Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj Earn Honorable Mentions for MTV’s Hottest MCs List

After controversy erupted when MTV dropped their annual Hottest MCs list last week -- Kanye West calling DJ Enuff to rant about his ranking and the fun fact he gave Sway his first TV -- MTV's hip-hop brain trust has decided to give three major emcees who didn’t quite make the cut an honorary title.

Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj received honorable mentions by MTV. The three rappers earned praise for their accomplishments but there were also reasons given as to why they didn't make the initial list of 10.

Jigga sold out Brooklyn, N.Y.'s Barclays Center late last year. He was featured on tracks like G.O.O.D. Music's 'Clique' and Rick Ross' '3 Kings.' Hov definitely had a lot on his plate during the year. "He's been very preoccupied, obviously raising his daughter and raising the roof for the Barclays Center, so that kind of kept him out of the studio," reasoned Yomi Desalu, MTV's VP of Music and Talent Programming.

Nicki’s recent album, 'Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded,' went platinum and topped the charts with 'Beez in the Trap' and 'I Am Your Leader,' but with more poppy tunes like 'Starships,' it seems she wants to be known for more than just her rap roots. "She may not necessarily want to be defined as [just] a rapper," argued Steven Roberts. "Just telling from this project that she put out, it's half hip-hop -- it wasn't a dedicated project for one thing."

As for Weezy, he didn’t have an LP released in 2012, but he did appear as a featured guest on notable tracks including Juicy J’s “Bandz a Make Her Dance” and T.I.’s 'Ball.'

Watch MTV Give Honorable Mentions to Jay-Z, Lil Wayne & Nicki Minaj