As promised, the [url id="/specials/hottest/mc/index.jhtml"]Hottest MCs in the Game[/url] list is being revealed this week -- don't miss the unveiling of the full list during "P. Diddy's Starmaker" on Sunday night! -- and so far we've disclosed MCs 10 through 8: Wu-Tang's [article id="1622316"]Raekwon the Chef[/article] checked in at #10, [article id="1622484"]50 Cent[/article] returned to the list at #9, and today, [article id="1622607"]Fabolous[/article]

made his Hottest debut at #8.

But the trio has something else in common: They're all native New Yorkers -- not bad for a city that critics and even some artists have said needs to have its hip-hop scene resuscitated. And while lots of New Yorkers are excited about Hottest MCs, we went all the way to the top to get a reaction from someone who is definitely not your average New York hip-hop fan ...

None other than New York State Governor David Paterson sat down with us recently to give his own personal criteria of what he thinks makes a Hot MC!

"I think these days, since hip-hop is now nearly 30 years old, that it's the creativity," the governor 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 for how our government works and how our society works. The MC who could blaze that trail and find a creative way of displaying it will be the MC of the next decade."

Although the governor wouldn't say who his pick for Hottest MC is, he did say he's fond of what Jay-Z is doing on and off the mic.

"He's known as a serious person, not just an entertainer, someone who is creative and dynamic and someone who is very sensitive to the problems of others," Paterson said. The governor worked with Jay-Z to bring [article id="1621334"]Jay's recent September 11 charity concert[/article] at Madison Square Garden to fruition.

MTV News will be unveiling the Hottest MCs in the Game all week! We'll be announcing an MC's rank every day this week, with the full list revealed on Sunday at 10 p.m. during "P. Diddy's Starmaker"!