MTV's Hottest Rappers (yawn)...

okay, so i stumbled onto MTV's Hottest Rappers show...
according to the show, "rankings were based on lyrics, flow, impact on the game, success and swagger." so their list was:

01. Kanye West
02. Jay-Z
03. Lil Wayne
04. Rick Ross
05. Snoop Dogg
06. 50 Cent
07. Lupe Fiasco
08. Young Jeezy
09. Outkast's Andre 3000
10. T.I.
01. Kanye West
02. Jay-Z
03. Lil Wayne
04. Rick Ross
05. Snoop Dogg
06. 50 Cent
07. Lupe Fiasco
08. Young Jeezy
09. Outkast's Andre 3000
10. T.I.

these lists clearly show the need to have different categories of rappers.
comparing rick ross with Andre makes my head hurt...

i'm about lyrics, not hoopla... so half these dudes don't appeal to me at all.
and snoop isn't writing his own lyrics anymore, so he's fired. rapping without writing is just play-acting, and i can't respect that.

plus, too much weight is placed on "swagger": how they look in videos, how many concert tickets they sell (white girls are buying lotsa rap tickets, people!), how scared i'd be if i met them on the block (this category is hurting lupe, an obvious nice guy). what does any of that have to do with rapping?

but i guess i'm just a hater.
okay, so to play nice with others, i'll rearrange:

01. Outkast's Andre 3000 (mastery of rhyming bordering on greatest ever)
02. Jay-Z (rhymes deserving of respect, but hustling skills surpass rhyming skills)
03. Lupe Fiasco (most original voice of this era where biting is allowed, even encouraged)
04. T.I. (dope. period)
05. Black Thought (i am not enough of a hater to put him at #2, but he probably belongs there... a PURE SPITTER)
06. Nas (when his album drops, it'll shake up the top 5)
07. Wayne (raps dope half the time, wack the other half... but most improved. props young 'un!)
08. Common (beneath Wayne? ugh... i hate making lists...)
09. Kanye West (overrated, but makes his own beats, which hasta count for something)
10. pick any of the other cats i dropped off. they're all the same to me (except snoop. he's DQ'd for usin' ghostwriters...)