Kanye West is riled up about his ranking in the rap community. The hip-hop superstar and first-time father-to-be called in to New York City's Hot 97 radio station on Tuesday, March 5, to dispute being named named the No. 7 "Hottest MC" by MTV.
"I feel like for them to put me at No. 7, they had to bring up things they didn't like, like they didn't like Cruel Summer album," he said of his poorly-received effort. "And I'm, like, 'That's a compilation. It's not all rappers on [it]." He then listed several of the album's songs, like "Mercy" and "Clique," as examples of underrated tracks. "You can't name five records like that on an album," he argued.
West claimed the list's creators were biased in other rap artists' favor. "What happens with these type of things and the people that review it, when I come in and I have the pink polo and the backpack, I'm checking all the boxes of that A Tribe Called Quest era and all that, so they want to champion it," the musician said. "They don't like Givenchy Kanye. They don't like Kanye in a kilt, they don't like Kanye in a relationship."
The outspoken star added that his verse in "Cold," which was reportedly aimed at girlfriend Kim Kardashian's estranged husband, Kris Humphries, was superior to anything his peers did in the last year. "Ain't no bar of the past 12 months that's hotter than that bar," he said.
West said Lil Wayne deserved the the title of "Hottest MC" and added that Jay-Z and Eminem "are the greatest rappers of all time. He also praised his "Mercy" collaborator Big Sean, who edged him out for the No. 6 spot.
"I'm happy for Sean," West told DJ Enuff during The Angie Martinez Show. "But I feel like he should be on top 5. He's bodying records, like the way he started off that 'Mercy.'" The top four MCs have yet to be revealed.
