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BET has announced that Mike Epps will host the fourth annual BET Hip-Hop Awards.

The comedian—who starred alongside Ice Cube in Next Friday, Friday After Next and All About The Benjamins—follows the lead of comedian Katt Williams, who hosted in 2006 and 2007, and T-Pain, who emceed last year’s show.

“We embrace the opportunity to amplify all aspects of the hip-hop culture; the music, the dance, the sense of community and as we have before, we expect to do so with excitement,” Stephen Hill, BET Networks President of Music and Programming, said via press release. “And with my man Mike Epps on board as our new host, we’ll do it with reckless abandon.”

The show is scheduled to take place on October 10 at the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center, in Atlanta. It will air on BET on October 27.

Controversy surrounded last year’s hosting selection, after two-time ringmaster Katt Williams was replaced the night before the show’s taping. While Williams claimed he lost a break-dancing competition to T-Pain, which resulted in his substitution, rumors swirled that Williams’ inflated ego forced the network to find a replacement.

Mike Epps is also slated to drop his first hip-hop comedy album, Funny Bidness, on October 27, the same day as the Hip-Hop Awards’s television premiere. –John Kennedy

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