Hip-Hop star Kanye West and Lil’ Wayne are honorees in GQ’s 12th Annual Men of the Year issue, which hits stands nationwide wide next week.
The magazine named West, former President Bill Clinton and James Bond star Daniel Craig Men of the Year for their exceptional achievements in 2007.
As a result, West, Clinton and Craig will each grace one of the three separate covers of the GQ 12th Annual Men of the Year issue.
“What can we say about Kanye West? With his album Graduation, he called a home run shot and he delivered,” Jason Gay, GQ articles editor told AllHipHop.com. “His victorious battle with 50 Cent gave a shot of adrenaline to an industry that badly needed a boost, and his collaborations with everyone from Daft Punk to T-Pain solidified his place as one of music’s boldest innovators. We’re sure Kanye believes he is Men of the Year material — and we agree.”
The Chicago rapper released his blockbuster album Graduation on September 11, the same day as bestselling rapper 50 Cent released his sophomore effort, Curtis.
West and 50 Cent were engaged in a friendly media rivalry over who would garner the most first weeks sales.
West ended up the victor, selling 960,000 copies of Graduation, as compared to 50 Cent’s album Curtis, which moved over 690,000 copies.
Lil’ Wayne was honored in the issue as a “Workaholic,” after a busy 2007.
The rapper released numerous mixtapes and made a series of cameo appearances on hit songs like “Barry Bonds” featuring Kanye West, “Duffle Bag Boys” by Playaz Circle, DJ Khaled’s “We Takin Over” and Jay-Z‘ s “Hello Brooklyn.”
Additionally, Lil’ Wayne will release Tha Carter III: The Leak on December 18, after various unreleased tracks from the third installment of Tha Carter leaked on the Internet.
The album is a different version of Lil’ Wayne’s highly anticipated album Tha Carter III, which the rapper is re-recording.
“It was impossible to find a more dynamic force in music this year than Lil Wayne,” Gray said. “From his mix tapes to his contributions to other people’s hits to the still unreleased but eagerly anticipated album Tha Carter III, Wayne dominates the game — and is easily the hardest working man in Hip-Hop.”
Other men who made the 2007 list include Daft Punk, Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Simon Cowell, Tom Hanks, Roger Federer, Alex Rodriquez, Ryan Howard, Channing Tatum and life saver, Derek O’Dell (Virginia Tech student).
