Chris Patrick, the 2026 XXL Freshman, shares the single Check Me

Chris Patrick released Check Me on August 28, and it arrives with more attention behind it than his earlier work had. The rapper has spent roughly a year climbing, and the track is the sort of release that gets judged against expectation rather than on its own.

The rise started on a live stream. His freestyle during Kai Cenat's Mafiathon 3 in September 2025 was widely described as the best of that run, and it put him in front of an audience that had not been looking for him. He converted that into a place on XXL's 2026 Freshman list, which remains the single most useful piece of positioning a young rapper in the United States can get.

Check Me is built on the same technical confidence. He raps about money that does not feel real yet, about still adjusting to touching it, and slips in a Marlon Wayans reference on the way through. HotNewHipHop gave the song 3.75 out of 5 and called it another demonstration of what he can do, with the caveat that the superstar version of him is still ahead.

No album has been announced. The song is listed as a standalone release, which puts him in the same holding pattern as most rappers in his position: keep the singles moving, keep the list placement warm, and pick the moment for a full-length.

The XXL class he belongs to has historically been a good predictor of who is still around in five years and a poor one for who breaks first, and the archive of it keeps getting revisited, most recently in a documentary about the 2016 cover.

Check Me is streaming now. Other releases from the same week in hip-hop, including EST Gee's run of singles, are listed on the release calendar.