MC, who has been very quiet in recent years, still beat out Jay-Z, Kanye West, Game, Ludacris in mag's readers' poll.
By Shaheem Reid

Eminem at the Tor di Valle in Rome, Italy
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage

According to Vibe magazine's fans, Lil Wayne isn't "The Best Rapper Alive." He isn't even in the top two. After weeks of online voting, Eminem was crowned the globe's top MC in a tournament-style contest.

In a contest on the magazine's Web site, 64 of today's top rappers — from MTV News' reigning "Hottest MC in the Game" Kanye West and Rick Ross to Nas and T.I. — were given brackets, similar to NCAA teams during March Madness. Fans began voting on head-to-head matchups in July, with MCs gradually being eliminated until Marshall Mathers was tapped as the ultimate victor this month, beating out Brooklyn lyric guru Jay-Z. Slim Shady received 69 percent of the votes in the finals. The magazine said more than 920,000 votes were cast.

(What do you think of the results of Vibe's poll? Sound off in the Newsroom blog!)

"It's obviously an honor to have won the fans' support by being voted the Best Rapper Alive," Em said in a statement released Tuesday (October 7). "I don't think that there is any one rapper that is simply the best, though. Everyone who was in consideration and many others are the best at certain things, and at what they do. But since Vibe's offering the distinction, hell yeah, I'll accept!"

"Vibe is thrilled we could put the debate about the Best Rapper Alive in the hands of the fans," the mag's music editor, Sean Fennessey, said. "Eminem isn't just one of the most successful MCs of all time, he's also one of the most beloved. The proof is in the voting."

Vibe will be rolling out Eminem's win in their November 2008 issue. Presidential hopeful Barack Obama will grace the cover of that issue.

The win comes after several years of near-silence from Eminem. Most of his public speaking has been done on his satellite radio station Shade 45 during brief, lighthearted interviews. He appeared on the show a couple of weeks ago, telling listeners he's been focusing on his own material. During a press run for the movie "Righteous Kill," Em's most well-known signee, 50 Cent, said he was in Em's Detroit home studio working on tracks for his next album Before I Self Destruct. Dr. Dre was also revealed to be working with the two. 50's album is slated for release on December 9; no release date or title has been announced for Eminem's next project.

• Eminem

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