesday afternoon. Republic is the label that Post Malone is signed to. "We've been on them to fix it for two days now. He reps Dallas."
That means Dallas hip-hop fans can breathe a little easier, knowing once and for all that the "White Iverson" rapper hasn't become a turncoat. XXL has not responded to requests for comment, but on Wednesday night the error was corrected on their website.
It turns up there's still more to this rather unusual "controversy," however. A source within Post Malone's camp has confirmed that XXL originally approached him about being included in the staff’s nine selections for the 2016 Freshmen Class members. He, along with the Syracuse reference, appeared on the ballot for the 10th and final spot on the list, which is voted on by readers and was released on Monday.
"We declined," says the source. "It's really just a timing thing. We've got a lot of good stuff coming with him and we don't want to pigeonhole him into just being a rapper."
This is far from the first time an artist has turned down the magazine’s Freshmen List. In past years Drake, Nicki Minaj, Earl Sweatshirt, A$AP Rocky, ILoveMakonnen and Young Thug were among some names who decided not to be considered Freshmen. Both Drake and Minaj acknowledged that they felt the magazine came a year too late with the offer and instead opted for their own feature stories in the magazine.
Yesterday afternoon, Post Malone took to Twitter himself to put an exclamation point on the proceedings.
Everyone knows I was born in Syracuse & come from/"Rep" Dallas
— G-Unit Posty (@PostMalone) March 30, 2016
