Kanye West has something to be happy about
Kanye West has been selected by MTV’s hip-hop aficionados as this year’s “Hottest MC in the Game”. Beating out the likes of Jay-Z, indie darling Lupe Fiasco, and last year’s winner Lil Wayne, West took home the crown thanks to his talents and successes in the following categories…
A panel of judges looked at the following factors in making their judgment: ’straight-up skills, success (both musical and entrepreneurial), impact on the game and…an MC’s cool factor and how they carry themselves on and off recordings.’
Surely this must make up for those disappointing losses at the Grammys and MTV Europe Music Awards…
Check out the Top 10 list below…
MTV’s “Hottest MCs in the Game” 2008:
1. Kanye West
2. Jay-Z
3. Lil Wayne
4. Rick Ross
5. Snoop Dogg
6. 50 Cent
7. Lupe Fiasco
8. Young Jeezy
9. Andre 3000
10. T.I.
it’s rick ross, not riss ross. i kind of agree with the top 3, but the rest of the list is way off. where is nas?
Lupe fiasco should be #1 if they based it on talent and mc skills alone
lupe should be number 3 at least…50 cent? rick ross? gimme a break
Hey, Consequence of Sound. Longtime reader (well, a couple of months), first-time poster. I’m a big fan of the blog and of Kanye West as well.
His placement on the list makes me happy since up until this point, I feel like people have viewed him as more on a producer than an MC. Fair enough, I suppose, since he cut his teeth making high pitched, soul-sampled beats. But never have I seen a rapper’s wordplay improve so much in such a short span of time. He went from rhyming the same words on The College Dropout (left eye with Left Eye? Really?) to spinning undulating verses with the ease of a slightly drunk boa constrictor on Late Registration (see his final verse on “Gone). His lyrics finally stood up to the free-flowing guest star giants that adorned all of his albums, even giving the Rain Man of hip-hop, Cam’ron a run for his money.
Anyway, yeah…so he deserves it. However, I feel that Andre 3000 should be a bit higher on the list. People are so hard on Outkast these days. Sure, Idlewild wasn’t the magnum opus of Stankonia, or Aquemini, or even ATLiens, but they’ve still had one of the most solid careers in the history of hip hop. Granted, it’s easy for Andre’s mic skills to be overwhelmed by his extracuricular career choices (see Class of 3000 or the um…that sequel to Get Shorty…can’t remember what it’s called…it’s terrible though), but listen to his verses on Skew It On The Bar-B or Xplosion or anything else pre-Love Below, and his position on the list below bullet-spitting one trick ponies like 50 Cent seems grossly unjust. Not to mention that Outkast’s return to poetry vs pimping form on UGK’s International Players’ Anthem (the choice cut of last year in my opinion) was one of the funnest and rawest things to hit the airwaves in 2007. And say what you want about Idlewild and The Love Below, but at least they were risky, which is more than (I can say for The Massacre or Curtis.
Anyway, keep up the good work. I’ve been reading COS at my office, so I haven’t been able to subscribe yet, but I plan to once I get home today (sorry for the delay). Thanks for the info!
Dan