MTV at it again...

The ridiculousness that is the “10 hottest MC’s” list
Written by 4bars

Quick bit of business: the 2 part series I.A.N. will be continued next week, but after I saw the clips that were posted of MTV’s supposed “10 Hottest MC’s of 2008”, I couldn’t let this ride. There was a lot that occurred that had me legitimately pissed off, a bit is low lighted below:

* debating T.I. or Soulja Boy on the list?
* Andre 3000 ranked below Rick Ross? Big Boi wasn’t even on the list?
* Ludacris, Bun-B, and Joe Buddens are not even on the list yet Young Jeezy is?
* Jeezy is higher on the list than Lupe Fiasco?

I could go on and on about the different ridiculous quotes from the “panelists” but the one thing that spoke volumes about the glaring flaw in this list is that “lyrics” were an afterthought in the criteria. If I’m not mistaken the word “lyrics” wasn’t even used until they were talking about Jay-Z at #3. I’m no conspiracy theorist, but I gotta call a spade a spade, follow me for a second: MTV/BET (read Viacom) is a huge part of what I think is wrong with Hip Hop, everything being about image and bling etc. It just so happens that the group of hip-hop “experts” happens to be producers and executives from MTV’s hip hop faction. Pushing an agenda are we?

Bottom line is, there was a panel of “experts” who discussed and voted on a list of the “hottest” MCs in the game and lyrics were almost seen as a bonus for comparing and rating the artists (I use the term loosely); this is foul to me and makes no sense. Hip-hop is indeed more than just lyrics but when you talk about the hottest rapper, things like swag, persona, image, and sales should be things that are discussed in case there is a tie between two rappers who have similar lyrical ability. Hip hop should be about the music, all that other stuff takes care of itself. Maybe I’m blowing this out of proportion but this really had me pretty upset as I watched these so called informed panelists talk about Rick Ross’ persona of “the boss” as something to aspire to and something “fresh” and “new”; or the way they talked about Shawty Lo and Rocko biting Young Jeezy’s style, again, like it was something of merit. I’m not gonna front like I wasn’t bobbin my head hard as a mf to “The Boss” when I first heard it or like I don’t f wit Jeezy when he’s on a track but to have these guys among the hottest rappers is ridiculous. Both Jeezy and Ross are severely lacking lyrically and honestly portray an image/persona that, to me, is false. My man gWiz alluded to it in an earlier post, we need to start questioning the authenticity of these dudes cause like Saigon “I’m feelin disrespected (if everybody hittin dimes, who got all these ugly bitches pregnant?” hahahaha).