Kanye West waited a long time to react to being crowned the "Hottest MC in the Game" by the MTV News Hip-Hop Brain Trust earlier this month — but he made sure it counted. 'Ye shared his feelings with the crowd at the sold-out Chicago show of his Glow in the Dark Tour.
"They talk about the [Hottest] MC list," a sweat-soaked West told the audience at the United Center. "I don't know if y'all heard about this. But I brought the Grammys home for y'all. And now I brought that #1 spot home for y'all. 'Cause every time I rhyme, I rhyme for y'all. Everything I do, I do for y'all. Chi-Town in this b---h. Chi-Town on the map. Chi-Town King of rap, and Lupe got my back."
Lupe Fiasco came in at #7 on the list.
Backstage at the show, Kanye shared his feelings a bit further with MTV News: "Ah man, that's dope. ... No, seriously ... That's really, really, super dope."
Some of the other MCs who made the Brain Trust's top 10 have also been responding to their rankings.
T.I., who was #2 in 2007, fell to #10 in 2008 due to his time out of the game while on house arrest. The King of the South didn't see his move down as a slight.
"I didn't take it personally, you know," Tip told radio host Ed Lover last week while visiting the personality's New York radio show. "I think it had a lot to do with the fact that when they was putting the list together, I didn't have any music out. At the time when they was judging how hot people were, I was on house arrest.
"I ain't trippin'," Tip added. "They gonna have to do another list. Jeezy is the homie. Everybody else on the list is the homie. I tip my hat and salute everybody else who made the list. I was just with [Andre 3000] last night. He was like, 'I appreciate it. I appreciate still being acknowledged, you know.' "
On Sirius Satellite Radio over the weekend, 50 Cent once again voiced his displeasure with the Brain Trust. 50 was up two spots from his 2007 #8 ranking.
"I shouldn't even be on that list," 50 said. "To be honest, I shouldn't even be categorized with them [other MCs on the list]. It doesn't even matter. Look at the people who are actually creating the list. None of them have made a hit record or [borne] the pressure of doing it."
50 suggested that MTV News get some MCs to help make up the next "Hottest MCs" list.
"Not necessarily the artists now," he said. "Artists who have previously created hit records, that understand the art form. You got a bunch of people who, because they interviewed rappers, they feel that they know. Because they read XXL or The Source. They don't understand."
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