On Friday, following the announcement of the first half of the annual MTV Base "Hottest MCs“ list, we predicted that newcomer Blxckie deserved to be crowned the hottest MC in South Africa for his brilliant 2021.
When the show aired on MTV Base late on Friday afternoon, the Durban rapper was duly awarded top spot on the list that typically causes a stir on social media every year.
With the year Blxckie had, there wasn't any denying him though.
The 22-year-old released his debut album, “B4Now” earlier in the year after the massive success of his two previous singles “YeX4” featuring Nasty C and “Big Time Shlappa” featuring Lucas Raps.
The album gave rise to three other popular singles, “Sika”, “David” and “Joy”.
The rapper hasn't taken his foot off the pedal since the album's release.
He's since been on a scorching feature run that's seen him make guest appearances on songs from the likes of Young Stunna, The Big Hash, Priddy Ugly, Una Rams, Tshego, Oxlade and, more recently, globetrotting Nigerian star, Ckay.
"2021 MTV Base #HottestMcs 2021 List :
1. Blxckie
2. Big Zulu
3. Nasty C
4. A-Reece
5. 25K
6. Riky Rick & K.O
7. Costa Titch
8. Lucas Raps
9. Priddy Ugly
10. Dee Koala"
2021 MTV Base #HottestMcs 2021 List :
— SA HIP HOP 247 🌍 (@sahiphop247) December 3, 2021
1. Blxckie
2. Big Zulu
3. Nasty C
4. A-Reece
5. 25K
6. Riky Rick & K.O
7. Costa Titch
8. Lucas Raps
9. Priddy Ugly
10. Dee Koala #BaseHottestMcs pic.twitter.com/JhYZvAeXRQ
MTV Base “Hottest MCs 2021” was hosted by MTV Base Culture Squad member Tshego Koke, who was joined by a panel of South African hip hop "authorities".
The panel included DJ Zan D, Shala The Unicorn, Kai, Buhle, Siya, and French Fry. They judged according to the criteria Bars and Lyrics, Impact, Sales and Intangibles (X-Factor).
For the first time since the list's inception in 2014, neither AKA nor his nemesis Cassper Nyovest made the list.
After last year's controversy around Busiswa being the only female artist on the list, despite her not exactly identifying as an MC, this year Dee Koala was the only female rapper on the list, placing 10th.