show|null|video|608745

By The MTV News Hip-Hop Brain Trust

All year long, we, the good folks here at MTV News, have kept our ears grounded to the pavement to bring you up-to-the-minute urban journalism focused on the elite coverage of your favorite artists.

It’s a tough grind and we wanted to thank a few people who helped us make it possible on a daily basis over the past 12 months.

We call them our Hip-Hop MVPs. From us to you, we say: Salute!

DJ SCOOB DOO: Up until the launch of Lil Wayne’s blog WeezyThanxYou, MTV News could have easily been mistaken as the home of Lil Tunechi. From the making of the No Ceilings mixtape to the "Road To Rikers" coverage, our extended family member Scoob Doo has embodied the values of our MVP squad. Scoob has made a household name for himself by bringing the 1515 Boys exclusive and intimate footage detailing the daily activities of Mr. Carter and the YMCMB family. Scoob has also taken his "Nino Brown" DVD series to new heights while still churning out mixtapes to feed the streets and touring overseas in South Africa. DJ Scoob Doo has turned himself into a one-man hip-hop enterprise.

KAREN CIVIL: Speaking of WeezyThanxYou, we have to give a special thanks to hip-hop’s "Blossom" Karen Civil. The blog and entrepreneur kept us abreast on all things Lil Wayne and Young Money-related, tipping us off to the launch of Wayne’s blog, which she helped to created with Karla "hustleGRL" Moy, and providing us with a direct line into YM Prez Mack Maine. Over the past 12 months she delivered for 1515 like UPS.

JAMES "FLX" SMITH: From Drake to T.I. to Tity Boi, from Atlanta to Houston, Miami to New Orleans, "FLX" has kept us covered down bottom. The N.O. native consistently gives us complete access to the biggest southern artists 24/7. When not running around chasing your favorite trap star, he can be found with Soulja Boy keeping him hot on the Web.

Rounding out our list of acknowledgments, the MTV News Hip-Hop Brain Trust would also like to salute the teams from RapRadar.com, ThisIs50.com, MissInfo.tv, Bossip.com, Sirius radio and the entire New Music Cartel (#FreeOnSmash).

To 2011!