By Elliott Wilson, Founder and CEO of RapRadar.com

You could almost guarantee Gucci Mane was gonna crack the Hottest MCs list this year, but you just weren't sure where he would place.

Truth be told, ATL's brightest new star is in plenty of folks' top fives. Yes, La Flare isn't your traditional master of ceremonies, but no artist this year has more effectively merged the underground with the mainstream. He's broken through in '09 and shined through the clouds of controversy that have continued to dampen his career.

A longtime presence in the mixtape playground, the People's Champ (sorry, Mr. Wall) continues to assault the streets ("Awesome" with Snoop Dogg, "Wasted" with Plies and it's remix with OJ da Juiceman) while loudly becoming the go-to guy for aiding R&B heavyweights back to the top of the charts. He brought punch to Mariah Carey's stalker tale ("Obsessed") and gave Mario his biggest hit since Ne-Yo shared his pen game ("Break Up"). At press time, he was even trying to save Omarion's career. Good luck with that one, Gucc!

By Elliott Wilson, Founder and CEO of RapRadar.com

Here today and gone tomorrow is the fate of the average rapper. But Young Jeezy has proven to be something special, which is why without a new album he still made MTV's Hottest MCs list for the third year in row.

Armed with an ad-lib for every occasion, he's the undisputed voice of the struggle, and we're all still recovering from his musical recession. An unlikely candidate to conduct Obama's victory soundtrack, he did just that and never lost his street edge or credibility.

Witnessing his evolution from trap star to superstar has been fantastic. He can tour with Lil Wayne, drop mixtape heat ("Trappin' Ain't Dead"), battle ATL peer Gucci Mane ("24-23") and go toe-to-toe with Hov ("Real as it Gets"), all with sustained confidence and charisma. A man of respect you'd be hard pressed to not root for, his upcoming fourth release, TM103 has got us fiendin' like a classic Jodeci song.

Simply put, Da Snowman can do no wrong.

By Datwon Thomas, EIC/COO of Global Grind

Throw in an understated lyrical swag, witty word play, the penchant for murdering hip-hop soul features and the ability to start Twitter trending topics at the drop of a hashtag and you have Brooklyn's heir to the Hov throne in Def Jam's marquee playboy, Fabolous.

His ascent to the upper crust of the crafty MC list is a long time coming since the kid (in hip-hop years, anyway) already has nearly a decade under his belt. All of his albums can be categorized under the "LL Cool J School for the Rap Balladeer," yet the mixtape mainstay (in his earlier years) can whip up a mean 16 if you let him change out of his Fabolous attire into his Loso streetwear.

With the arrival of Loso's Way, Fab took a page out of the Big Homie's concept album book. He created his own gangsta paradise in which his well spun tales of Scarface-ish rags-to-riches-to-regret laid heavy on a personal journey to get closer to fans through creativity rather than cornball boasting. He nearly pulled off the feat, yet let the concept get away from him a bit.

There is no question that he has that thing that all MCs of his elite caliber would like to possess, which is the ability to make you catch their hot lines at a later date. If you are an occasional rap listener, it takes at least a few days for a Fab line to properly incubate. Yet, his slow, steady, never-in-a-rush flow makes him an easy target for the masses to enjoy. Rare vocal inflection may be a drawback as he continues forward, but judging from his most recent guest spot on Ghostface's new album Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry, Fab is ready to test new ground in story rhymes and humor tones he didn't try in his early years.

Personal style — which is a huge selling point for today's hottest MCs — is Fab's strong suit. Never one to spill his swag juice cup, you can find him asking his over 200,000 twitda-did-da fam which outfit he should rock on stage. A stark difference in approach to connecting with fans from almost anyone on the Hottest MCs list.

What about his realism and street cred factor, you ask? He's been shot! 'Nuff said.

By Elliott Wilson, Founder and CEO of RapRadar.com

While Raekwon was probably elated to be included on MTV's Hottest MCs list, I'm sure that 50 Cent is none too pleased with his placement in the nine spot. For him, the standards are way higher than that. As the former Editor-In-Chief of XXL magazine, I bore witness as the man born Curtis Jackson redefined hot in 2002 and 2003, revolutionizing the mixtape market along the way. His chokehold on the rap game culminated in the classic debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin'. That is the standard by which Fif lives in 2009.

So although his constantly delayed album Before I Self Destruct has had more false starts than an old DeSoto, 50 has kept himself omnipresent in the hip-hop scene. It's hard to argue with his enduring relevance. He returned to the mixtape game with equal parts fury (War Angel) and finesse (Forever King). He crafted an endlessly entertaining and oft-comedic battle with rap heavyweight Rick Ross. And, most importantly, despite my occasional issues with his peanut gallery of bloggers, ThisIs50.com has set the blueprint for artists planting their flag in the new media world. Hate him or love him, Curtis ain't goin' nowhere. Only God can judge him.

By Elliott Wilson, Founder and CEO of RapRadar.com

I'm pleasantly surprised that Raekwon made the list of MTV's Hottest MCs. At times, it can be hard for me to objectively judge Rae given that in many ways, I feel like we came up in this game together. I was in the studio with him when he recorded his verse for Mobb Deep's "Eye for an Eye," and that "article in Rap Pages" he refers to in "Incarcerated Scarfaces" bears my John Hancock.

I had the first Cuban Linx on an advance cassette before it was packaged as a purple tape. Back in '95, I immediately recognized what a classic it was because I literally couldn't stop playing it. After the failures of its follow-ups (Immobilarity and The Lex Diamond Story), I was strongly against the idea of Rae making an album called Linx II. How could he ever top an album of that magnitude? Even though I feel the end result falls short of classic status, it is unquestionably one of the year's strongest albums. "10 Bricks" bangs like a boomin' system. I fiend for a second verse on "Pyrex Vision." "Ason Jones" is so sincere. "Kiss the Ring" serves as the perfect majestic ending. Here's a toast to Rae for reclaiming his legacy and for MTV and the crew at 1515 Broadway for recognizing it.

By Rahman Dukes

The "Hottest MCs in the Game" project is just days away from its official launch, and for some reason members of the hip-hop department are already finding ourselves defending the list.

It all started this past Monday when we unveiled the news that "Hottest" was coming back, along with a poll soliciting users to tell us who their "Hottest MC" was. And although it clearly states in fine print that the current poll would have no impact on the official "Hottest" list, all hell has broken loose.

Aside from the hundreds of comments our passionate users left on the message boards, "Hottest MCs" creators Shaheem Reid, Jayson Rodriguez and myself headed to to Eminem's intergalactic home on Sirius Satellite Radio's Shade 45 station with the lovely and talented Angela Yee.

Angela has potentially the hottest show on satellite radio and wanted to sit down with the crew and pick our brains on the poll and the upcoming project. For the duration of the show, we fielded questions from users both online and on the airwaves. It was interesting: The consensus was that fans truly believe their picks on the poll would be implemented into the final selections for the list.

"Why isn't Joell Ortiz there?"

"Why are Redman and Raekwon there?"

"Gucci Mane and Soulja Boy better not be on that list or I'm no longer watching MTV." Those were just a few of the many questions/demands that we received this morning.

Sitting in on that radio show for that hour made me realize we may now be in for the biggest fight of our careers. While I always encourage fans to chime and and give us their thoughts on our many projects — specifically on the much-debated "Hottest MCs" conversation — it kills me when people ask "What gives you guys the credibility to say who is hot? Why don't ya’ll have DJs sitting on your panel?" During the live chat an old friend from my Troy, New York stomping grounds: Mr. Always Chill. Mr. Always was the first cat who let me rock a party at the Troy Boys & Girls club then gave me my first gig spinning at WRPI on Saturdays from Noon to four p.m.

So there you go: Ya boy is/has been a DJ since the 5th grade. Hip-hop is in my blood.

This in from production manager Adam Stewart, who shot with LL Cool J in Hollis, Queens, yesterday:

LL took us to the rock in Hollis where he used to hang out and where a music video of his was shot. Once people got word he was there, they started flocking to us -- dozens of fans interrupted our interview several times for a chance to snap a picture with LL and shake his hand. At one point, a city bus stopped, and kids tried to jump out of it just to meet him. Then we headed to his friend’s barber shop, Heads Up Barber Shop on Linden Boulevard (in the pic above).

Our talk with LL was all over the place…

He talked to us about changes in the hip-hop lifestyle –- how he claims that he brought champagne and gold chains to rap in ’88, because that was the life he lived. (He remembered arguing with Jam Master Jay about who had the bigger chains!) He believes the people weren't ready for that yet, and it took another eight or nine years before that style came back.

LL turned to politics and told us he’s convinced Barack Obama can take the general election, even though there are still pockets of racism in the US. LL also gave a shout-out to Hillary Clinton, saying he has plenty of respect for her, and he’s glad his own daughter has had the chance to see a woman run for president. "Americans have the ability to makes things happen,” he said. “It’s not easy to make it happen, but it can -- I'm from Queens.”

From the campaign to his music, LL said, “I'm not keeping up with the game, I'm winning! I'm ahead with the delegates, I'm ahead with the popular vote!" He wasn’t upset that he wasn’t included in MTV News’ latest “Hottest MCs in the Game” list, saying that it’s based mainly on chart positions and what people are talking about in the moment. "I could go outside and light an old lady on fire, and suddenly I'm the hottest rapper," he joked. “Next year, I'll be on the list."

Check back with MTVNews.com in the coming weeks for more from our talk with LL Cool J.

You can't be mad at Kanye West. He's talked the most the past few years, but he's backed it up every time. Three albums, three classics. He has everyone's respect -- and recently the MTV News Hip-Hop Brain Trust rewarded his efforts by knighting him the Hottest MC in the Game.

Friday in Chicago, Kanye acknowledge the nod with a announcement during his "Glow in the Dark" tour hometown stop: "I brought them Grammys home for y’all, and now I brought that #1 spot home for y’all!" The crowd went wild!

Bawwwssssse! Rick Ross is one of the coolest dudes you're gonna meet, period.

He swung through HQ for another one of them MTV News exclusive interviews. (While I was talking to Rick, Sway was downstairs chopping it up with the Game. Now that's one heavyweight afternoon at 1515.) On the way out, we showed him the "Hottest MCs In The Game" promos, which he enjoyed. Said he hopes he makes the cut this time.

Big ups to the biggest boss, his manager Gucci Poochie, and super PR man Gabe -- excuse me, "Hollywood Gabe" the homie...