One thing I have to give New York Governor David Paterson is that he gets hip-hop right more often than not. Today, according to New York Magazine‘s Vulture blog, Paterson — citing his September 11th benefit concert at Madison Square Garden — endorsed MTV’s decision to name Jay-Z the “Hottest MC In The Game,” and hey, in the context of his role of New York’s chief executive, that’s just good statesmanship.
Back in May of 2008, Paterson demonstrated a similar judiciousness by extending a full pardon to Slick Rick. At the time, I made the obvious joke.