BET Hip Hop Awards 2009: SoJones Edition

Article written by: Andre Sanchez
Posted on: October 28, 2009

Hosted by Mike Epps, performances by Gucci Mane, Soulja Boy, and ciphers by hip hop’s finest, this year’s BET Hip Hop Awards were still the usual fare of top 40 rap chart hits. But at least they tried to include a little something for everyone. For those who might not know, a cipher is basically where a group of rappers (usually three or more) spit their hottest rhymes; it’s not necessarily a freestyle battle.

Mike Epps was a great host in my opinion. He was witty, blastin’ on legends like Snoop Dogg (“If Hip Hop had to stop, Snoop Dogg would be Calvin Broadus working at McDonalds!”)

Tiny and Toya were in attendance, saying nothing of importance really:

Verse Simmonds was trying to pay homage to the old school “Gumby” hairstyle but didn’t have much hair to do it with in the first place… oh well.

Performances of the night included among many:

• Young Jeezy: “Real as it gets (w/Jay-Z)” (My favorite of the night by a mile. What a way to start off the show!)
• Gucci Mane: “Break up”/Wasted”
• Dourrough: “Ice cream paint job”
• The legendary Goodie Mob, Snoop Dogg, New Boyz, and more. One of the highlights was Kid n Play invading the stage as the New Boyz did the jerk dance…they showed ‘em how the old school gets down!

The “I Am Hip Hop” award went to Ice Cube, and deservedly so. Other award winners:

And my favorite part of the awards…the immortal cipher to end all ciphers.  With that said, you can’t go wrong with DJ Premier on the decks as well, always a good look. My favorite performances of this year were from:

• Eminem
• Joe Budden
• Nicki Minaj (never thought I’d say that either, but no one can front on Young Money this year though!)

And to any of the hip hop heads out there who know the deal, imagine if MF Doom was in the cipher! That’d be nuts…

Anyways, catch all the ciphers right here:

What was your favorite cipher, performance, and moment from the awards this year, reader? Let’s hear it in the comments!