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MTV has compiled their list of the top ten, “Hottest MC’s in the Game,” and they’re releasing each name one by one.
The criteria for the top 10 list are: lyrics, flow, impact, buzz, sales and intangibles. MTV has put together an expert panel of their most educated hip hop critics to rate the current talent and success of today’s top hip hop artists.
Number 10 on the list is Wu-tang Clan member Raekwon (aka Raekwon the chef). While Raekwon’s public exposure has never been particularly high, he is one of the most talented artists in the music industry. His album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx.. Part II, released September 8, 2009, was critically acclaimed by all major music and hip hop outlets; debuting at number four on the Billboard 200. This was his fourth solo album along with the numerous Wu Tang albums to which he was an integral asset. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Part II reaches back to those Wu tang roots with raw hip hop verses and classic beats (produced by hip-hop giants RZA, Dr Dre, The Alchemist and Eric Sermon and many others).

Number 9 on the list was hip-hop heavyweight 50 cent. While he hasn’t released an official album since Curtis in 2007, 50 released one of the most impressive mix-tapes of the year, War Angel. The mix-tape showed fans that 50 is still first and foremost dedicated to his musical craft. Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson is in the process right now of completing his fourth studio album, “Before I Self Destruct”. The album was scheduled to be released in late 2008, but instead was re-worked and improved for the new release date of November 17. Like Raekwon, Jackson has the top producers in the music industry working on his album including Dr Dre, Timbaland and Eminem, to name a few.If the recently released track Flight 187 is any indicator of the style of this new album, Jackson’s fans will be pleased. The song has a classic 50 cent flow with a relaxed yet cold-blooded tone.

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50 Cent has been trying to sell his Farmington, Connecticut mansion for almost two years, according to Perez Hilton.

He paid $4.1 million for the 50,000 square foot, 19 bedroom house, and invested $6 million in repairs. The rapper said the place had a “Miami Vice feel” to it before he fixed it up, installing stripper poles and a disco.

He was originally asking $18.5 million for the house, but dropped his price to $14.5 million in 2008. He’s now hoping to receive $10.9 million – still $800,000 more than he spent on the place.

Mega rapper, 50 Cent, will not be dishing out any new CD’s to fans for Christmas this year. According to MTV News, unfortunately, the new album “Before I Self Destruct” has been pushed back until 2009.

“The beginning of ‘09″ said the record label in a press release on Friday regarding their timetable for the green light of the album.

50 has put out a single of “Get Up”, and promises some other teasers before the album is put on shelves.

He told Mixtape Monday of a Dr. Dre-helmed track he “stole” from Eminem during their recording session in Detroit a few months ago. 50 did note that Slim Shady did give him his blessing to use the record.

“I said, ‘Let me see what [Dre did],’ ” 50 recalled with a smile while speaking on the video set of “Get Up.” “Last time I recorded The Massacre album, I was in Orlando [Florida]. I went in the computer there. That’s how I found ‘I’m Supposed to Die Tonight.’ It’s interesting. With ‘In Da Club,’ D12 [who the beat was intended for], had the production started my career.”

Performing for the U.S. troops in Iraq 2004 has had a lasting impression for elite rapper 50 Cent. An impression, so strong, that he’s carried the memories of the soldiers he met that day with him ever since.

“It was eye-opening. It was like, ‘You think you’ve had a tough time? … These people have a tough time.’ They’re in this environment that’s more intense than anything you could imagine,” 50 told MTV News.

As a result, it was not even an offer to contemplate when 50 was approached to appear at the “A Night for Vets: An MTV Concert for the BRAVE”, as 50 donned the stage Friday night for an audience of Veteran soldiers.

However, not only because he had met the troops himself, but also because he has become quite aware of the challenges those troops have faced when returning home.

“I don’t think there’s any way you can understand it unless you’ve been there and seen it,” he said. “When they come back and realize that everyone went on with their lives, you know? People went to work, did their thing, and the troops come home and it’s tough for them to realize it, man. They have it tough, and that’s part of the reason I did ‘Home of the Brave’ [the 2006 film in which 50 played an vet returning home from Iraq], to try and tell that story to people.”

And for 50, after having played for audiences all over the world, performing for the Vets, is definitely something else.

“They’ve got an energy. You gotta come hard, you know? These guys are tougher than the tough guys from my neighborhood, ’cause they went over there willingly,” he laughed. “I know I wouldn’t want to put myself in that position. There are some tough guys in the crowd out there tonight.”

50 Cent is giving 14 people the chance to win $100,000 in his new reality show, “The Money and the Power.”

The show, which will premiere next month, has contestants split into two teams, each with their own boss. They will compete against each other in a series of challenges using book and street smarts, with the winner receiving ten grand of the rapper’s money to develop their idea.

As with Donald Trump’s similarly-themed “The Apprentice,” 50 has his own signature exit line for contestants getting the boot: “Get the f**k outta here.”

The show will begin airing on MTV Nov. 6, but you can get a sneak peek with the trailer here.

50 Cent, real name Curtis Jackson, can currently be seen on the big screen in “Righteous Kill” opposite Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. He also has several upcoming movies, including “Before I Self Destruct” (which he wrote, directed, produced and starred in) and “Streets of Blood” with Val Kilmer.

“Before I Self Destruct”, the up and coming film of rapper 50 Cent, has began giving glimpses of the G-Unit star’s “Hustler” life while growing up, as trailers for the movie have just been released, according to MTV News.

The film, which is not autobiographical, intends to reveal the different issues of the “urban life”, in a new way, according to 50. “When [movies] portray certain lifestyles they don’t show cause and effect,” he says. “But I showed characters under pressure in scenarios where they felt like there were no other options, even though there were.” He adds, “There are always options.

The movie, which comes out on December 9, side by side with 50’s new album of the same title, has revealed plenty of action including a local store being blown up, 50 running through the projects, and then busting down an apartment door with a shotgun.

And that’s just the trailer.

Kanye West posted a response on his blog after 50 Cent mocked him at a concert last weekend. “I guarantee this will be 50’s favorite album of mine” said Kanye in the blog.

At a show in Albany New York, 50 mockingly performed a part of Kanye’s recent single, “Love Lockdown”, while a G-Unit member pretended to smash a camera, in reference to West’s arrest after an incident with paparazzi in Los Angeles last week.

In his blog, Kanye writes about the progress of his up and coming album 808s and Heartbreak. “I’ve been workin’ on 808s and Heartbreak about 16 hrs a day…I wake up mad early, do some business, blog, jog for an hour, play ball, eat and then hit the studio by noon” Kanye blogs.

50 Cent was reunited with his son Marquise on Sunday, after the rapper claimed the boy’s mother had kidnapped him.

When the boy’s house burned down in May, his mother made statements to the press that 50 Cent had not even called to see how his son was. As a result, she had refused to let 50 see Marquise.

According to TMZ, the reunion went off drama-free. 50 will be spending time with his son until the middle of next week, until he must leave the country to film a movie.

50 will be seeing his baby momma again soon – in court. They are due to settle a restraining order in September.

Rapper 50 Cent is suing fast food chain, Taco Bell, for using his name without permission in a recent ad campaign.

According to MSN.com, 50, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, found out about the campaign after seeing it in a news report.

The ad is a part of Taco Bell’s “Why Pay More?” campaign, which promotes menu items for less than a dollar.

The print ad features the fast food chain asking 50 to change his name to 79 Cent, 89 Cent or 99 Cent.

A spokesperson for Taco Bell released a statement saying, “We made a good faith, charitable offer to 50 Cent to change his name to either 79, 89 or 99 Cent for one day by rapping his order at a Taco Bell, and we would have been very pleased to make the $10,000 donation to the charity of his choice.”

The rapper is seeking $4 million in damages.

Rapper 50 Cent and the estranged mother of his child, Shaniqua Tompkins, were duking it out in court today.

50 is attempting to restore visitation rights with the couple’s 11-year-old son, Marquise.

According to eonline.com, Tompkins hasn’t allowed 50, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, to see Marquise contrary to an earlier agreement the estranged couple had.

Tompkins got a restraining order against 50 last month after the home she and Marquise were living in burned down.

50 in turn filed a lawsuit for defamation for comments Tompkins made tying him to the fire.

The case is still before family courts.