Despite being a controversy magnet this year, Kanye West managed to win over music critics after being crowned the “Hottest MC” for 2016 by MTV.
On Friday night (Dec. 16), MTV2 aired its special The Hottest MCs in the Game after being on hiatus since 2012. This year’s panel featured a mixed bag of critics ranging from bloggers and personalities like Power 105.1’s Charlamagne Tha God and Karen Civil to veteran rappers like Joe Budden and Nick Cannon. The group spearheaded the list and ultimately chose West as the hottest rapper in the game over the likes of Drake and Chance The Rapper.
Pegged to his 2016 album The Life of Pablo, West conjured up a colorful project featuring songs like “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1.,” “Highlights” and the Taylor Swift beef-inducing “Famous.” He also lent his talents to a number of features including Drake’s “Pop Style,” ScHoolBoy Q’s “That Part” and Desiigner‘s “Tiimmy Turner (Remix).”
Drake isn’t far behind West, though, landing at No. 2 after churning out a commercially successful album with Views and orchestrating a sold-out tour alongside Future for his Summer Sixteen trek. Chance The Rapper, Travis Scott, and Young Thug round out the top five.
The bottom half of the list featured several rookies including 21 Savage and Lil Uzi Vert. For Savage, he entered the list at No. 10 after successfully releasing his hard-hitting mixtape Savage Mode with Metro Boomin’. His fellow XXL freshman, Lil Uzi Vert, was slotted at No. 9. In 2016, Uzi Vert dished out two projects in Lil Uzi Vert vs. the World and The Perfect Luv Tape. He also aligned himself with several notable artists this year as he was featured on Wiz Khalifa’s “Pull Up” and Meek Mill and Nicki Minaj’s “Froze.”
Check out the entire list below.
MTV’s Hottest MCs in the Game 2016
1. Kanye West
2. Drake
3. Chance the Rapper
4. Travis Scott
5. Young Thug
6. Future
7. YG
8. Kendrick Lamar
9. Lil Uzi Vert
10. 21 Savage
