Avant

   
Artist: Avant

   Genre(s): 
Other
   

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Discography:


   
 Don't Take Your Love Away (Remix)

   Year: 2004   
Tracks: 2

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Hailed as the "young voice of ghetto soul" and acknowledged as the number one dissemble gestural to NBA majuscule Magic Johnson's Magic Johnson Music, Cleveland native Avant famed the MCA Records dismission of his debut album, My Thoughts, on May 2, 2000. Around the same time, the 22-year-old singer/songwriter was enjoying a Top Five Billboard R&B/Hip Hop hit unmarried, "Disjointed." The picture for the song was acquiring massive work on cablegram channels BET and The Box. Avant's style of innovative soul owes heavily to singer R. Kelly. Originally, Avant's managing director, Eric Payton, released "Isolated" in January 1998 on his Payton Entertainment mark. The single began acquiring airplay on top-rated radio station WGCI in Chicago before finally being included on the 1999 MCA digest Summer Heat. The singer/songwriter wrote "Isolated" based on his feelings following a failed amatory relationship. Avant felt that the Lord had blessed him enough for being allowed to assign his sadness down on paper. Recorded in Chicago, My Thoughts was produced by completed multi-instrumentalist Steve Huff. Huff and Avant's overall superiority musicianship gives My Thoughts a tonic depth. The overcompensate of René & Angela's 1983 R&B lay classical "My First Love" stands out with a terrifically swirling string arrangement by veteran Chicago arranger Tom Tom Washington (aka Tom Tom 84). The slammin' song "Reaction" contains a rhythm guitar sample distribution from Issac Hayes' 1974 hit "Fantastic." In 2002, a young album again featuring production from Steve Huff, Rapture, was released on Johnson's subsidiary. 2003's Private Room and 2006's Director followed; both albums spawned a clutch of Top 20 R&B singles.

Advent

   
Artist: Advent

   Genre(s): 
Metal: Death,Black
   

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Discography:


   
 The Dawn

   Year: 2003   
Tracks: 9

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'Hottest MCs In The Game': The List Heats Up With Our #9 Selection, Outkast's Andre 3000

In summer 2007, the MTV News Hip-Hop Brain Trust sat down and had another controversial roundtable debate. Unlike previous discussions, the trustees devised a list of not the greatest ever, but the Hottest MCs in the Game right then. The rankings were based on lyrics, flow, impact on the game, success and swagger.

The roundtable recently reconvened and came up with a brand-new list of Hottest MCs. Our experts used the same criteria, but only judged on the past year of hip-hop. Check back Friday morning for #8 — and see the whole list right after the show on Friday night! "The Hottest MCs in the Game" airs on MTV Friday at 10 p.m. ET.

Andre 3000

Why He's Hot

No album, no single, only two guest appearances — Andre did even less this year than he did in 2007. There's not even a handful of verses to judge him on. Should the Hip-Hop Brain Trust members be found guilty of treason for giving Andre a slot in the top 10 despite minimum output?

Absolutely not.

Tres Stacks has illustrated natural bravura over brainless bravado, dropping judiciously dope couplets laced with gentlemanly swagger that brew to a crescendo and shed every note in their way.

Splendidly subtle N.W.A reference here, magnificent drug metaphor there — before you know it, this legend has had more impact in about 40 bars than many peers can boast on their entire long-play discs. 3000 may be the most inspiring MC right now, because everything we've heard from him in the past several months has been methodically dead-right. His album isn't slated to drop until later this year, which could be 2009 in Andre time. It's all good, as long as all this teasing of his excellence results in another classic opus.

Co-Signer: Rick Ross

"I just heard a verse Andre did today on the radio that I never heard. He's just incredible. He's a pure lyricist. And I think a lot of us as fans, we grew up to Outkast's music. Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik made such an impact where we was at. If he only put out one disc, you respected him as a lyricist. He just keeps blossoming. Andre has swagger and lyrics. I think to be the best, you've got to have both. This game is so competitive, you got to be on top of your sh--."

Blistering Ballistics

"She said, 'Why in the club, you don't make it precipitate?/ You know, make it rain when you could make it thunderstorm?'/ I'm like, why? The world needs sun/ The 'hood needs funds/ There's a war going on and half the battle is guns/ How dare I throw it on the floor/ When people are poor/ So I write like Edgar Allan to restore/ The 'hood be requesting my services/ Oh, don't get nervous, it's step-your-game-up time/ These ain't them same old rhymes/ Designed to have you dancing in some club." — From DJ Drama's "The Art of Storytellin' Part 4."

Hot Streak

Albums

N/A

Selected Mixtapes

N/A

Singles

N/A

Street Bangers

N/A

Key Guest Appearances

UGK's "Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You)," DJ Drama's "The Art of Storytellin' Part 4," Big Boi's "Royal Flush."

Business Ventures

Building his brand in Hollywood with films like "Semi-Pro" and "Battle in Seattle."

Tours

N/A

The 2008 version of "Hottest MCs in the Game" airs Friday, May 16, on MTV at 10 p.m. — and you can also hit MTVNews.com once the program is over to read more in-depth about the Brain Trust's choices.

In advance of the special, we're letting you all have a say. Head over to Newsroom.MTV.com, where you can vote on who you feel is the #1 hottest MC in the game — but don't stop there! You can submit your own top-10 list below, or on yourhere.mtv.com.

And the hotness continues: You can check out last year's top 10, join the debate and more on our "Hottest MCs" page.






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