Wiz Khalifa
Photo: Getty Images

Wiz Khalifa stays high, so as expectations for his debut album, Rolling Papers, shot through the roof, the Pittsburgh rapper made good by delivering a gold-selling LP last March — with multiple hit singles to back it. That success and more was enough to take him from MTV's 2010 Hottest Breakthrough MC to the Hottest MCs in the Game VII list.

Not only did the Taylor Gang general snag the #2 spot on the Billboard 200 in his first week out — behind Britney Spears — he also dropped a collaborative album with Snoop Dogg (Mac & Devin Go to High School), blessed fans with the Cabin Fever mixtape, and sold out shows around the world on his Rolling Papers Tour. When it was all said and done, the Kush and Orange Juice spitter clocked in a reported $11 million and snagged the #11 spot on Forbes' Hip-Hop's Top Earners list.

Want to join the debate? Just hit us on Twitter using the hashtag #HottestMC!

"First of all, he won the Hottest Breakthrough MC and really fulfilled the promise that we all knew that he had," MTV News Senior hip-hop Writer Rob Markman said. "To be this young and have this many accomplishments, almost three albums in a year, you gotta give it up to dude."

The criteria to be considered a Hottest MC are based on a combination of factors: impact, buzz, sales, lyrics, swag and the intangibles. The Taylor Gang captain meets all of them. His impact was huge, just look at the way veteran artists like Snoop and Juicy J lined up to collaborate with the youngster. Wiz's buzz kept him a part of the overall 2011 hip-hop conversation and he notched impressive sales numbers. Khalifa also has a strong sense of style, as seen in his New York Times style magazine feature last September. And his relationship with Amber Rose kept him in the tabloids, adding an intangible element to his growing celebrity.

After each member of MTV's Hip-Hop Brain Trust submitted their personal Hottest MCs lists, Wiz landed the #8 spot. But then things took an interesting turn. After a heated roundtable debate and subsequent vote, Khalifa was bumped to #9 and G.O.O.D. Music upstart Big Sean snatched the #8 slot. The argument was fiery, and though most of the panelists agreed that Wiz's success was remarkable, some contended that Rolling Papers was a critical disappointment and Khalifa had lost some steam in the past few months.

"It's a good album, but I think with the momentum and expectations, it didn't live up to the hype," said Yomi Desalu, MTV's senior director of music and talent programming strategy.

"But I just feel like I want him up there because of the full year, of the full stride, of the Rolling Papers Tour, of what he [accomplished]," Rebecca Thomas, an MTV News editor and writer, argued.

If Wiz's final position on the "Hottest MCs in the Game" list is debatable, his impact on hip-hop over the past year is irrefutable. With a bunch of accolades already under his belt, Khalifa has nowhere to go but up!

Tune in to MTV2 on Sunday, February 19, at 10 p.m. ET/PT to catch "MTV2 Presents: Yo! MTV Raps Classic Cuts," then watch "Hottest MCs in the Game VII" immediately after at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT before capping the night off with "Sucker Free Certified" at 11 p.m. ET/PT.

• 'Hottest MCs In The Game VII'

Taylor Swift
Photo: MTV News

In 2010, Taylor Swift released the Grammy-winning Speak Now. The album was a study in the complexities of love and life, full of ponderings on the romance of new love and the pain of a broken affair. Drawing inspiration from her own life, the album topped the charts and kept Swift ever-present.

As she embarks on her next album release, she tells MTV News that she's still got work to do, even if her bosses at the record label are ready to pull the trigger on it.

"So far, I've been writing so much in the last year and the label keeps telling me, 'All right, we're finished; all right, we're satisfied; OK, this is done now.' And then I just keep writing and I keep turning it in in different versions," she told MTV News' Sway during "MTV First: Taylor Swift," when she dropped her video for her "The Hunger Games" track, "Safe & Sound."

"I'm going to work on it until I literally have zero time left to work on it, because I'm having so much fun working on this album," she explained. "I made my last album, Speak Now, with this idea I really wanted to make an album without writing with anyone else just because I always wanted to do that. And now I have a different approach to this record. I'm getting to work with people that I've always wanted to work with." That means that she's seeking out some assistance "from all different places in music."

"I'm trying to be as much of a sponge as possible," she explained. "You have to evolve and try new things and change and that's what I've loved to do with this album."

But just because she's trying some new things musically doesn't mean she's quite ready to move on from writing about love.

"I think that love is always going to be a huge theme in what I write about just because there are no two similar relationships, there are no two times that you feel love the same way or hurt the same way or [feel] rejection [in] the same way. It's all different and I'm fascinated by that," she said. "I really love to go back to human interaction and the way we make each other feel. But that at 22 is different than it was at 18 or 19 when I made my last album and 16 and 17 when I made Fearless. As you grow, you change in the way you process emotion."

What are you hoping to hear on Taylor Swift's next album? Leave your comment below!

• MTV First: Taylor Swift

"Rango"
Photo: Paramount Pictures

The Academy Awards are fast approaching, and it's bound to be an animated show this year — if not a particularly "Adventure"-ous one.

For the first time in years, animation powerhouse Pixar has been shut out of the Oscar race for Best Animated Feature Film, leaving the field wide open for an unexpected newcomer to take the top prize. Two foreign flicks — "A Cat in Paris" and "Chico & Rita" — are in the mix, battling it out against popular favorites and proven franchise hits "Kung Fu Panda 2" and "Puss in Boots." But we expect that the Academy will skew toward the surreal this year, honoring the beautifully bizarre "Rango" with a shiny new golden statue.

Read on for our picks and wishes for Best Animated Feature Film.

Who Will Win: "Rango" takes it home. "A Cat in Paris" and "Chico & Rita" cancel each other out, as do DreamWorks Animation's two offerings. That leaves the door open for the little chameleon that could, played to quirky perfection by seasoned veteran Johnny Depp. Reteaming with his former "Pirates of the Caribbean" captain Gore Verbinski, "Rango" stands out as one of the most original animated movies to hit theaters stateside in quite some time. It's fully deserving of its impending victory. Having said that...

Who Should Win: "The Adventures of Tintin." Clearly, it's not going to win — it's not even nominated! A travesty, I say. Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg's adaptation of the adventure tales from Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi stands out as one of the greatest comic book films of 2011, and in my opinion, the best animated movie of the year. It deserves not just a nomination, but a win, for its fantastic score from John Williams, wonderfully inventive opening credits, astoundingly assembled action pieces and yet another all-star motion-capture grand slam from the incredible Andy Serkis. "Tintin" didn't win its Golden Globe award for nothing, folks. This movie should already be polishing its Oscar by now — there are no excuses for its exclusion from the race.

The MTV Movies team has the 2012 Oscars covered! Stick with us for everything you need to know leading up to the awards show, and on Sunday, February 25, we'll put you on the red carpet and bring you all the winners.

• 2012 Oscar Nominees