Published: Wednesday - June 25, 2008
Words by Ronnie Gamble
Bun B and Chinara, wife of the late Pimp C. (Photo: AP)
The 2008 BET Awards took over Los Angeles Tuesday night (June 24), drawing stars in hip-hop and R&B to the Shrine Auditorium.
However, it was UGK who took home the most awards on the night with two -- one for Best Group and the other for video of the year for their single "International Player's Anthem."
"It's hard to do this with my brother not being here," Bun B said while accepting the Best Group win, joined onstage with Pimp C's wife. "We want to thank y'all for supporting UGK all these years. It's still UGK for life... Long live Pimp C."
Other top awards included Male R&B artist taken by Chris Brown; Female R&B artist won by Alicia Keys; Male hip-hop artist was taken home by Kanye West; while Missy Elliott took home honors for Female hip-hop artist.
But, the choice by the fans for the Viewer's choice went to Lil Wayne for his single "Lollipop."
It was T-Pain though, who won a trophy for his collaboration with Kanye West on "Good Life," that stole the show when he turned the ceremony into a circus.
"This industry is my circus," he said during his performance. "Ride with the ringleader."
Wearing a silver and black top hat, T-Pain -- who was nominated for a leading five BET Awards -- shared the stage with fellow nominees Flo Rida, Rick Ross, Ludacris and Big Boi, along with several people including fire eaters and acrobats, for his elaborate stage show.
T-Pain performed alongside Flo Rida for his hit "Low"; alongside a bare-chested Rick Ross for "Boss"; and everyone joined in for the collaborative "I'm So Hood."
The Viewers Choice winner Lil Wayne also delivered the night's most anticipated performance, and he didn't disappoint. With the help of T-Pain, who wore a t-shirt that read "T-Wayne" (the possible name for the supergroup they recently talked about), Lil Wayne delivered a medley of hits including "A Milli" and "Lollipop."
During Kanye's acceptance speech for Best Collaboration, he took it upon himself to congratulate Lil Wayne for his recent feat of selling a million records during the first week of his release of Tha Carter III.
"You scared me man," West said. "Congratulations on selling over a million records. And they say hip hop is dead."
A full list of winners is as follows:
Female R&B artist: Alicia Keys
Male R&B artist: Chris Brown
Group: UGK
Gospel artist: Marvin Sapp
Female hip-hop artist: Missy Elliott
Male hip-hop artist: Kanye West
New artist: The-Dream
Collaboration: Kanye West ft. T-Pain, "Good Life"
Video director: Erykah Badu and Mr. Roboto
Video of the Year: UGK ft. Outkast, "International Player's Anthem (I Choose You)"
Features Slim (of 112): Hi Haters What else do you want from Slim? His prolific group 112 has sold over 20 million records worldwide, and with a bevy ... full story
Beyond Hip-Hop Game Review: Far Cry 2 Gone are Jack Carver, his Hawaiian shirt, and the trigens from the first installment of "Far Cry," but in comes spine ... full story
Digg It
Del.icio.us
