Jayson Rodriguez is currently a senior writer at MTV News, covering hip-hop, R&B and popular culture.

In this position he's interviewed some of the biggest names in rap, including Diddy, T.I., 50 Cent, Kanye West and Lil Wayne.

His 2007 sit down with Jay-Z earned him recognition by MTV as one of the 10 best interviews of the year, where his work was honored among journalistic peers such as Sway J. Calloway, John Norris, and Suchin Pak.

In the past, Rodriguez has held staff positions at VIBE magazine and AllHipHop.com. As a writer, he's been published in Rolling Stone ("Drake's Big Break"), Complex, XXL, The Source, King, Scratch, and Mass Appeal magazines. Rodriguez has also been quoted in The New York Times and appeared on radio stations Hot 97 and Shade 45 as an expert on hip-hop culture.

In 2007, 2008, and 2009, Rodriguez participated in the wildly popular “Hottest MCs” roundtable debate on MTV.

Recently he served as lead writer for the Chris Brown and Rihanna television special "Love in Trouble" that aired on MTV.

In addition, Rodriguez has also written about politics (President Barack Obama's inauguration), breaking news (Michael Jackson's memorial service), and was a contributing editor for Latina magazine.

Rodriguez graduated from the University of Delaware with a B.A. in English and obtained his master's in journalism from N.Y.U.

He currently resides in Brooklyn, New York and still thinks Biggie Smalls is the illest.

Follow him on Twitter @jayhovawitness