Kanye West Leads The Pack With Nine Nominations As Hip-Hop's Crowning Night Returns to Atlanta on Saturday, October 10 and Premieres on BET Tuesday, October 27 at 8:00 p.m.* Ice Cube Will Be Honored as This Year's "I AM HIP-HOP" Icon Award Recipient The Late DJ AM is Among the Nominees for DJ of the Year BET Introduces Two New Categories, "Made-You-Look Award (Best Hip Hop Style)" and "Best Hip-Hop Blog Site"
NEW YORK, Sept.16 /PRNewswire/ — The BET HIP-HOP AWARDS '09 nominations were announced earlier this evening on 106 & PARK, along with the highly respected renowned rapper, actor, screenwriter, film producer and director Ice Cube who will receive this year's "I AM HIP-HOP" Icon Award. Hosted by actor and comedian Mike Epps, the hip-hop event of the year returns to Atlanta's Boisfeuillet Jones Civic Center on Saturday, October 10 to celebrate the biggest names in the game – both on the mic and in the community. The BET HIP-HOP AWARDS '09 will premiere Tuesday, October 27 at 8:00 PM*.
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The Hip-Hop Awards Voting Academy which is comprised of journalists, industry executives, and fans has nominated rapper, producer and style aficionado Kanye West for an impressive nine awards. Jay Z and Lil Wayne follow closely behind with seven nominations, and T.I. rounds things off with six nominations. Additionally, BET has added two new nomination categories to this year's show — "Made-You-Look Award" (Best Hip Hop Style) which will go to the ultimate trendsetter and "Best Hip-Hop Blog Site," which will go to the online site that consistently keeps hip-hop fans in the know non-stop.
ABOUT ICE CUBE
Veteran rapper, Ice Cube pioneered the West Coast rap movement back in the late 80's. His originality and endless creativity helped pave the way for a new and enticing sound for hip hop as well as a successful career in film and philanthropy. The "I AM HIP-HOP" Icon Award recognizes those who have made notable contributions of outstanding significance to the hip-hop community. Ice Cube will join the BET HIP-HOP AWARDS' Hall of Fame as the fourth "I AM HIP-HOP" Icon Award honoree. Past recipients of this prestigious award include Grandmaster Flash, KRS ONE and Russell Simmons.
Known to be one of the most important figures in the rap game, Ice Cube began his career with the West Coast rap group N.W.A two decades ago. At the height of the group's success, Ice Cube broke away to start his own solo career. Soon after, Ice Cube became a major Hollywood force. He is the star, producer and catalyst for the "Friday" and "Barbershop" film franchises, all released through his own company, Cube Vision; and has become one of the most bankable actors thanks to his charismatic turns in box office hits such as "First Sunday," "Are We There Yet?," "Are We Done Yet?," "Boyz N The Hood" and "Three Kings" to name a few. Besides rap and film, in 2007 Ice Cube partnered with the prestigious McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul, Minnesota to establish an annual music scholarship, which annually awards one student who exemplifies creativity, talent and skill in developing a song based on the elements he provides them with. Also in 2007, Ice Cube and long time collaborator DJ Pooh announced the launch of UVNTV.com, the world's first real-time streaming television network online. Ice Cube's latest album "Raw Footage," made it to 1 on the Hip Hop/R & B charts, selling 69,234 units in its first week and 5 on overall Top 200 Album sales chart.
  The following are the nominees and categories for the 2009 BET HIP-HOP AWARDS:
  Best Hip-Hop Collabo
  Jim Jones & Ron Browz f/ Juelz Santana – Pop Champagne
  Lil Wayne f/ Bobby Valentino – Mrs. Officer
  Rick Ross f/ John Legend – Magnificent
  T.I. f/ Rihanna – Live Your Life
  Young Jeezy f/ Kanye West – Put On
  Best Live Performer
  Busta Rhymes
  Jay-Z
  Lil Wayne
  T.I.
  Kanye West
  Lyricist of the Year
  Drake
  Eminem
  Jay-Z
  Lil Wayne
  Kanye West
  Video Director of the Year
  Gil Green
  Anthony Mandler
  Mr. Boomtown
  Chris Robinson
  Hype Williams
  Producer of the Year
  Ron Browz
  Cool & Dre
  Tha Bizness
  T-Pain
  Kanye West
  Track of the Year
  Day "N" Nite – Kid Cudi
  D.O.A. (Death of Auto Tune) – Jay-Z
  Every Girl – Young Money (Lil Wayne, Drake, Jae Mills, Gudda Gudda & Mack Maine)
  Live Your Life – T.I. f/ Rihanna
  Turn My Swag On – Soulja Boy Tell'em
  CD of the Year
  Eminem – Relapse
  Q-Tip – The Renaissance
  T.I. – Paper Trail
  Kanye West – 808 & Heartbreak
  Young Jeezy – The Recession
  Rookie of the Year
  B.O.B.
  Dorrough
  Drake
  Kid Cudi
  Wale
  Best Hip-Hop Video
  Dorrough – Ice Cream Paint Job
  Eminem – We Made You
  Jay-Z – D.O.A. (Death of Auto Tune)
  Kid Cudi – Day "N" Nite
  T.I. f/ Rihanna – Live Your Life
  MVP of the Year
  Drake
  Jay-Z
  Lil Wayne
  T.I.
  Kanye West
  DJ of the Year
  DJ AM
  DJ Drama
  DJ Khaled
  DJ Tony Neal
  DJ Greg Street
  Hustler of the Year
  Diddy
  Drake
  Jay-Z
  Lil Wayne
  Kanye West
  Made-You-Look Award (Best Hip-Hop Style)
  Jay-Z
  Kid Cudi
  Lil Wayne
  Soulja Boy Tell'em
  Kanye West
  Best Hip-Hop Blog Site
  All Hip Hop
  Nah Right
  SOHH
  This Is 50
  World Star Hip Hop
  People's Champ (Viewers Choice)
  Dorrough – Ice Cream Paint Job
  Fabolous f/ The-Dream – Throw It In The Bag
  Kid Cudi – Day "N" Nite
  Soulja Boy Tell'em – Turn My Swag On
  Kanye West f/ Young Jeezy – Amazing
This year, BET once again teams up with Cossette Productions, the famed producers of the GRAMMY Awards and the seven record-setting BET AWARDS shows, to handle production of the telecast. Stephen G. Hill, BET President, Music and Programming, along with Lynne Harris-Taylor, BET Vice President of Specials, are executive producers of the telecast.
Tickets for THE BET HIP-HOP AWARDS '09 are by invite only and not available for purchase.
Interested media outlets, who would like to cover the BET HIP-HOP AWARDS '09 red carpet arrivals, should visit the BET PR website at www.bet.com/pr for important information on how to properly submit your media credentials request. The media credentials deadline to submit requests is Friday, October 2, 2009.
  *All times ET/PT
  About BET Networks
BET Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA) (NYSE:VIA.B) , is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 98 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of businesses extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, mus
ic, culture, and news; BET Digital Networks – BET J, BET Gospel and BET Hip-Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.
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