Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z Dominate BET Hip-Hop Awards

The 5th annual BET Hip-Hop Awards went down over the weekend in Atlanta’s Civic Center, with two of New York’s finest clearly dominating the affair.

Nicki Minaj—who made her first appearance on the show just last year—and Jay-Z came home as the night’s biggest winners; both earning three tropies each. The Young Money star collected the Rookie of the Year, People’s Champ, and the Made You Look awards, while Hov—who was absent from the festivities—racked up honors for Perfect Combo (for his duet with Alicia Keys on “Empire State of Mind”), CD of the Year and Best Live Performer.

Other winners included Rick Ross, who’s hit “B.M.F.” scored him two trophies for Track of the Year and Club Banger of the Year. The Miami Boss opened the gala with a surprising performance that included Diddy, DJ Khaled and MC Hammer, who then offered the audience a rendition of his classic cut, “2 Legit 2 Quit.”

Also hitting the stage was a reunited Dipset. Cam’ron, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana and Freekey Zeke “saluted” the crowd with their latest cut of the same name.

Known for their memorable cypher series, BET made sure to come correct with this year’s roster which included Kanye West and his G.O.O.D. Music family (Pusha T, Common, Big Sean and CyHi Da Prince).

The BET Hip-Hop Awards, hosted by Mike Epps, will air on the network on October 12 at 8 p.m. —Elan Mancini