2008 BET Hip Hop Awards Nominees And Winners

The 2008 BET Hip Hop Awards airs Thrusday, Oct. 16 at 8 p.m. In celebration of the one awards show dedicated solely to hip-hop, we’ll break down some of the more recognizable categories and nominees of tonight’s show.

The nominees for Best Collaboration are:
» David Banner, “Get Like Me,” featuring Chris Brown and Yung Joc
» DJ Khaled, “I’m So Hood Remix,” featuring Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Busta, Big Boi, Lil Wayne, Fat Joe, Birdman and Rick Ross
» Flo Rida, “Low,” featuring T-Pain
» Plies, “Bust It Baby Part 2,” featuring Ne-Yo
» Kanye West, “Good Life,” featuring T-Pain

The Ya Heard Award for this category goes to Kanye West, featuring T-Pain for “Good Life.” This cut kept a lot of us warm in the club last winter. I love the record, but I believe the actual award will go to Flo Rida featuring T-Pain on “Low.” The song was terrible in my ears, but somebody obviously loved it. I’m still trying to figure out where this “Florida” guy came from, and how is he making such an impact… Go figure.
The nominees for Hustler of the Year include: 50 Cent, DJ Khaled, Jay Z, Lil’ Wayne and P. Diddy.
Hands down, I think the award will go to Lil’ Wayne. This guy worked harder than anyone in the industry this year and pulled off an incredible album that nearly pushed 1 million copies in its first week.
As for the Ya Heard winner, that goes to DJ Khaled. He doesn’t get the award for any accolades, but for the question “What exactly does this guy do?” Every time I turn on my television I see this guys face. He’s on stage playing the hype man, or he’s in the back on the turntables, or he’s just in the picture standing around. Really, what is his contribution to the game? Anyway, he gets the Ya Heard award…it takes a lot of work to make no talent look like gold.

The nominees for Lyricists of the Year are: Jay Z, Lil’ Wayne, Nas, T.I. and Kanye West. Although I don’t believe he should walk away with this one, I see Wayne winning this award as well. Not that he is a great lyricist by any means, but I can understand how his hype can have some people think so.
The Ya Heard award for Lyricist of the Year is a tie between T.I. and Nas.
We give Nas this award because we’re tired of seeing him nominated for awards but never receiving one. It would be cool to see Nas at the podium blissfully offending everyone who criticized his recent album title. So, here’s to you Nas!
As for T.I., he is the most lyrical artist in the game right now. That includes Jay (who is getting a little sluggish by his standards) and Eminem (who is M.I.A.).
The BET nominees for Best Video are:
» David Banner, “Get Like Me,” featuring Chris Brown and Yung Joc
» Common, “I Want You”
» DJ Khaled, “I’m So Hood (Remix),” featuring Young Jeezy, Luda, Busta, Big Boi, Lil Wayne, Fat Joe, Birdman and Rick Ross
» Lil Wayne, “Lollipop,” featuring Static
» Snoop Dogg, “Sensual Seduction”
» Kanye West, “Good Life,” featuring T-Pain
“Mr. Hustler,” DJ Khaled, will more than likely win this category on the strength of the numerous features in the video. However, Snoop’s “Sensual Seduction” was the best video of the last three years and is the Ya Heard award winner.
The nominees for Track of the Year are:
» “A Milli,” Lil Wayne (produced by Bangladesh)
» “Dey Know,” Shawty Lo (produced by Balis Beatz)
» “Good Life,” Kanye West featuring T-Pain (produced by Kanye West and DJ Toomp)
» “Lollipop,” Lil Wayne featuring Static (produced by Jim Jonsin & Deezle)
» “Roc Boys (And The Winner Is),” Jay-Z (produced by Sean Combs & The Hitmen)
This award can go to none other than “A Milli.” After a-milli-and-one artists provided their own version of the song, this has to be tonight’s winner, as well as the Ya Heard award winner. Lil’ Wayne gets the second place spot in this category, and with “Lollipop” which was a huge smash with the ladies.
Bottom line, the dude is hotter than Hansel right now.
The coveted CD of the Year nominees are:
» Jay Z, “American Gangster”
» Lil’ Wayne, “Tha Carter III”
» Lupe Fiasco, “Lupe Fiasco’s ‘The Cool’”
» Nas, “Untitled”
» Kanye West, “Graduation”
In last week’s column, I crowned Kanye’s “Graduation” as the best album of the year. But that was last week. This week, in looking at these nominees, it’s a hard call to make for the fact they are all great albums in their own right. I love Lupe’s new joint for its freshness and orginiality; I love Nas’ for its impact and perspective; Wayne’s for its call to arms to put time and work back into hip hop music; Jay’s for shutting up the naysayers and putting out another classic album. It’s difficult to judge them against one another, but a decision must be made…Contradicting my previous judgement, the Ya Heard award for CD of the year goes to Jay Z’s “American Gangster.” I, for one, didn’t think Jay had another such album in ’im. The album was incredible, and easily meshed the mainstream sound with gritty street tales.
As for the actual award tonight, I’ll say Kanye West will walk away with that one.