2010: BET Awards Recap: Drake, Nicki Minaj Win Best New Rap Artist Awards;

(AllHipHop News) A number of rappers and R&B singers were honored tonight (June 27th) during the 2010 BET Awards at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. Queen Latifah hosted the event, which featured several high performances by artists like Alicia Keys, Usher, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Eminem, Drake and Kanye West, who kicked off the […]

(AllHipHop News) A number of rappers and R&B singers were honored tonight (June 27th) during the 2010 BET Awards at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. Queen Latifah hosted the event, which featured several high performances by artists like Alicia Keys, Usher, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Eminem, Drake and Kanye West, who kicked off the 2010 Awards’ show with his song “Power.”Alicia Keys scooped an award for Best Female Artist, while Young Money Records’ newcomer Nicki Minaj and Drake won Best Female Hip-Hop Artist and Best Male Hip-Hop Artist, respectively.T.I. and Queen Latifah mocked the Atlanta rapper’s 2008 arrest as the pair introduced B.O.B. and Keshia Cole, who performed “Airplanes” with a special appearance by Eminem. Em continued D12 group member Kon Artis after Keshia Cole and B.oB. Left the stage and performed his hit single “Not Afraid” with a full choir. Best Collaboration went to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ single “Empire State of Mind.”“Thank you so much, to all my people with an empire state of mind, this is for you,” Alicia Keys told fans as she accepted her second award. Queen Latifah kept the crowd in a good mood in between performances. For instance, as she introduced Sean “Diddy“ Combs and Dirty Money, Latifah said: “This next performer is only seen in the company of fine women, just like me!” Diddy followed with a performance medley of “O Let’s Do It” featuring Rick Ross, followed by “Hello, Good Morning” featuring Dirty Money and T.I. Most of Diddy’s performance was obscured by a thick white puff of smoke that engulfed most the performers on the stage, including Rick Ross and Nicki Minaj’s verses. Jermaine Jackson paid tribute to his brother Michael Jackson, by introducing Chris Brown, who did his best imitation of the late singer with a medley of his best known songs.  Drake hit the stage and performed “Over,” and brought out Young Jeezy, who rocked his latest single “Lose My Mind.” LeBron James and Serena took home the Sportsman of the Year Award, while The Black Eyed Peas presented Trey Songz with the Best Male R&B artist. BET’s chairman Debra Lee honored John Legend with the Humanitarian Award. “I do a lot of work fighting poverty in Africa, but even here in America in our communities,  there is a fight we must win. we know we can do better, we know there are solutions,” John Legend said. “Poverty doesn’t have to be a trap. There’s a lot of money, fame and influence and millions of people watching around the world. I say to all of us, we can do better.”Prince was honored by Janelle Monae, Esperanza Spalding, Alicia Keys and Patti Labelle, while Chris Brown and Rihanna both won awards in the fan categories. Ludacris closed the show with “My Chick’s Bad” and “All I Do is Win” featuring DJ Khaled, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, Ace Hood and Diddy.