Readers React To Our Man And Woman Of The Year(MTV)

[Almostlity]

Last week, when MTV News revealed our picks for Man of the Year (Kanye West) and Woman of the Year (Lady Gaga), we expected that there would be some folks out there who wouldn't agree with our choices ... mostly, Eminem fans — because, as we've learned time and time again, they don't agree with anything.

But there's no way we could have predicted just how many people were genuinely outraged with our list ... MTV.com readers flooded our site with comments, calling us every name in the book, accusing us of vast multinational conspiracies, and doing everything short of declaring war on our headquarters (please don't attack on a Wednesday, that's Taco Day in the cafeteria). We're only slightly exaggerating.

By far, the biggest point of contention centered on our Man of the Year list ... and, more specifically, why we gave the award to West instead of Eminem. Fans of both men lit up the comments with passionate arguments, with each side working overtime to state their case. It got pretty nasty, which sort of made it even better.


Over on the Woman of the Year list, well, most people seemed to agree that Gaga deserved the honor, though, of course, there were still some out there who believed that Britney Spears was robbed — even though she didn't release a note of music this year. Her fans are just that loyal.

To be honest, we were sort of blown away by just how many of you cared, so we've decided to collect some of the best responses here. But don't think the debate has to end right now ... if you still feel like your voice hasn't been heard, sound off in the comments below. And now, without further ado, let's get acrimonious.

"Eminem [had] two #1 singles both with sales over 3 million! [He was] iTunes' Artist of the Year, Billboard's Best Male and Best Album ... best-selling single in the UK, VMA Best Male and Best Hip Hop, EMA Best Hip Hop artist, MTV's #1 Hottest MC of 2010 ... opened at VMA and BET awards, Recovery already sold 3 million and still counting copies in less than 6 months (I pray Kanye makes it up to 1 million by God's grace), 10 Grammy nominations ... Eminem had a bigger year and MTV knows that!" — Kennethngbor

"Kanye had a bigger year? Yeah he did. 10/10 from Pitchfork? Yeah. 'Runaway' movie? Yeah. G.O.O.D. Fridays (new song every week)? Yeah. Most critically acclaimed album this year? Yeah. Sold over 430,000 copies without a NUMBER ONE single and being the MOST HATED man in America? yeahh. Need I continue? Em's album wasn't all that. Hell, Teflon Don was better than Recovery. ... 'Ye had a better album, [and] a better year." — Alex

"I think [Kanye] deserved to win. Of course Em sold more records, Hello? America's white-boy rapper? Duh! I mean, he's cool, don't get me wrong ... Em puts out a good CD when he tries, but Kanye killed it ... So to hell with what people say, I'm good with 'Ye winning man of the year." — Hsoj

"I feel that MTV and Kanye have a plot together to make each other bigger. They hyped the you-know-what out of him before he even dropped his latest album. Suddenly he has been back for a couple of months after he took some time off to seek help and he becomes Man of the Year? Come on. Everytime he does something outlandish it's on MTV, so I'm starting to wonder if he and the network are working together to help each other gain publicity. Shady business if you ask me." — JayJay

"MTV, accept the many mistakes you made this year in many of your lists and make a better one next year and stop underrating people! #1 for Kanye is not deserved, he does not deserve to be in the top 5! Usher is supposed to be on this list, Bieber and Eminem are supposed to be higher!" — Emperor

"Kanye deserved this, denying it makes you look stupid because over this entire year, he's the one that brought music (especially hip hop) forward. I LOVE EMINEM, I couldn't be more serious about that, but at the end of the day, Kanye brought music forward as opposed to Em getting back to the level of quality we are used to getting from him. Em's still the sh--, but this year, Kanye made a better product." — Ryan

"Kanye West just put out one of the best acclaimed hip-hop albums of the last 7 years ... he created a masterpiece in the movie 'Runaway' and stretched the boundaries with the moving painting piece for 'Power'. Kanye West did more this year to move [forward] the culture, especially the hip-hop culture than Em did by far. If you make the best album you should be the man that year, simple as that." — ThisGuyCalledJeff

"I'm happy for Kanye, and people should be happy for him too for giving out all that free music and putting out a classic album instead of hating! And I'm pretty sure Eminem is not thinking about this list, because he's making bread off that 3 mill sold, so let's let Kanye shine for a moment please!" — TommyBoy502ky

"I'm tired of MTV giving Gaga too much praise! I can't wait for Britney Spears to release her new album in March! Gaga did not revive pop music. She is good but she is not better than the pop stars who came before her like Britney, Christina, and Madonna ... When Britney came out, she revived pop music! When Gaga came out, she didn't revive nothing. Now Britney will be back with a new album and she will be on top." — IfUSeekPeanut:)

"Okay, let me explain to you why Britney is not better than anybody, she is not an icon, she won't be a legend, she used her physical looks to call people's attention, she is auto-tuned, and she doesn't sing live! Gaga is talented and better than Britney, in so many levels ... she writes her own music, and plays the piano, the problem is that Britney has a longer career, but Gaga will have it too in 10 years; yes she is crazy, and yes she is a freak, but that's what makes her special and unique, Britney these days is just another pop star; the fact that she's been relevant for a decade doesn't mean she is a legend, and Lady Gaga is definitely the icon of this generation." — EMMNL

"I seriously don't care what anyone could possibly say, I love Lady Gaga with all my heart and nothing anyone says will ever change that. I've honestly heard it all, and it only makes my love for her stronger. Can't wait for Born This Way. I'll be the first one to buy it in Canada." — Christian

"There was no other choice [for Woman of the Year]. [Gaga's] carried pop music the past two years. Without her Ke$ha and Nicki Minaj would not exist. She's single-handedly brought dance music from the basement to the Penthouse." — frankru2000

MTV

I'm still not hating, so please save your hate too

[Devil'sAdvocate]

funny shit

[Mahmoud48]

im a fan of kanye but that was one overrated album
if ur a fan of kanyes old album
u would know that it doesnt compare
his old albums deserve more praise then this
and can u asnwer this question
did kanye's album become platinum yet??

[WakeUpShow]

lol at the people who tried to justify kanye over em, and they basically just made em look better. I really like Kanye and his new album, but this was a Shady year and you all know it.

[Almostlity]

Yes - Eminem sold more - BUT EMINEM WILL ALWAYS SELL MORE. Eminems worst album by FAR Encore, has outsold ANY of Jay-Z or Kanye Wests albums PERIOD. Encore outsold The Blueprint/College Dropout and every other album by those guys. The fact that Kanye is selling these amount of records with NO promotion for over a month, all the leaks, no HIT singles because he refused to drop generic pop hits, NO music videos to be spun properly {the crazy Power and Runaway videos?) - and ALL the backlash from being the most hated man last year - HE'S STILL GOING TO GO PLATINUM. He's STILL going to do Drake numbers - fifth album in and all this stuff working against him. I'm sorry - but you can't DENY his brilliance at this point - he keeps bouncing back, he's almost unstoppable. The Runaway video, the POWER video, the fashion statements, the controvery and headlines with Bush and Matt Lauer, the Twitter, the GOOD Fridays and ALL of the collabs,the SNL and VMA AND BET performances = are you kidding me? This man not ONLY had the best year this year, but he had one of the best years in music history PERIOD if you want me to be completely honest. I applaud MTV for recognizing this, and I promise to the haters - if you don't see it now, you will when this man finally gets his due when people can learn to separate his crazy from his genius. Kanye West > Music right now

[Trimss]

How big is Kanye's dick?

[Almostlity]

How big is Kanye's dick?

idk, how big is Eminems?

[xxTrigger1989xx]

How big is Kanye's dick?

I lol'd

[LilWayne4Life]

Who was woman of the year

[Devil'sAdvocate]

Yes - Eminem sold more - BUT EMINEM WILL ALWAYS SELL MORE. Eminems worst album by FAR Encore, has outsold ANY of Jay-Z or Kanye Wests albums PERIOD. Encore outsold The Blueprint/College Dropout and every other album by those guys. The fact that Kanye is selling these amount of records with NO promotion for over a month, all the leaks, no HIT singles because he refused to drop generic pop hits, NO music videos to be spun properly {the crazy Power and Runaway videos?) - and ALL the backlash from being the most hated man last year - HE'S STILL GOING TO GO PLATINUM. He's STILL going to do Drake numbers - fifth album in and all this stuff working against him. I'm sorry - but you can't DENY his brilliance at this point - he keeps bouncing back, he's almost unstoppable. The Runaway video, the POWER video, the fashion statements, the controvery and headlines with Bush and Matt Lauer, the Twitter, the GOOD Fridays and ALL of the collabs,the SNL and VMA AND BET performances = are you kidding me? This man not ONLY had the best year this year, but he had one of the best years in music history PERIOD if you want me to be completely honest. I applaud MTV for recognizing this, and I promise to the haters - if you don't see it now, you will when this man finally gets his due when people can learn to separate his crazy from his genius. Kanye West > Music right now

on some embase shit right there bro.

[xxTrigger1989xx]

I listned to Kanye's old work, and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy CAN easily compare to any of them... I really am starting to think MBDTF can be considered a classic, why all the hate? so what if he gets better reviews nowadays than our Eminem, no reason to hate him

The new commandment: ''Though Shall Not Hate Kid''

let us all be happy that a hip-hop artist made it as Man of the Year and not Bieber or Usher for example

mad props for kanye

(but he'll never beat sslp, mmlp, tes JUST SAYIN LOL )

Good point, if Bieber became Man of the Year...(shudder)

He's not even a man!

[LilWayne4Life]

Yes - Eminem sold more - BUT EMINEM WILL ALWAYS SELL MORE. Eminems worst album by FAR Encore, has outsold ANY of Jay-Z or Kanye Wests albums PERIOD. Encore outsold The Blueprint/College Dropout and every other album by those guys. The fact that Kanye is selling these amount of records with NO promotion for over a month, all the leaks, no HIT singles because he refused to drop generic pop hits, NO music videos to be spun properly {the crazy Power and Runaway videos?) - and ALL the backlash from being the most hated man last year - HE'S STILL GOING TO GO PLATINUM. He's STILL going to do Drake numbers - fifth album in and all this stuff working against him. I'm sorry - but you can't DENY his brilliance at this point - he keeps bouncing back, he's almost unstoppable. The Runaway video, the POWER video, the fashion statements, the controvery and headlines with Bush and Matt Lauer, the Twitter, the GOOD Fridays and ALL of the collabs,the SNL and VMA AND BET performances = are you kidding me? This man not ONLY had the best year this year, but he had one of the best years in music history PERIOD if you want me to be completely honest. I applaud MTV for recognizing this, and I promise to the haters - if you don't see it now, you will when this man finally gets his due when people can learn to separate his crazy from his genius. Kanye West > Music right now

Shit sounded alot like something i would say about wayne... still #bullshit

Wayne>Em>Drake>Jay>Kanye

[classthe_king]

Yes - Eminem sold more - BUT EMINEM WILL ALWAYS SELL MORE. Eminems worst album by FAR Encore, has outsold ANY of Jay-Z or Kanye Wests albums PERIOD. Encore outsold The Blueprint/College Dropout and every other album by those guys. The fact that Kanye is selling these amount of records with NO promotion for over a month, all the leaks, no HIT singles because he refused to drop generic pop hits, NO music videos to be spun properly {the crazy Power and Runaway videos?) - and ALL the backlash from being the most hated man last year - HE'S STILL GOING TO GO PLATINUM. He's STILL going to do Drake numbers - fifth album in and all this stuff working against him. I'm sorry - but you can't DENY his brilliance at this point - he keeps bouncing back, he's almost unstoppable. The Runaway video, the POWER video, the fashion statements, the controvery and headlines with Bush and Matt Lauer, the Twitter, the GOOD Fridays and ALL of the collabs,the SNL and VMA AND BET performances = are you kidding me? This man not ONLY had the best year this year, but he had one of the best years in music history PERIOD if you want me to be completely honest. I applaud MTV for recognizing this, and I promise to the haters - if you don't see it now, you will when this man finally gets his due when people can learn to separate his crazy from his genius. Kanye West > Music right now

You don't need to go through all this. Some of these Eminem faggots will never learn.

[Sekou]

Yes - Eminem sold more - BUT EMINEM WILL ALWAYS SELL MORE. Eminems worst album by FAR Encore, has outsold ANY of Jay-Z or Kanye Wests albums PERIOD. Encore outsold The Blueprint/College Dropout and every other album by those guys. The fact that Kanye is selling these amount of records with NO promotion for over a month, all the leaks, no HIT singles because he refused to drop generic pop hits, NO music videos to be spun properly {the crazy Power and Runaway videos?) - and ALL the backlash from being the most hated man last year - HE'S STILL GOING TO GO PLATINUM. He's STILL going to do Drake numbers - fifth album in and all this stuff working against him. I'm sorry - but you can't DENY his brilliance at this point - he keeps bouncing back, he's almost unstoppable. The Runaway video, the POWER video, the fashion statements, the controvery and headlines with Bush and Matt Lauer, the Twitter, the GOOD Fridays and ALL of the collabs,the SNL and VMA AND BET performances = are you kidding me? This man not ONLY had the best year this year, but he had one of the best years in music history PERIOD if you want me to be completely honest. I applaud MTV for recognizing this, and I promise to the haters - if you don't see it now, you will when this man finally gets his due when people can learn to separate his crazy from his genius. Kanye West > Music right now

Of course Eminem will sell more, no matter how bad his album sucks.
It's not about sales. Justin Bieber will have the most viewed video on YouTube, even if it's just him taking a crap.

[ Relapse sold incredibly well, but still it seemed like everyone was dissapointed. Everyone was like "Oooh, these stupid accents - he sucks now - he can never top the charts again".
Eminem had come back, but not like everyone would have wished he would.
And in 2010? DTW was the only bearable song on Rebirth, and that was mainly Em's merit. Despicable destroyed Drake's and Banks' originals. Not Afraid instantly went to number one without having a music video or anything. I don't have to tell you how big Recovery and the following single was. After the album, further collaborations followed, and after Recovery he is still constantly releasing new music.
I'm not saying all of it is classic and hell, Recovery wasn't that much better than Relapse (I'm not even sure if it's the better album to me) but it was HUGE and it finally put Eminem back onto the big screen. And that's what it's about when it comes to such awards. ]

Don't act like Kanye is a complete underdog. It's not as extreme as it is with Eminem, but his name alone will do Drake numbers easily. After all, he is Kanye West and he does have his loyal fanbase. He may have been hated on a lot lately, but he's still one of the biggest names in the music industry anyway. So that will automatically boost his record sales. And you said it yourself, the undeniably epic VMA and BET performances gained him further attention.
I really don't think there's anything amazing about Kanye West going platinum, with all these magazines and MTV on his dick.
I strongly disagree, but I can accept that Kanye is named Man of The Year.
One of the best years in music history? That's when I have to draw the line.
Michael Jackson's 1983 was one of the best years for an artist in music history. Kanye West's 2010? No.

[Emadyville]

Yes - Eminem sold more - BUT EMINEM WILL ALWAYS SELL MORE. Eminems worst album by FAR Encore, has outsold ANY of Jay-Z or Kanye Wests albums PERIOD. Encore outsold The Blueprint/College Dropout and every other album by those guys. The fact that Kanye is selling these amount of records with NO promotion for over a month, all the leaks, no HIT singles because he refused to drop generic pop hits, NO music videos to be spun properly {the crazy Power and Runaway videos?) - and ALL the backlash from being the most hated man last year - HE'S STILL GOING TO GO PLATINUM. He's STILL going to do Drake numbers - fifth album in and all this stuff working against him. I'm sorry - but you can't DENY his brilliance at this point - he keeps bouncing back, he's almost unstoppable. The Runaway video, the POWER video, the fashion statements, the controvery and headlines with Bush and Matt Lauer, the Twitter, the GOOD Fridays and ALL of the collabs,the SNL and VMA AND BET performances = are you kidding me? This man not ONLY had the best year this year, but he had one of the best years in music history PERIOD if you want me to be completely honest. I applaud MTV for recognizing this, and I promise to the haters - if you don't see it now, you will when this man finally gets his due when people can learn to separate his crazy from his genius. Kanye West > Music right now

what hit singles did em have with sslp, mmlp, tes, encore? his only #1 back then was lose yourself, and for a soundtrack, not his album. Em never dominated with singles, until this year...but i still dont get this kanye shit, his album was awful, his best verse was on TI's album lol, this is just stupid, and I mean all this shit, not your post, you're opinion on point, I was just making a point myself