As everyone knows, last night was one of the biggest nights in hip-hop. Many feel the genre and culture is not celebrated as much as it’s supposed to be, so it’s good to see all the artists, producers, and DJ’s acknowledged for their hard work and contributions to the culture. This year, the 2019 BET Hip Hop Awards ceremony was hosted by Lil Duval and was held from Atlanta's own Cobb Energy Center. Cardi B lead the nominations with ten nominations in total while DJ Khaled, Travis Scott and J. Cole trailed behind the star with eight nominations each. Drake also had seven nominations while Nipsey Hussle and Megan Thee Stallion were tied at five each. They were followed by Meek Mill, DaBaby, 21 Savage & Ricky Rozay who had 4 nominations each.
After clinching four wins at last year’s festivities, Cardi was looking to bring home more victories this time with her 10 nominations which included MVP of the Year, hot ticket performer, hustler of the year, best collab, single of the year, made-you-look award, and two nods for the best hip-hop video, & sweet 16 categories. Unfortunately, she only ended up bringing home two awards last night which included Best Hip-Hop video for Money, and the Made-You-Look (Best-Style) award. J.Cole won the most awards last night while taking home awards such as Lyricist of the Year, Sweet 16: Best featured verse, and Impact Track. Performances were given by Anderson Paak, Chance the Rapper, DaBaby, Kamillion, Lil Baby, Lil Jon, Megan the Stallion, Offset, Rhapsody, Rick Ross, Saweetie, T-Pain, Tom G, and YBN Cordae. The most anticipated award of the night (MVP of the Year) was presented to the late-great, legendary Nipsey Hussle.
Award categories, winners, and nominations are presented below
Best Hip-Hop Video
21 SAVAGE - A LOT FEAT. J. COLE
CARDI B - MONEY
CITY GIRLS - TWERK FEAT. CARDI B
DABABY - SUGE
MEEK MILL - GOING BAD FEAT. DRAKE
TRAVIS SCOTT - SICKO MODE FEAT. DRAKE
Hot Ticket Performer
CARDI B
DABABY
DRAKE
MEGAN THEE STALLION
THE CARTERS
TRAVIS SCOTT
Album of the Year
ASTROWORLD - TRAVIS SCOTT
CHAMPIONSHIPS - MEEK MILL
CUZ I LOVE YOU - LIZZO
FATHER OF ASAHD - DJ KHALED
IGOR - TYLER, THE CREATOR
REVENGE OF THE DREAMERS 3 - DREAMVILLE
Video Director of the Year
BENNY BOOM
BRUNO MARS, FLORENT DECHARD
CALMATIC
DAVE MEYERS
EIF RIVERA
TRAVIS SCOTT
Lyricist of the Year
2 CHAINZ
DRAKE
J. COLE
MEEK MILL
NIPSEY HUSSLE
YBN CORDAE
MVP of the Year
CARDI B
DJ KHALED
DRAKE
J. COLE
MEGAN THEE STALLION
NIPSEY HUSSLE
Producer of the Year
DJ KHALED
LONDON ON DA TRACK
METRO BOOMIN
MUSTARD
SWIZZ BEATZ
TAY KEITH
Best Collab (Duo or Group)
21 SAVAGE - A LOT FEAT. J. COLE
CARDI B & BRUNO MARS - PLEASE ME
DJ KHALED - HIGHER FEAT. NIPSEY HUSSLE & JOHN LEGEND
LIL BABY & GUNNA - DRIP TOO HARD
LIL NAS X FEAT. BILLY RAY CYRUS - OLD TOWN ROAD (REMIX)
TRAVIS SCOTT - SICKO MODE FEAT. DRAKE
Single of the Year
ACT UP - Produced by EarlThePearll (CITY GIRLS)
BIG OLE FREAK - Produced by LilJuMadeDaBeat (MEGAN THEE STALLION)
MONEY – Produced by J. White Did It (CARDI B)
OLD TOWN ROAD (REMIX) - Produced by YoungKio (LIL NAS X FEAT. BILLY RAY CYRUS)
SICKO MODE - Produced by Rogét Chahayed, CuBeatz, OZ, Hit-Boy & Tay Keith (TRAVIS SCOTT FEAT. DRAKE)
SUGE - Produced by Pooh Beatz & JetsonMade (DABABY)
Best New Hip-Hop Artist
BLUEFACE
DABABY
LIL NAS X
MEGAN THEE STALLION
RODDY RICCH
YBN CORDAE
Best Mixtape
JACK HARLOW - LOOSE
KEVIN GATES - LUCA BRASI 3
MEGAN THEE STALLION - FEVER
RODDY RICCH - FEED THA STREETS II
WIZ KHALIFA & CURREN$Y - 2009
YBN CORDAE, YBN NAHMIR, YBN ALMIGHTY JAY - YBN: THE MIXTAPE
Sweet 16: Best Featured Verse
21 SAVAGE - WISH WISH ( DJ KHALED FEAT. 21 SAVAGE & CARDI B)
CARDI B – CLOUT (OFFSET FEAT. CARDI B)
CARDI B – TWERK (CITY GIRLS FEAT. CARDI B)
J COLE - A LOT (21 SAVAGE FEAT. J.COLE)
RICK ROSS - MONEY IN THE GRAVE (DRAKE FEAT. RICK ROSS)
RICK ROSS - WHAT'S FREE (MEEK MILL FEAT. RICK ROSS & JAY-Z)
Impact Track
21 SAVAGE - A LOT FEAT. J. COLE
DJ KHALED - HIGHER FEAT. NIPSEY HUSSLE & JOHN LEGEND
J. COLE - MIDDLE CHILD
KAP G - A DAY WITHOUT A MEXICAN
LIZZO - TEMPO FEAT. MISSY ELLIOTT
YOUNGBOY NEVER BROKE AGAIN - I AM WHO THEY SAY I AM (ft. KEVIN GATES & QUANDO RONDO)
DJ of the Year
CHASE B
DJ DRAMA
DJ ENVY
DJ ESCO
DJ KHALED
MUSTARD
Made-You-Look Award (Best Hip-Hop Style)
CARDI B
DJ KHALED
FRENCH MONTANA
MEEK MILL
RICK ROSS
TRAVIS SCOTT
Best Hip-Hop Online Site/App
ALL HIP HOP
COMPLEX
HOT NEW HIP HOP
THE SHADE ROOM
WORLDSTAR
XXL
Hustler of the Year
CARDI B
DJ KHALED
JAY Z
NIPSEY HUSSLE
RICK ROSS
TRAVIS SCOTT
Best International Flow
FALZ (NIGERIA)
GHETTS (UK)
KALASH (FRANCE)
LIL SIMZ (UK)
NASTY C (SOUTH AFRICA)
SARKODIE (GHANA)
TORY LANEZ (CANADA)
Photo Credit: Getty Images