Death of the MC's - BUnow.com

The term “MC” has received a new meaning after revealing the top ten list of 2011 hottest MC’s in the game. Apparently, now it stands for “Marketing Champion.” It certainly does not mean “Master of Ceremonies” anymore. The only respectable names that had belonged on the list were artists like Meek Mill, Wale, Jay-Z, and Kanye West. Hip-hop veterans and nominees such as Eminem, Nas, Common, and 50 cent must be very agitated after not only see the list, but not making it either. Having Rick Ross as the number one MC is disappointing, as well as having Nick Minaj as number four. Not only did Ross not deserve to be top ten, he shouldn’t even be considered an MC. If anything he is just a rapper which in this case there is a big difference. Rick Ross and Nicki Minaj both are “Marketing Champions”

Artists like Rick Ross and Nicki Minaj are good at what they do, which is getting the fan base hyped up and produce “Party” or “Club” music, but lyrically they are just not there. Both of them really just produce an image that seems to hypnotize fans to their voice, but certainly not quality of their “talents.” Another artist who should not have been honored as top ten was Big Sean. He is a rapper who can just be played in a bar or at a college party. Lyrically he comes nowhere close to veterans like Jay-z and Nas and probably won’t if he continues the party-style flow he uses. Rappers like Big Sean and Tyga can spit a few punch lines that will rhyme and maybe paint a picture to the fan. Vets like Nas, Kanye and Jay-Z go that extra mile and will paint a picture for you, but then turn that picture into a movie because their words become so visual for the listener and see exactly what they’re saying.

Other artists on the list such as Wale and Meek Mill do deserve the honor of being in the top ten. If anything, these two had made more attention than Rick Ross over the past year. In 2011 they had both went mainstream with signing to Maybach Music under Rick Ross’ label. They had good attention before that as well, but since their signing they had gained an enormous fan base. These MC’s are two of the newest artists to the game with a great passion and ambition to what they love to do. They are constantly appearing on tracks with not only each other, but also artists like Jim Jones, Jae Millz, and T.I. because these artists recognized their talents and love to work with them. Wiz Khalifa could go either way of being on the list or not. You could say “Yeah he’s produced many good tracks” but his lyrics are too narrowed minded. His words mostly just focus on how he made it big and that he claims to be the biggest weed smoker, which just gets old and repetitive.

As for Drake and Lil’ Wayne, they also could both go either way on the list. Drake is more of a singer and Wayne has been losing his talents lyrically. Drake is more like a Trey Songz to me because he’s got a catchy voice and is loved by the female fans. So, with this list he just wouldn’t really cut it either because he may attempt to rap, but he’s too soft to be a rapper as artist Common had pointed out not too long ago with their recent end to their beef. Wayne’s lyrics are getting worse because he just puts out punch lines and metaphors that rhyme, but that’s just not what hip-hop is about. Like on albums of his such as the first 3 “Carter” albums he will produce songs that will tell a story that you can follow along with, as to now he raps like a certified English teacher who keeps up in the sports and entertainment in the news.

Eminem, who was number one the previous year, didn’t even get in the top ten which is very sad for hip-hop. In 2011 he released “Straight from the vault” mixtapes plus his album with Royce da 5’9 “Bad meets evil 2.” This was probably his best work within the year and it went unrecognized. Also, the 2011 Shady 2.0 BET cypher just blew everyone away and shattered the other cyphers involved with some of the greatest lines dropped in the longest time. Their cypher defined what lyrical geniuses really are.

As a fan of the hip-hop genre, it’s sad to see what the fans are starting to approve as some of the most popular artists and songs. The most popular songs and artists are terribly written compared to what they used to sound like. If you go back five, 10 or 15 years ago and listen to what kind of lyrics are being said by the artists compared to now you will notice a huge difference. In 2011 Dr. Dre speaking about the hip-hop world said, “The torch is going to burn out before it gets passed.” The doctor is always right.

Official Top Ten

1. Rick Ross

2. Drake

3. Kanye West

4. Nicki Minaj

5. Lil Wayne

6. Jay-Z

7. Meek Mill

8. Big Sean

9. Wiz Khalifa

10. Wale

My Top 10