Kanye West Tops BET Hip-Hop Awards

The 2012 BET Hip-Hop Awards aired on Tuesday night, and Kanye West came away as the biggest winner, even though he did not attend the ceremony in Atlanta. West was nominated 17 times, and he snagged the trophies for Producer of the Year, the Made You Look Award (for Best Hip Hop Style) and the Perfect Combo Award for "Mercy," along with hisG.O.O.D. Music crew. West also won a number of awards for his work with Jay-Z as part of The Throne: they won Best Live Performer, CD of the Year, and Track of the Year as well as Club Banger of the Year for the song "Ni**as In Paris." Up-and-coming artist 2 Chainz won three trophies, including the People's Champ Award, Rookie of the Year, and Best Featured Verse for his role on "Mercy."

Other winners at the show - which was pre-taped on September 29 - included Kendrick Lamar for Lyricist of the Year, Rick Ross for MVP of the Year, DJ Khaled for DJ of the Year, and Jay-Z for Hustler of the Year. Meek Mill earned Best Mixtape forDreamchasers 2 and Nas' song "Daughters" won the award for Impact Track.

As for the performances, the night started off with Wiz Khalifa rocking his single "Work Hard, Play Hard," joined by Young Jeezy and Juicy J. Other performers to take the stage included Meek Mill, Kirko Bangz, Kendrick Lamar, 2 Chainz, T.I., Future, Diddy, Machine Gun Kelly, Rick Ross and Omarion. However, the highlight happened when artists from the Violator Management roster came together to pay tribute to the late Chris Lighty. A Tribe Called Quest, Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes played some of their classic tunes, and Fat Joe and 50 Cent performed as part of the tribute as well.