Lil’ Wayne is becoming unstoppable. “Tha Carter IV” has sold nearly 1 million copies in its first week, and now Wayne has 18 nominations for the BET Awards.

He has been included in some major categories like Lyricist of the Year, MVP of the Year, and Video of the Year for his contribution to “I’m On One” and “Look at Me Now”.

The full nomination list includes:

Best Hip-Hop Video
Big Sean f/ Chris Brown – “My Last”
Chris Brown f/ Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes – “Look at Me Now”
DJ Khaled f/ Drake, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne – “I’m on One”
Eminem f/ Rihanna – “Love the Way You Lie”
Kanye West f/ Rihanna – “All of the Lights”

Reese’s Perfect Combo Award (Best Collab)
Ace Hood f/ Rick Ross & Lil Wayne – “Hustle Hard (Remix)”
Big K.R.I.T. f/ Ludacris & Bun B – “Country Sh*t (Remix)”
Chris Brown f/ Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes – “Look at Me Now”
DJ Khaled f/ Drake, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne – “I’m on One”
Lupe Fiasco f/ Trey Songz – “Out of My Head”

Best Live Performer
Busta Rhymes
Cee-Lo Green
Jay-Z
Lil Wayne
Kanye West

Lyricist of the Year
Jay-Z
Lil Wayne
Nicki Minaj
Rick Ross
Kanye West

Video Director of the Year
Gil Green
Anthony Mandler
Chris Robinson
Kanye West
Hype Williams

Producer of the Year
J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League
Kane Beatz
Lex Luger
No I.D.
Kanye West, Emile, Jeff Bhasker & Mike Dean

MVP of the Year
Lil Wayne
Nicki Minaj
Rick Ross
Kanye West
Wiz Khalifa

Track of the Year
“6 Foot 7 Foot” – Produced by Bangladesh (Lil Wayne f/ Cory Gunz)
“Black and Yellow” – Produced by Stargate (Wiz Khalifa)
“I’m on One” – Produced by T-Minus (DJ Khaled f/ Drake, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne)
“Look at Me Now” – Produced by Diplo & Afrojack (Chris Brown f/ Lil Wayne &
Busta Rhymes)
“My Last” – Produced by Lex Luger (Big Sean f/ Chris Brown)

CD of the Year
Big Sean – Finally Famous
Lupe Fiasco – Lasers
Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday
Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Wiz Khalifa – Rolling Papers

DJ of the Year
DJ Drama
DJ Enuff
DJ Envy
DJ Khaled
DJ Prostyle

Rookie of the Year
Big K.R.I.T.
Big Sean
Frank Ocean
Diggy Simmons
Tyler, the Creator
Wiz Khalifa

Made-You-Look Award (Best Hip-Hop Style)
Jay-Z
Lil Wayne
Nicki Minaj
Kanye West
Wiz Khalifa

Best Club Banger
Ace Hood – “Hustle Hard” (Produced by Lex Luger)
DJ Khaled f/ Drake, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne – “I’m on One” (Produced by T-Minus)
Lil Wayne f/ Cory Gunz – “6 foot 7 Foot” (Produced by Bangladesh)
Waka Flocka Flame – “No Hands” (Produced by Lex Luger)
Wiz Khalifa – “Black and Yellow” (Produced by Stargate)
YC Worldwide f/ Future – “Racks” (Produced by Sonny Digital)

Best Mixtape
Big K.R.I.T. – Return of 4Eva
B.o.B – No Genre
J. Cole – Friday Night Lights
Kendrick Lamar – Section .80
Frank Ocean – Nostalgia, Ultra

Sweet 16: Best Featured Verse
Busta Rhymes – “Look at Me Now” (Chris Brown f/ Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes)
Lil Wayne – “Motivation” (Kelly Rowland f/ Lil Wayne)
Nicki Minaj – “Monster” (Kanye West f/ Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver)
Wiz Khalifa – “Bright Lights, Bigger City” (Cee-Lo Green f/ Wiz Khalifa)
Wiz Khalifa – “Till I’m Gone” (Tinie Tempah f/ Wiz Khalifa)

Hustler of the Year
Diddy
Jay-Z
Lil Wayne
Rick Ross
Kanye West

Verizon People’s Champ Award (Viewers’ Choice)
Chris Brown f/ Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes – “Look at Me Now”
Lil Wayne f/ Cory Gunz – “6 Foot 7 Foot”
Nicki Minaj f/ Drake – “Moment 4 Life”
Kanye West f/ Rihanna – “All of the Lights”
Wiz Khalifa – “Black and Yellow”

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Justin Bieber and his entourage had some problems getting into the BET Awards – and it was all caught on video obtained by TMZ. The video clearly shows Bieber calling the BET security guy a “douche bag.”

The issue started when BET security didn’t want to let Bieber’s bodyguard in as he didn’t have a ticket. As both sides argued Biebs eventually interrupted by saying, “I need to bring my security! This guy’s a douche bag.”

Eventually the issue was sorted and all of Bieber’s security people were allowed inside. However, another example of little Justin growing up, and starting to become a  douche bag himself.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

The NBA Finals kicked off Thursday night, with the Boston Celtics losing to the Los Angeles Lakers.  As is tradition, the two teams’ cities will work out a bet, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has already put up a big prize, reports E! Online.

The Lakers’ biggest celebrity fan, Jack Nicholson, has been offered up by L.A., and if the Lakers lose, he will have to appear in a commercial for Boston, dressed in Celtics green.

Villaraigosa’s bet also makes certain that the stakes will be equal, saying “Should the Lakers prevail, we will gladly accept your hometown boys, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, as spokespersons for a public service announcement extolling the virtues of the City of Los Angeles, where the climate, the beaches, and the food are far superior.”

As of yet, there is no word whether Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has accepted or not, we’re hoping this big bet will become official.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

BET’s “SOS Save Ourselves: Help for Haiti” telethon was studded with stars, talent and a positive message Friday night. MTV news reports that Queen Latifah, Diddy and Pharrell spearheaded the event that was held at the American Airlines arena in Miami, and encouraged viewers to donate to the cause of Haiti.

The night opened with Wyclef Jean and Mavado’s performance of “Hold On”. Clef, who brought Haitian MCs to perform alongside him, told the audience he wanted to teach them “Creole 101”. The Haitian born rapper transitioned into a mini-set that began with “Sweetest Girl”, with Akon making an appearance. After doing “I’mma Zoe” with Haitian singer Black Dada the performance ended with everyone waving Haitian flags.

Viewers were treated to a range of performances from inspirational, powerful vocalists like Mary J. Blige and Jazmine Sullivan singing “We Gonna Make It,” to an unlikely combination of Justin Bieber teaming up with Ludacris for “Baby” (the 15-year-old saluted Haiti with singing parts of “One less Lonely Girl” in French).

Other performances included Robin Thicke’s amazing rendition of “Mercy Mercy Me” by Marvin Gaye, Busta Rhymes’s brand-new Haiti-themed song and Keri Hilson singing her single “Knock You Down.”

Following her performance, Hilson delivered an inspirational message to the crowd:  ”No one is paid to be here. We’re all here from the bottoms of our hearts. We’re all brothers and sisters in Christ. No one is exempt. We can all do something.”

Nas took the stage with reggae artist, Damian Marley, as they performed “The Strong Will Continue”, from their upcoming LP entitled “Distant Relatives”.

“This is for the strong,” Nas shouted. “This is for Haiti!”

The evening continued with Chris Brown performing “Crawl” and “With You”. India.Arie, Jazmine Sullivan and Chrisette Michele gave a beautiful and special performance of Kirk Franklin’s Haiti relief song “Are You Listening”, followed by breaking out into “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” in the middle of the song.

Diddy, Pharrel and Queen Latifah closed the show starting with a “Lean on Me” sing-a-long which brought out most of the other performers of the night and stars like Monica, Pitbull, Brian McKnight, Sean Kingston and Gloria Estefan.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Singer/actress JENNIFER HUDSON has triumphed at the seventh annual Black Entertainment Television (BET) awards.

The Oscar-winning star picked up two prizes at the ceremony at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium on Tuesday, where she was named Best Actress and Best New Artist for her role in Dreamgirls.

After performing alongside original Broadway Dreamgirl Jennifer Holliday on And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going from the musical-turned-movie, Hudson was shocked to have been awarded the gongs, telling the audience, “I can’t believe I’m still winning awards!”

Hudson’s Dreamgirls co-star Beyonce also picked up two awards for Irreplaceable – which was named Video of The Year – and Best Female R&B Artist, despite being nominated in six categories.

O Jays singer Eddie Levert paid a moving tribute to his late son, Gerald, who died in November last year, by performing Wind Beneath My Wings alongside Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle and Yolanda Adams. An emotional LaBelle later described Gerald as “one of the best voices around.”

Hip hop star Ne-Yo, who was named Best Male R&B Artist, dedicated his win to the late singer, who was also nominated in the same category.

Legendary performer Diana Ross was given a Lifetime Achievement award, with Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu and Chaka Khan paying individual tributes to the star.

Ross told the crowd of her career, “I have tried to keep the standards high. We do not have to say the f-word, we do not have to pump and grind, we do not have to some of these things to have longevity in our career. … I will do the diva master class for you!”

50 Cent, T.I. Beyonce, Ne-Yo, Fabolous, Diddy, Keyshia Cole and Lil’ Kim were among the stars who performed at the star-studded award ceremony.
The full list of winners is:
VIDEO OF THE YEAR: Beyonce – Irreplaceable
BEST GROUP: Gnarls Barkley
BEST ACTOR: Forest Whitaker
BEST ACTRESS: Jennifer Hudson
BEST HIP-HOP ARTIST: T.I.
BEST COLLABORATION: Ludacris featuring Mary J. Blige – Runaway Love
BEST NEW ARTIST: Jennifer Hudson
BEST MALE ATHLETE: LeBron James
BEST FEMALE ATHLETE: Serena Williams
BEST COOL LIKE THAT: Gerald Levert
BEST GOSPEL ARTIST: Kirk Franklin
BEST MALE R&B ARTIST: Ne-Yo
BEST FEMALE R&B ARTIST: Beyonce
VIEWERS CHOICE AWARD: Birdman and Lil Wayne – Stuntin’ Like My Daddy
HUMANITARIAN AWARD: Don Cheadle
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Diana Ross.

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

It was all tears and tributes at the B.E.T Awards in Los Angeles on Tuesday night as DIANA ROSS was feted and GERALD LEVERT and JAMES BROWN remembered.

Ross used her Lifetime Achievement honour to call for young R&B stars to “keep it classy” while Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu and her kids sang her praises.

Ross added, “We do not have to say the F-word, we do not have to pump and grind, we do not have to do some of these things to have longevity in our career.”

But the night’s highlight was a touching tribute to late soul man Levert by his father, O’Jays star Eddie and pal Patti LaBelle.

The Lady Marmalade singer sobbed openly as she called Levert “one of the best voices around,” before the dead soul star’s father joined Gladys Knight, LaBelle and Yolanda Adams for a rendition of the singer’s favourite song, Wind Beneath My Wings.

R&B sensation Ne-Yo, who beat Levert to the Best Male R&B Artist prize, dedicated his award to Levert.

The night’s other tribute was staged by members of Public Enemy and funk star Bootsy Collins, who teamed up to pay their respects to James Brown.

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Nominees for the first ever BET Hip-Hop Awards have been named and it looks like T.I., Busta Rhymes and Chamillionaire will be picking up an award or two when the ceremony goes down in November.

Comedian Kat Williams (who will host the awards on Nov. 12 from Atlanta’s Fox Theatre), Ludacris, Jermaine Dupri and Young Jeezy made the nominations announcement at a press conference on Thursday at the Metropolitan Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

The awards will honour the best hip-hoppers in 14 categories that include beat production, lyricism, dance, and film/visual art. Four special awards have also been set aside for producer of the year, lyricist of the year, hip-hop dance of the year and director of the year.

T.I. leads the pack with eight nods, including video of the year and hip-hop track of the year his hit “What You Know.” Busta Rhymes was right behind him with six nominations, while Chamillionaire struck five.

There is also a catgeory for best hip-hop movie, and nominees include “ATL,” “Beef: 3,” “Boss’n Up,” 50 Cent’s “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” and “Waist Deep.”

The awards show, which will feature performances from Snoop Dogg, Ludacris, T.I. & Young Dro and Young Jeezy, will air on BET Nov. 15 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Chaka Khan received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2006 BET Awards held last night.

Chris Brown, Mary J. Blige and Kanye West and Jamie Foxx all walked away with two awards apiece, including a tie between Blige and West and Fox for the video of the year.

T.I. won kudos for male hip hop artist, while female hip hop artist went to Missy Elliott. Prince took home and award for male R&B artist, and Blige took home the honours for best female R&B artist.

Brown won awards for new artist of the year and viewer?s choice for his hit “Yo, Excuse Me Miss.” West’s collaboration with Foxx saw wins for video of the year and best duet/collaboration.

Other winners included: Black Eyed Peas for best group, Terrence Howard for best actor, Taraji P. Henson for best actress, LeBron James for male athlete of the year, Venus Williams for female athlete of the year, and Harry Belafonte for the Humanitarian of the year award.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance