Kanye West Tops MTV's Hottest MCs In The Game List

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Site Last Updated: 3:36 AM EDT, August 30, 2008	Make BallerStatus Your Homepage

Published: Saturday - May 17, 2008
Words by Allen Starbury

Kanye West (Photo: MTV)

Last year, MTV introduced its first Hottest MCs In The Game list, which was decided by a roundtable of MTV reporters and editors, who eventually crowned Lil Wayne as hottest MC.

This year, however, the list changed somewhat, and Kanye West has claimed the no. 1 spot, beating out the likes of 50 Cent, Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy and T.I.

According to MTV, the reason West leads the list is because he's the "best live performer in hip-hop," and that his current Glow In The Dark Tour alone cements his position.

At no. 2 comes Jay-Z, and obviously his reported $150 million landmark deal with Live Nation is one of the main driving forces ... in addition to his longstanding record of consistency.

Lil Wayne dropped in MTV's list from the throne to no. 3 this year. He's been on fire for the past year, showing up on every feature and remix you can imagine. However, why didn't MTV name him no. 1 again?Their reasoning is because of the constant delays of his highly-anticipated Tha Carter III, which would come with benefits such as an arena tour.

Rick Ross somehow made his way from not being on last year to making the no. 4 spot on the Hottest MCs list. His second-straight no. 1 debut on the charts over Fat Joe and Snoop Dogg, with Trilla, helped a lot, but it was fueled by his singles, "Speedin'" featuring R. Kelly, and "The Boss" featuring T-Pain.

Rounding out the top 5 is Snoop Dogg, who -- let's face it -- has a worldwide appeal. Even grandmothers know who Snoop Dogg is. His hit single, "Sensual Seduction," introduced a new sound for Snoop, and he garnered some country fans with his country track, "My Medicine." Who else could do a country track and be accepted for it? It's obvious why Snoop makes the list.

The rest of the top 10 include 50 Cent at no. 6, Lupe Fiasco at no. 7, Young Jeezy at no. 8, Andre 3000 at no. 9 and T.I. rounding out the list.

For full explanations and rundowns of why each rapper is hot, and what they're working on visit MTV.com.

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COMMENTS (11)

Simply Esctasy Says:
Tuesday - May 20, 2008 at 10:28am

*gasping for air* RICK ROSS??? WTF. Record sales don't make you a HOT MC... if that's the case then why Soulja Boy aint on the list, his weak ass almost went Platinum. But I agree that Kayne should be on the list but #1 is disrespectful.

kanye west's gay boyfriend Says:
Tuesday - May 20, 2008 at 6:20am

this is shit selection. 50 should be first and kanye west should be nowhere. west u bitch fuck u.

mr. fisha Says:
Tuesday - May 20, 2008 at 12:38am

wow, lupe and andre 3000 sooo looww....just tell who ever does the votes dont listen to music, rick ross or geezy shouldnt be nowhere on the list...wheres common, might mos, talib...list goes on!!

d Says:
Monday - May 19, 2008 at 3:35pm

Kanye at no 1. okay but 50 at 8. Are you serious. This dude has the hottest sight in the business. he is signing multi million dollar deals. His mixtapes have been pure fire. how do you explain that if Jay is at 2 because of his business savy how can 50 be 6 spots behind.

DaStreets Says:
Monday - May 19, 2008 at 1:41pm

or why is ti even on da list when aint no one thinking bout his music...everyone only cares bout his case.... and snoop...to be that big from the west coast and still flop...only one hot single from ur album and could not go gold.... and 50 to be after him is a joke...I guess we do hold him at too much of a high standard cause if going platinum aint good enough on a "weak" album....I don't know... or did we forget how jay got lauged at for kingdom come so he had to come right back with american gangster....and how we forgot that the first single completely faild...and rock boys saved his ass... mtv is whack!!

DaStreets Says:
Monday - May 19, 2008 at 1:40pm

as usual the reason for having people on da list is whack....the only reason kanye is #1 is cause he beat out 50...and that's cause of pure hate anyways...u smoking crack if u wanna say he had a buzz before people knew he was going up against 50.... and wayne has like a 1 in every 10 verses are hot average...everyone forgets his verses with ja and shit like that which was wack...or the fact that kanye burned him on his own song..or how cory guns outdid him on millionaire so they don't play that version....

cs Says:
Monday - May 19, 2008 at 5:50am

80 % of these dudes dont even belong on the list!!chicago is truly runnit it

nychris Says:
Sunday - May 18, 2008 at 8:31pm

rick ross at number 4?? i guess being a hot MC has nothing to do with lyrics anymore

Awiz Says:
Sunday - May 18, 2008 at 7:17pm

Boosie and Webbie are cool for what they do, but when your talkin about the best mcs in the game they are jokes lol. They pretty much got it right with the exception of putting Lupe a little higher and replacing T.I. with the game

Blizit Says:
Sunday - May 18, 2008 at 2:30am

The south is dominating.

mike oxbig Says:
Saturday - May 17, 2008 at 9:25pm

i aint knockin 'ye or any niggas on this list kause jeezy and tip were doin there thing with there albums but 2 niggas always forgotten are boosie and webbie_i like their musik it aint the same bullshit thats out right now_its real street musik and they both have good content on their albums_all the trill niggas know wat up tho trill ent. is the fam and its ugk 4 life r.i.p. chad 'pimp c' butler_we aint never gonna 4get you dog_free mike vick and prodigy!