Artists like T-Pain, Lil Wayne and Kanye West (the track's co-producer) get a pass from Hova (because he says they use it "artistically"), but we think there are a number of other singers and rappers that use Auto-Tune effectively. A lot of the time, certain songs probably wouldn't exist without it (Soulja Boy Tell'em's "Kiss Me Thru the Phone" — an excellent song — seems to exist solely because of Auto-Tune). There is also the perception that only performers who can't otherwise sing use it, but plenty of people who have proven their skills have dipped into the Auto-Tune pool (like R. Kelly, whose new mixtape is full of Auto-Tune, especially the single "Tip the Waiter").

Jay's argument is that Auto-Tune makes rap softer and encourages more unnecessary crooning, but some of the best rap songs have come from singing that can easily be called "unnecessary." "Just a Friend" remains a hip-hop cornerstone, while nobody ever seems to complain about Ghostface's "crying" style. And did anybody protest when Ol' Dirty Bastard broke into spontaneous warbling — especially on his cover of "Sussudio"? Doubtful.

Here's the thing: Jay's right in the sense that Auto-Tune is way overused and doesn't always add anything to a track. And a lot of rappers have no business singing. But that doesn't necessarily make it a bad thing, and it's unreasonable to attack singing in rap. Just because an MC breaks into song doesn't make a track any less hard than "Can't Knock the Hustle."

Shout-out to Maino for being the real cat he's always been and not listening to the instigators, and big-up to Fab for doing what a lot of hip-hop artists out there are either too scared to do or are not talented enough to do: rap. Loso is still coming with it, being creative with his bars and keeping the listeners on their toes. Let's make this the year of the spitters, shall we hip-hop artists and fans? I'm a journalist, but appreciate — I love some real dope lyrics.

So whoever is out there rhyming — let's put some time and effort into it. Fab is consistent, and you always have to look out for people such as Ludacris, Busta, Tip and Kanye. Wayne is a problem, Drake is leap-frogging a lot of the newcomers, Eminem and Jay are coming back. Jadakiss and Rick Ross are heavy in the street right now. Game is a given. Nas never disappoints. Hip-hop should have a few nice looks this year.

Cars have played a huge part in hip-hop culture since the very beginning. From Notorious B.I.G.'s "Hypnotize" (one of my favourite car-chase scenes in a music video) to the army of low-riders in "Still Dre" to one of my favourite cars ever in Jay-Z video, the Maybach Exelero Concept in "Lost Ones" — the world of hip-hop takes its car game very seriously. That's why I thought I'd give out some awards based on the swagger, style, design and power of some of this year's hottest cars. Welcome to the unofficial MTV Hip-Hop Car Awards!

The Jay-Z Award: Mercedes-Benz Maybach Zeppelin

Like Jay-Z, the Maybach Zeppelin is "official." It's the real executive choice, a true OG. It may be understated, but this car's power, sophistication and style are undeniable. The Zeppelin might look more grown-up than the rest of the younger sports cars, but with a twin-turbocharged 6.0 litre V12 engine that now delivers a massive 640 brake horsepower, don't underestimate the Zeppelin. It'll hit 60 mph from standstill in 5.0 seconds, climb all the way to 171 mph, and still look like a king on the road. The best of both worlds. What do you expect for a price tag around the $600,000 mark?

The Lil Wayne Award: Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722

Like Lil Wayne, the SLR redefined the game. It is a true super car in a league of its own. Before the SLR, there was nothing like it. The super-charged 5.5 litre V8 engine generates a monstrous 650 brake horsepower. It goes 0-62 mph in a lightning quick 3.6 seconds and has an unbelievable top speed of 209 mph. A freak of nature, well, machinery.

The Puffy Award: Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe

Like Diddy, the Phantom Drophead is a serious attention grabber. You can't ignore this one. It's a bold and in-your-face statement of wealth, swagger and success. Arguably one of the best looking cars at the show, the Phantom commands respect. Not as grown-up as the Maybach Zeppelin, the Phantom is a true player's car. And now that the convertible Drophead has arrived and summer is coming, this is the car to be seen in.

The 50 Cent Award: Lamborghini Murcielago

Like 50 Cent, the Lamborghini Murcielago handles business with an ice-cold stare. If it's parked on the street, everyone is going to stop and take a look. You can't ignore it. It does not blend in. It makes a bold statement. It takes no prisoners, looks like a beast and sounds like one too. With a 6.5 litre V12 engine developing 640 brake horsepower and going 0-60 in 3.4 seconds, the Lambo Murcielago can reach a top-speed of 244 mph. Plus, 50's already got one!

The Kanye West Award: Fisker Karma

Like Kanye West, the Fisker Karma is way ahead of its time. It's got the mind of a geeky genius on the inside with the style of a true trendsetter on the outside. The Fisker looks like a cross between an Aston Martin and a Corvette. The interior is like a spaceship. No dials in sight. Everything is digital and even the onboard computer boasts iPhone-esque touch-screen capabilities, the first of its kind. But that's not all. It may look like a regular sports car, but move closer and the solar panels on the roof tell a different story. The Fisker is the first electric car I have ever seen that I am in awe of. What Kanye did with backpacks, the Fisker does for electric cars.

And that concludes the 2009 unofficial MTV Hip-Hop Car Awards.

We asked several of the top radio, party and mixtape DJs to tell us a song or two they felt should go on a Biggie street CD. The answers ranged from rare underground records to his most commercially successful joints. That was Big: versatile, humorous and lyrically deadly — the best of the best.

Coming straight out of New Jersey, DJ Cool Will C took it upon himself to fulfill his, ours and your dreams. He made the mixtape out of the DJs' choices. Check out the Biggie mixtape here.

He served it up to us, and it definitely takes you back to the mid-'90s.

For the first week of 2009, MTV News wanted to showcase five up-and-coming MCs — Asher Roth, Kid Cudi, Wale, Charles Hamilton and B.o.B. — we felt you would be hearing a lot from this year.

We received a lot of feedback, and most of it wasn't "MTV sucks," so that's a bonus! You guys actually liked many of the artists we chose. While you may not have agreed completely with all five of the artists, there was at least one or two you thought were dead on.

After sifting through your feedback, these are the artists we'd like to give honorable mentions:

Blu
When we interviewed all five artists, they had love for a lot of different people. But there was one person they all said was dope: Blu. And, in all honesty, the Los Angeles MC may leave us slapping our foreheads in regret. We questioned whether the soulful lyricist would be able to connect with the mainstream, but now we see we may have messed up. He's that talented. If you don't believe us, check out his three underground albums: 2007's Below the Heavens; 2008's The Piece Talks, as half of the duo C.R.A.C.; and Johnson & Jonson.

Max B
That Harlem wavvvvvve! Ever since Max started to downplay his beef with Jim Jones and decided to put out music, his star has been rising. The Harlem MC has been out on the underground for quite some time, but he has been making waves (get it?) on many a rap blog with mixtapes. He's even collaborated with one of our artists to watch, fellow Harlemite Charles Hamilton, on a song called "The North Pole."

Bishop Lamont
I know, I know, two artists from the West Coast! It improves their chance for coming back to the forefront of the rap game. Lamont shows a lot of promise. He's reportedly featured prominently on Dr. Dre's long-awaited Detox, even popping up on a leaked track also featuring 50 Cent and R. Kelly. He's set to ride the coattails of the three-headed monster of 50, Eminem and Dre and release his debut album, The Reformation, solidifying Aftermath's possible return to the top.

Trae
OK, Trae has been around in the Houston scene for a minute, and you might have only heard his name when it was reported that he allegedly punched Mike Jones in the face, but there's more to Trae than that. Houston also awarded him his own day, appropriately named "Trae Day," and our hip-hop editor, Shaheem Reid, says he's the next to blow.

Make sure to check out our features on the original MCs to Watch in 2009: Asher Roth, Kid Cudi, Wale, Charles Hamilton and B.o.B. Also, let us know who else you think we missed!

Way back (15 months ago) when I was an intern at MTV News, I had the opportunity to cover CMJ Week 2007. I asked if I could tag along, promising I would write a recap for every show I attended. They said OK and gave me a press pass that said "Steven Roberts, MTV News." Not only did I have free rein to cover any CMJ concert, but all week I told every cute girl I met that I worked for MTV.

One of my favorite shows was Fool's Gold's CMJ Showcase. The show featured performances by the Cool Kids and Kid Sister, as well as A-Trak, DJ Mehdi and Nick Catchdubs spinning on the ones and twos.

MTV News actually covered the show, so I got a chance to tag along with a production crew. I also got to meet all the performers backstage, and I kept thinking that this is what I want to do with my life.

I didn't get home until 3 a.m., but I was up and at work by 9, ready to hand in my recap. I wanted to give the most accurate and in-depth show report that four hours of sleep would allow me, but one thing troubled me:

There was this kid in brown BapeStas who opened the show, but I could not remember his name. I searched the press release and various blogs and asked our production team, but no one knew who he was. Hell, no one at the show seemed to know who he was. Hiro Ballroom was just starting to fill in and they went straight to the bar.

This mysterious rapper never made my story, but it continued to irk me. Over next the few months, this kid named Cudi out of the Fool's Gold camp started building a buzz with his song "Day 'N' Nite." He looked really familiar, but I didn't know why. I finally put it together: He was the kid in the brown BapeStas!

Well, when I had a chance to interview Kid Cudi for my MCs to Watch in 2009 piece, I asked him if he was that kid. He said yeah, it was him.

I didn't know who he was a year ago, and now I'm interviewing him in his studio. Crazy!

If you've been waiting your whole life to get a shot at Lil Jon's 12-pound "Crunk Ain't Dead" pendant, your day is coming. The Guinness Book of World Records' largest diamond pendant is among a host of legendary hip-hop bling that will go under the gavel in March at the Hip-Hop's Crown Jewels auction in New York, which will also feature signature pieces from 50 Cent, Notorious B.I.G., Missy Elliott, Kanye West and Diddy.

Read more about the bling auction here.

The trailer for the Christopher "Biggie" Wallace biopic "Notorious" premiered on Yahoo! today. If MTV News hadn't done a set visit several months back, if Derrick "D-Dot" Angeletti and Diddy hadn't given me a personal co-sign of the film, and if the movie weren't being spearheaded in part by Big's managers Wayne Barrow and Mark Pitts, I might have been very nervous about pressing the play button today.

Big is my favorite rapper ever, and his life story shouldn't get the Hollywood treatment. By that, I mean it shouldn't have some sham of a story that focuses strictly on the glitz and glamour of the Notorious B.I.G.'s hip-hop life without depth. Let me rephrase that: essential depth.

In just one minute and 19 seconds, I was completely convinced that they got it right. I heard Big talk about wanting to live to be content with his wife and his kids as the trailer transitioned to "Hypnotize" and ended with "Notorious." The film looks absolutely enticing. Every character looks like their real-life counterpart — except maybe Lil' Kim.

But never mind the glimpses of the film — think about the music. Can you imagine how crazy it's going to be in the theater watching this, hearing Big's music in surround sound? I'm ready to buy my ticket right now. Midway through watching the trailer, I literally started yelling out loud, "Wheeeeeeeew. They did it!"

My big homie Sway came to my office a few hours later and watched the same trailer with me and my partner, senior producer Rahman Dukes. Swizzy started yelling too.

"Watching this trailer reminds me of the last interview I did with him, which happens to be the last interview he ever did," Sway told me. "It took me right back to that time. It's exciting to see, and it looks like these guys really captured his likeness — and hopefully they captured the magic that that whole era was a part of.

"I'm glad I was a part of Biggie's history and success," Sway added. "I'm glad I got a chance to do that last interview. Seeing that took me right back to '97. I hope the movie serves a great purpose and shows the kids today what a great rapper truly is and truly was in the case of Biggie. I hope it shows where hip-hop could be in its finest moments. Musically, hip-hop expanded in that Biggie/Tupac era. The music was outstanding."

What did you think of the trailer? Do you think "Notorious" will do Biggie justice?

"I'm changing my name because Master P is who I used to be," he told AllHipHop.com. "I call it my childhood, and P. Miller marks my manhood. There's a lot of people out there who are afraid to grow up and change, but I'm not, and P. Miller is the evolution of me, Percy Miller, the entrepreneur, the businessman."

Have we mentioned that, according to the AllHipHop article, he's sold 75 million records worldwide and is worth an estimated $500 million? That probably makes the whole process of ordering new business cards and re-lettering the embossed ostrich skin logos on the seats in your limited-edition Phantom a bit easier.

What does it take to own the assets of one of the most notorious gangsta-rap labels of all time? About $24 million, actually.

That may sound like a lot of coin for a label that hasn't had a hit record in more than a decade, but clearly Nashville, Tennessee-based Global Music Group President Susan Berg saw some potential dollar signs in the former rap powerhouse started by oft-imprisoned boss Suge Knight. The assets include hit records by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Tupac Shakur.

Berg won the rights to the label during an auction on Wednesday, with the proceeds going to help Knight pay off his considerable debts, which include a $107 million judgment awarded to a former partner in the label that forced Knight into bankruptcy. Oh, and even though you might think the bottom of the 'Pac barrel had been scraped, chiseled, gouged, ground up and rehydrated more times than anyone could imagine, did we mention that the sale comes with the rights to 20 unreleased Tupac tracks?

That "new" Tupac album could see the light of day as early as this year.

The numbers were more sobering for another former powerhouse indie label, New York's TVT, which was sold off in bankruptcy court last Thursday at the bargain-basement price of $6.05 million to the digital-music label the Orchard.

TVT filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February, and the sale is expected to close by July 3. Under the terms of the deal, the Orchard will take control of TVT's catalog and artist contracts, which include albums and deals with artists including Lil Jon, Ying Yang Twins, Guided by Voices, the Polyphonic Spree, Pitbull, Paris Bennett and Yo Gotti.

Though the Orchard doesn't expect to sign new artists, it might have some work to do to make peace with the existing roster. Pitbull has been trying to get off TVT's roster for years, and Lil Jon has also expressed displeasure with his label home.