Last night, the America's Most Wanted tour kicked off in Scranton, Pennsylvania with blistering sets from Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, Drake and the artist celebrating a birthday today: Soulja Boy. The man known on his tax returns as DeAndre Ramone Way was born today in 1990, making one of the most buzzed-about MCs in the game a mere 19 years old. Soulja exploded onto the scene back in 2007 when his hit "Crank That" (and the dance associated with said song) went from an underground hit to a chart-topping smash and ended up netting him a Grammy nomination.

Though "Crank That" had the DNA of a novelty hit, Soulja Boy managed to defy the odds with his follow-up album iSoulJaBoyTellEm, which he dropped late last year and made way for the hits "Turn My Swag On" and "Kiss Me Thru the Phone." In addition to his work as a rapper, he's also shown remarkable prowess as a producer (he's a student of Southern snap mastermind Mr. Collipark, who gave the world Ying Yang Twins and Hurricane Chris).

Stay tuned to MTV News for the complete report from last night's America's Most Wanted tour kickoff show. Hopefully somebody gave the guy a slice of cake and a pointy hat, but if not, consider the video for "Kiss Me Thru the Phone" his official birthday celebration.

By Rahman Dukes

SCRANTON, Pennsylvania — On our way to the Toyota Pavilion, we couldn't help but notice the chaos that had arrived on the once-sleepy Davis Street. Just 24 hours earlier, the strip was so quiet that the only thing noticeable was a deer in plain view. But now, there was bumper-to-bumper traffic and police escorting the growing number of cars.

What's all the fuss about, you ask? Fans are making their way to the Toyota Pavilion to watch some of hip-hop's finest, including Lil Wayne, Drake, Young Jeezy and many more, on Young Money Presents: The America's Most Wanted Music Festival.

"We came to see Weezy and Soulja Boy," said Mary Kate, who drove two hours from Philadelphia with three friends. "If I gotta pick one, then it has to be Weezy. My favorite song is [Young Money's] 'Every Girl,' featuring Drake."

But were the fans more excited about the show or when they caught a glimpse of our driver? "Holy s---, is that Sway from MTV?" said an amazed Lil Wayne fan as me and my partner Shaheem were caught in traffic with Sway at the wheel.
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They had New Kids on the Block earlier this summer and Toby Keith and the Dave Matthews Band in a couple of months, but on Monday night (July 27), Lil Wayne will be the star attraction at the Toyota Pavilion in Scranton, PA (as the sign on the photo reads).

But on Sunday night, as the MTV News crew came to the venue, we received one surprising rule: "Look out for the snakes, dog!" advised the head of security on the "Young Money Presents: The America's Most Wanted Music Festival." Apparently some reptiles had slithered in the outdoor backstage area at the Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain.

Scranton is home of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (MLB's Bronx Bombers Triple A team) and not exactly the hip-hop capital of the globe, but one of the biggest MCs on the planet has been in town all week. Yes, Lil Wayne, Weezy F. Baby himself has been in Scranton all week rehearsing for his new tour with Young Jeezy, Soulja Boy, Jeremih and Drake.

The Toyota Pavilion is said to hold around 16,000 people — 6,000 seats under a canopy-like top (which also covers the stage) and 10,000 on the lawn that runs up a hill.

When MTV showed up earlier this afternoon, Weezy wasn't due to arrive until about 8:30 p.m., while Drake was said to be coming 30 minutes after that. The always sexy Nicki Minaj was already backstage getting ready to rehearse and Jeezy and Soulja Boy weren't due to rehearse their sets until Monday morning.

By Kathleen Newman-Bremang and Talia Manzo

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I love my "Class of 3000" lunch box. And I loved the show, because frankly, Outkast's Andre 3000 is already pretty much a living cartoon, with a voice and beats that sound like a DayGlo rubber ball being tossed into a giant vat of neon Silly Putty.

Which brings me to the Soulja Boy Tell'em cartoon, which debuted Tuesday. Now, if you ask my pal James Montgomery, SJB is engaged in an elaborate, subversive, multilayered art project meant to undermine our traditional bias against seemingly vapid, self-aggrandizing ringtone rap. But if you ask me, Soulja Boy is about as three-dimensional as his cartoon doppelgänger. Read more...

Ever since we posted asking for you to vote on the hottest MCs right now, we've been flooded with comments. And y'all are intense! Every rapper on the list has been picked apart with fire, and you’ve battled it out for a couple not even in our lineup.

Some of you had major issues with our 2007 Hottest MC Lil Wayne, saying the man’s all hype and waiting for the proof of his talent on the much-delayed Tha Carter III. Fresh said Weezy’s just “getting bigger and bigger over hype alone. His a cappella freestyles are horrible, and that for me is letdown…He’ll [be] no.1 next year if his album’s dope.”

There were a lot of shout-outs to the Game, with Chris Hasso writing in, “Once Game’s L.A.X. album drops, it will be right up there with Tha Carter 3.” And Mario said, “Only 3 albums deep, and he’s the best lyrical West Coast rapper ever.”

And plenty of people pushed for Lupe Fiasco and Black Thought as MCs known for lyrics that go beyond girls and game. As Prophet J put it, “Lupe talks about real life s*** and explains it with more passion than anybody I’ve heard.” While Checkitout backed up Black Thought: “This guy has been spitting lyrical prowess under your nose for 20 years now!! Give him his just!!” And Josh got critical about the “hottest” MCs as being “hot for the dollars, not for the cause.”

Even more folks were riled up about Soulja Boy being in the poll. “He doesn’t even rap, just mutters 3 lines in a song,” Taf wrote. And Eye said, “I’m disgusted in the committee even considering Soulja Boy an MC -- that’s like saying MC Brains, Hammer or Luke are MCs just because they make hip-hop music, no! It doesn’t work that way!” But NV stepped in: “The boy is dumb popular with the kids, and we were all there a while ago…We have to consider him because he is fire in the South.”

Whoever you’re rooting for, remember to tune in to see the MTV News Hip-Hop Brain Trust go at it tonight, May 16, at 10 p.m. ET on MTV, when MTV News Presents the second edition of “The Hottest MCs in the Game.”

And if you haven’t voted yet, head to our poll, after the jump. Read more...

Getting a little bit worn down by all the Democratic primary debates? Yeah, us, too. I mean, let's face it: no amount of commentary is going to tell us where the chips will land, whether Hillary really should bow out, or if Obama really is buds with that guy from the Weather Underground. It's all become pretty exhausting.

Oh wait, what's that? Soulja Boy feels the same way...?

From Jim Fraenkel, MTV News executive producer:

Michael Jackson may have avoided prison but that didn’t stop a bunch of guys in orange jumpsuits from gettin’ busy with him. Seven months after showing Naomi Campbell how it should be done and after dazzling more than 12 million YouTubers with their monochromatic interpretation of the "Thriller" video, the world’s most lovable crew of criminal offenders is back and stomping the yard again.

This time around, the 1500 inmates at the Cebu Provincial Detention & Rehabilitation Center in the Phillipines are crankin' out that Soulja Boy. Maybe it’s the fact that prisoners aren’t allowed cell phones that they only choreographed the first few bars of the year’s biggest ring-tone but they’re certainly not phoning it in when Hammer-time comes knockin’.

“There’s a time to dance and a time to sing,” a chief administrator of prison operations in the Phillipines told ABC News back in April, while Byron Garcia, who runs the detention center, told Sun Star publication, “While the goal is to keep the body fit in order to keep the mind fit, such may not happen if it is done in a manner deemed unpleasurable. Music, being the language of the soul, is added to that regimen.”

Ok, some of you might have seen this already. But even if you have, here's a question: Do synchronized Soulja Boy routines constitute rehabilitation or cruel and unusual punishment?