5 biggest snubs from 2023 XXL Freshman Class

Mike Dimes

Texas has quite a few talented up-and-coming hip hop artists that deserve more recognition from fans and critics both. We already mentioned Dallas' breakout artist BigXThaPlug among the biggest snubs on this list.

Another noteworthy snub among Texas native rappers on this list is San Antonio native Mike Dimes. The 23-year-old rapper, singer, and songwriter is one of the best on-the-rise southern hip hop and trap artists to keep an eye on this year.

Dimes first popped onto the scene around the release of his debut mixtape DLOG in May 2021. DLOG features the single "My Story" that gained traction on Tik Tok in the spring and summer of 2021, helping to expand Dimes' reach to new audiences thanks to the popular social media app.

It didn't take long for Dimes to capitalize on the wider audience he gained with the buzz generated on Tik Tok from "My Story" in late 2021 and early 2022. Dimes released his debut studio album in March 2022, called IN DIMES WE TRUST, which really helped to solidify his spot as an emerging southern hip-hop artist.

Two of Mike Dimes' most popular singles on IN DIMES WE TRUST, "HOME" and "NO TRENDS", have already combined for more than 100 million streams on Spotify since they dropped early last year.

Dimes also received co-signs from other big emerging Texas rappers such as Maxo Kream and BigXThaPlug, as well as the popular Dreamville rapper JID, since the release of his debut studio album last year. Maxo and BigX even jumped on the last song on the tracklist for Dimes' sophomore album TEXAS BOY which was released earlier this month.