Jay-Z 'Deserving' Of Hottest MC Title, New York Governor David Paterson Says

'I can personally attest to his commitment to New York and the impact he has on New Yorkers of all ages,' he says.

The feedback on our 2009 Hottest MCs in the Game list has been tremendous since we started to reveal our picks last Monday. We started off with Raekwon the Chef at #10, and Jay-Z finished the list as the #1 Hottest MC right now.

On Monday night, MTV News received an e-mail about the list from New York Governor David A. Paterson, who applauded Jigga's crowning.

"Jay-Z is not only an outstanding hip-hop artist, but a dedicated philanthropist as well," Paterson said in a statement. "Having just attended his September 11th benefit concert in Madison Square Garden a few weeks ago, I can personally attest to his commitment to New York and the impact he has on New Yorkers of all ages. He is most definitely deserving of the top MC of 2009 title."

A few weeks ago, before the Hottest list came out, Paterson gave his personal criteria for what he thought made a hot MC.

"I think these days, since hip-hop is now nearly 30 years old, that it's the creativity," he said. "There are too many people who think you become successful by mimicking what others have done, and I think every performer starts out with a favorite, but it's those people who blaze new trails that I think are the MCs of the future.

"I also think that the MC that figures out that people 18 and older who got the right to vote in 1972 never exercised it till 2008 — there's a real culture for discussing how our government works and how our society works," he added. "The MC who could blaze that trail and find a creative way of displaying it will be the MC of the next decade."

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