There was something enchanting about “XXL Freshman Freestyle,” part of the viral rap phenom Ian ’s appearance on this year’s annual XXL Freshmen List, which he’d later release on streaming under the title “Oh OK.” It was among the most memorable moments from the series since the legendary 2016 edition with 21 Savage and Lil Uzi Vert. Ian raps an absurdist set of unrhymed couplets — “Damn I’m on my Brittney shit, Oops I hit again” — that signal a wry kind of humor, like the perfect inside joke. Reactions to the freestyle depended on whether or not you were tuned into its sarcastic frequency. This, of course, has been the case for Ian’s whole career. The “Suburban White Guy Who Became an Overnight Rap Star,” as a recent Wall Street Journal profile puts it, Ian remains a hip-hop fascin

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