Can Andre 3000 become one of the few MCs to make three consecutive Hottest MCs lists?
No question Andre has just about all of the credentials to reign on the Hottest MCs list — except one. To say we caught him between cycles is an understatement. The ATLien hasn’t dropped an LP since 2003’s The Love Below (OK, the “Idlewild” soundtrack if you want to get technical — but even that was three years ago). But making the list has never been about putting out albums — the roundtable talk is always about how he makes his guest appearances an event. Dre certainly lit up the airwaves late last year on John Legend’s “Green Light,” but his verses since then have been tougher to find. Stacks hasn’t been too prolific, so will the handful of gems be enough to get a ranking this year?
In a rare interview, Andre talked to us about the past Hottest MCs lists, the concept of them and where he’d like to see himself stacking up against the competition.
“The thing about these hip-hop lists … it’s like, ‘How can you make a list because it’s so many people you leave off that a lot of people may disagree with?’ ” Dre wondered. “If you have 10 guys in a room [debating], that’s their list. It can’t be a world list, ’cause it’s a lot of people … I’m surprised Ludacris is never on there — he’s one of the dopest. Black Thought ain’t on there — he’s killin’ a lot of people.
“Then you got too many opinions,” he added. “You have people that come up to me in the streets and say certain things. I’m like, ‘Well, that’s their opinion.’ I just say, ‘Man, everybody do your thing.’ I’d rather be #2 and everybody know I should be #1, than to be #1. Then I have somewhere to go.”
The polls close on September 21 so get your vote on (if you wish).
