Reviews MP3

First half of list unveiled next week; top five announced October 4 during ‘P. Diddy’s Starmaker.’
By Shaheem Reid

Lil Wayne

Photo: Rahman Dukes/MTV News

Love it, hate it, respect it. On Monday we’ll begin revealing MTV News’ official 2009 Hottest MCs in the Game list right here. For the rest of the week, we’ll unveil numbers nine through six, and the top five MC spots will be revealed October 4 during “P. Diddy’s Starmaker” on MTV, as well as online at MTVNews.com.

It’s been more than a month since we announced our annual great debate. Due to overwhelming response by readers — close to 1.2 million votes were cast in our fan poll — we decided to factor in their opinions. The MTV News Hip-Hop Brain Trust will even hear from real hip-hop fans during their roundtable discussion.

Here’s how the voting works. Each Brain Trust member comes up with their own list of who they feel are the top 10 MCs in the game right now. This year the collective results of the fan voting will act as an extra member of the Brain Trust, and that list will be tallied along with the others. Each artist gets 10 points each time they are ranked #1 on a given list, nine points for #2, eight points for third position and so forth. From that extensive tally comes the master list of the top 10 MCs who the Brain Trust will discuss at the roundtable.

Now, every MC has a certain position initially, but that can change. Once the debating begins, an artist can move up or down in the rankings — or even off the list altogether. A new artist can also make it onto the list.

And in case you don’t remember the criteria, here it is: The list is meant to reflect what is going on right now as opposed to a career retrospective. The Brain Trust can look back as far as one year when deciding an MC’s spot on the list.

The Hottest MCs in the Game are also determined by an unscientific mix of the following:

Lyrics — Skills will always put an MC in the conversation. It’s all about how the MC’s words penetrate on the mic. Can their lyrics stab hearts? Musical trends may change, but lyrical skill remains a powerful currency in hip-hop.

Flow — It isn’t just what you’re saying, it’s how you’re rocking it. Does an MC connect with an audience and make them pay attention? Some just have that special delivery.

Impact — Of course, MC means “move the crowd,” but a truly hot MC can also move the culture. Are their records dominating radio? Are they parlaying their music career into other successful business ventures? Selling out tours? Have they put other MCs in the game? Do companies clamor for their product endorsement? Pay attention when an MC owns the moment.

Buzz — You know you’re hot when everybody is talking about you. From schools to clubs to street corners to barbershops and beyond, a hot MC is always a hot topic of conversation. Dropping a classic album is obviously one way to create buzz, but consistently crushing the mixtape circuit can get (and keep) people buzzing. And of course, there’s the Web — key stats like Google hits, Twitter followers and YouTube views are all part of the story too.

Sales — The bar on this one moves slightly every year, depending on how the music business is doing. Nevertheless, multiplatinum plaques can never be fronted on. Whether it’s sales of albums, ringtones or MP3 downloads, if it makes dollars it makes sense.
Moving big units counts.

The Intangible — Sometimes it all comes down to that undeniable intangible. Some call it star power, some call it swag, some call it the “it” factor. You can’t learn it. You can’t buy it. You either have it or you don’t. These are the trendsetters of hip-hop.

It is important to note that an MC can conceivably be “hot” enough to make the list with any one of these qualities, but the best MCs have all of them.

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