Open Mic: Who's the Hottest MC in the Game?
Friday August 10, 2007
Last week, MTV crowned Lil' Wayne the "Hottest MC in the Game" to the chagrin of many hip-hop fans. What's even more alarming is that Jim Jones made the final 10 ahead of the likes of Nas and Talib Kweli. But that's MTV.
I've put together a short list of MCs who're currently incinerating the rap game, and tagged on a poll to find out who you would have voted for if you were on the MTV Brain Trust. As always, you're welcome to suggest an artist that's not mentioned below (the poll only allows 10 options).
Click on an artist's name to vote.
Comments
Man, i hope Nas wins. He deserves it.
I voted Nas mainly because he provoked a lot of reaction with the controversial Hip Hop is Dead. It alarmed all the fans to support real hip-hop over commercial. He stirred a lot of arguments everywhere among hip-hop fans and even artists. Now good artists are trying to push themselves more to give the fans the realest music possible and the wack ones are more cautious now. It even led to a whole new album by Kris totally dedicated to this – Hip Hop Lives. And the forthcoming DMX’s Resurrection of Hip Hop. Plus Nas’ album was enthralling too. Now what else an MC could do to be that hot in the game?
And now, everyone is dying to wait what Nas is going to do next on “The N”. The sales are gonna skyrocket.
kanye is killin the game both as a rapper and producer. when was the last time he dropped anything that wasn’t better then just about everything else at the time?? and graduation is by far the most anticipated album right now–its on a completely different level than curtis or carter III
if this is supposed to be who’s hot right then it shouldn’t be nas, he hasn’t dropped anything in a while. i’ve only heard like 2 songs on mixtapes. if it’s the hottest rapper overall then it’s definitely nas. i gotta go with t.i. or cassidy for hottest right now though
Im voting for Lupe because he still coming up, actually got something to say and lupes last album to me was the best album of 06 and what weve seen so far from 07
I voted for Talib, but lets be honest, Wayne is everywhere… everywhere you cant avoid him and hes sometimes really good.
i dunno if its kanye or t.i….kanye drops a banger after a banger after a banger…t.i. drops a hot song after a hot song after a hot song…really dunno
okayy like nas deserved to be regonized as the best emcee right now, buh hes not really the hottest.. like i hate lil wayne buh u see him everywhere, on almost every remix thats why he got voted hottest emcee.. buh i voted for nas on this cuz im sayin he got the best skill from the rappers on that list
c’mon man try to make this a little unbiased. you can’t ask this question and only put your favorite MCs on the list. i realize there is an “other” but how many people are just gonna click on one of those people rather than type something in. I get that you like those MCs but how can you ask who the hottest MC is right now and leave out so many potentials and put in so many duds. i like talib a lot and i am still bumping food & liquor…but how can u ask who the hottest MCs in the game are right now without Kanye, T.I., Jeezy, or 50? Not saying i love all those guys (my feelings vary, i do like ye, 50 not so much), but they have to be considered “hotter” as of this moment in time than talib or lupe to even the hardest hip-hop fan. Even if they are better lyricists.
what the hell, henry. no t.i. or kanye?
are u serious?
LIL WAYNE?
DUDE SUCKS. ENUFF SAID.
p.s. t.i. gets my vote
I think the only reason why Lil Wayne was on there is because he won the MTV version.
^Yup. And the fact that he’s winning in this poll simply shows that he’s widely considered the best.
Not the best, but the hottest, his on fire right now, hes everywhere period. Nas’ just takes a long time off he isnt as prolific like 2Pac, or Jay-Z dropping material (when pac was alive)
Talib Kweli imo is very hot, Lupe is between albums but that group with him, kayne (whose as hot as wayne) and pharrell will put him back in the spotlight whenever it drops (2008)
Guys the man to beat right now is Wiz Khalifa straight outta Pittsburgh. He is makin a name for himself and you can listen to ANY rap that he has put out and every song has some insane lyrics and the man has a nice vocabulary! Wiz is sick and I saw him open for T.I. Ive been listenin to Wiz for a while and now that hes makin a name I can throw him out there with the best
can we have a new rule???
NO under 10 year olds allowed vote!!!
because thats the only reason lil wayne got even 1 vote…honestly who would vote for him over common, nas, tailb kweli or even jay-z.
kids wake up..stop listenin 2 just watever the radio is feedin you…tink for yourself and discover real hip hop!!!
not pop/ rap/ RndB on the radio..dats a joke there all copycat sell-outs!!!!
cathal… its who’s the hottest rapper… not who’s the best. and you have to give it up for lil wayne, he is hot right now.
i voted other, so dont even start by sayin i like him
Cathal…
you really think it is 10 year olds voting for wayne? you think 10 year olds are going to rap.about.com and voting for wayne? That is silly.
this poll clearly is not asking who is better but who is hotter right now. how much noise did talib’s album make? A lot? Nah, not really.
T.I. hands down right now. Nas overall and Lil Wayne is defiantly a great wordsmith.
Rhymefest is my choice. I luv his persona, and his tracks!
henry, i’m begging you. tell the website that lil wayne sucks. he’s no good. it kills me that he’s this popular.
I won’t Play around…
MTV had its reasons for putting Lil Wayne On the Top of the list.
He’s straight murdering the underground, and thats something no one can ignore.
# 1 Though??? Nope.
Nas Didn’t Even Make the chart and Hip Hop is Dead isn’t even a Year old yet!!!
That Made no sense. He had some a lot of good tracks on that CD Like “Can’t Forget about You”, “Carry On Tradition”, and “Black Republican” That proved that he still has it.
And Even Lupe Fiasco should have made that list. I gotta Give his First album a 5 out of 5 cuz there wasn’t a track on his CD where he slipped in his lyrics. You can’t say the same For Lil wayne and these Mixtapes, which I’m sure You can Find at least one Flaw or song you don’t like. Or better yet, we can take it back two years to Waynes Last LP, tha Carter II.
It Had Fillers. Thats what a Good CD should lack…but for the amount of material he’s been putting out, I think he still would take second, Nas would take first, and Lupe should place somewhere between 5th and 7th…
Thats just me though.
—————————–JD
If you say ‘dre 3000 you should also say big boi …
this is weak…all everyone rants and raves about on this site is just the intellectual “lets all just get along” bull rap…like lupe and common and lets face it theyll never be anything more then just above average…the hottest right now is what theyre sayin…that means no nas..no talib..no lupe..it would be weezy or kanye or even my boy game…they drop hits…they drop hot mixtapes…enough said
ok if this is about whos hot.
who cares whos hot thats not a matter of voting for whos the hottest you just know.
wat excactly does hot mean then???
is it who sells the most???
i think the hottest emcee is probably common right nw…wit his new album being out and all and 50 cent aswel is pretty hot at the moment…but personally i hate 50 cent
THIS HAS TO STOP. this is my THIRD comment on the subject, and i’m growing weary of talking about this. Who’s the hottest in the game? IT DOESN’T MATTER. the popular concensus is of pop-listeners who don’t know real rap (MTV) so it doesn’t matter. this website is about real hip hop, so we shouldn’t even be discussing this. What matters is who is the BEST to YOU. The best to me? My favorites include-
T.I.
Eminem
2pac
Kanye West
Outkast
DMX
Young Dro
Nas
50 Cent
Ludacris
Papoose
Nelly
James
How you gunna come diss weezy when your favorites include Young Dro
james i really feel what your saying that we shouldnt even be discussing this topic…contact me on genius.gza@hotmail.com
I would say right now either Common or Sean Price
I think the fact that Nas is tied wit Weezy really speaks volumes about the love people have for Nas, considerin Weezy is on every other song and Nas hasnt really been on anything else since December when HHID dropped
“But that’s MTV”
first predictable complainin’ ’bout the GOATs, now this. it’s HOTTEST emcees, not your personal faves. and yes, regardless of whether Jim Jones is talented or not (he isn’t,) he is “hot” as of now based off “We Fly High” and remixes.
personally i wouldn’t have put Wayne at #1, but the list is entirely accurate even if i have some issues with the order. not to come off as hatin’ on conscious rap, i like Comm’s latest, but although he’s the “hottest” one of the bunch there’s no way him, Kweli or Lupe are “hotter” than any of the other guys on the list right now.
oh, and T.I. should be on the list ‘course, your ridankulous 2.5-star review aside.
T.R.E.Y., get your facts right. It was a 3.
c’mon man try to make this a little unbiased. you can’t ask this question and only put your favorite MCs on the list
——————
@bullish: If this was solely about my favorites, Lil Wayne would’ve never made the list.
TECH N9NE has a way with words that not a lot of rappers out there can compete with.. he is a lyrical genius and deserves a lot more recognition than he gets.
@H: Clearly after Lil Wayne was voted #1 you couldn’t leave him off the list. Assuming this poll was meant to serve as a way of debunking mtv’s list (judging by the intro), how can this be fair? This list leaves out 6 out of the 10 people (3 of top 5)on the mtv list (t.i., game, kanye, jeezy 50, and jim jones). Obviously there is an “other section” but that isn’t really fair. I like lupe a lot. But let’s single him out for a second. If T.I. was on that list instead of Lupe. Do you think Lupe would be receiving the same amount of votes if each person that had to vote for him had to type it in? Also, I notice that in most of your polls the top person on the list always seems to be in the top 2 percentage wise. That will also effect who people vote for.
I really do like this site and visit it at least 2x a day so I am def not hating. I just don’t think this poll is very fair and I just don’t belive that the results will mean a lot.
^I can think of at least 5 other polls where the first option finished last. Besides, Weezy is still leading, despite being the last option.
If you’re wondering the MCs that are the most true and real, look no further than Immortal Technique and Blitz the Ambassador. They might not get the mainstream hype, although a couple of their songs are well known, but they really are the best MCs out there right now.
Ain’t nobody spittin harder than tech n9ne right now period…although kanyes new stuff sounds pretty good
Lil’ Flip
You see , Henry when you act or are supposed to be a moderator ,ie like what youre supposed to be doing , you should leave out BIAS. The list you have there shows that!
You should also state criteria by which you name the MC’s clearly !
For me I think at the moment though without an album yet , but anticipated , the hottest MC should be PAPOOSE ! YEAH PAPOOSE!
Asides that the real MC’s though not with any stuff at the momoent still are JAY , NAS ,not to 4get those with stuff out (and how can these be left out) KRS , TALIB , COMMON, also TI.
HENRY YOURE A NAS FAN . PLEASE TRY NOT TO LET PEOPLE KNOW THAT AS LONG AS YOU ARE PRESENTING THESE ISSUES.
BE OBJECTIVE !
My man GURU from Gang Starr needs some lovin..
have respect 2ma men papoose plz
If you’re talking about who’s hot in the game right now, any reasonably intelligent business person in the hip-hop game will tell you the Andre 3000 is not #1, currently. We’re not talking about lyrics, or delivery, or none of that. Simply who’s hot. Weezy is definitely up there .. shrug. But that could change tomorrow. Or Tuesday. Ha.
I agree with mtv lil wayne is on top for sure he has got it all the look swag and lyrics. He spits better then any rapper in the game right now. Kanye of course has to be up in the top 5 because all of his lyrics are from the heart and send a message to you. But the one that gets me and no one has mentioned him is Akon. He had such a great year with all of his songs. He is featured in top chart hits. His mix tapes with Obie Trice are off the hook. It makes no sense to me that he isnt in the top 10
akon”s r and b
This question really has no answer. How can you compare a Wayne to a Jay. They both have very different styles. MC’s are on different levels in this business. Oh and how come no one mentioned “The Game”?
Dis My List 10 Jay-z/9 Dmx/8 Talib/7 Common/6 Kyane/5 Nas/4 Jim Jones/3 Jeezy/2 Fabolous/1 50 cent Dis iz How I Feel Ya’ll Cats Gon Get Mad I Don’t Care I Think Jeezy Better Den Wayne Wayne is Gettin Hype Now But He Been Spittin Like Dis 4years Now He Say He’s Da Best Rapper Everybody Behind Him Naw Now 50 At#1on My List Cuz He Da Hottest Now him and Jeezy Every Joint 50 Put is Fire I Get Money Is Killin Da Radio and His Record Sales Are Crazy Wen It Comes 2 He Went Platnium in 4 Days Now U Tell Me
Bottom line is they are all wack except for NaS, even Jay-Z(theif). Hip Hop died a while ago. I wouldn’t be caught dead with, lil’ wayne or jeezy in my stereo. It’s sad to think that we may never expierience true hip hop again. And I don’t want to sound ignorant, but anybody who thinks wayne and soulja slim and jeezy etc. are respectable emcees is a clown. For Real.
You cant say who the hottest in the game is because the game is alway changing. I like different artist for different reasons. Luda bec he’s versitile and entertaining, Eminem bec is a true lyrist, DMX bec of his energy in the game, JayZ bec of his flow, Outkast for daring to be different, Nas for his poetry like lyrics, 2pac for his passion, biggie for his smootheness, Busta Rhyme for his Ra Ra Attitude, DrDre his longivity and eye for real talent, T.I. for his Downsouth flava, Kanya West for his style and beats, even that pittsburgh cat DR3 from XTREME GUTTA for his voice and energy. Hip Hop is well round not up and down.
T.I. has no flava all of his songs sound the same with that played out beat, boring flow, and no lyrical talent. Kanye has potantial put would rather be commercial and not exploit his talent. Busta Rhymes is just annoying. and jay-z is a theif. Big L “Flamboyant for Life” Best emcee of all-time
please dont sleep on AZ. only if AZ could get a better distribtorship, he would be a platinum artist.
the best mc in da game easy is jay. he to raw!!
my top 5
1.Jay z
2. Nas
3. Kanye West
4. Lil Wayne
5. Common
top 5
1. jay z
2. nas
3. kanye west
4. lil wayne
5. common
The best emcee is Brad Jordan.
Hands down!!!!
{10#}RICK ROSS
{9#}CHINGY
{8#}NELLY
{7#}ROCKO
{6#}PLIES
{5#}SNOOP DOG
{4#}YOUNG JEEZY
{3#}50 CENT
{2#}T.I
{1#}LIL’WAYNE
I hope jay-z or Nas I am getting sick of people keep on saying Lil Wayne is the best rapper alive his not
This is my top
Jay-z
Young-jezzy
Plies
fat joe
the Game
why is noone mentioning papoose or cassidy. You are talkin about the hottest in the game now, but most of these rappers u talk about were hot 5-10 years ago. we’re not talkin of all time