By Paul Cantor
The BET Hip-Hop Awards were taped last night (October 2) at the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center, in Atlanta. The award show, in its fifth year running, is a one-of-a-kind event highlighting achievements in rap music specifically. It did not go off without a dose of controversy though.
The taping was reportedly smooth sailing except for a small snafu with newcomer Waka Flocka Flame's performance. The incident lead to a war of words on Twitter between the rapper and Stephen Hill, BET’s Executive Vice President of Entertainment and Music Programming.
Things initially heated up when Hill took to his Twitter account to voice his displeasure over Waka’s botched performance.
“The show was going so well... and then Waka Flak-ed,” he wrote. “"Waka. Flacka. Flamed. Out."
At the heart of Hill’s gripe was a change-up in the Atlanta rapper's performance that wasn’t planned.
“How the f--- you invite Waka Flocka and hate when I jump N the crowd to connect more wit fans and friends,” Waka tweeted. “ #rappers R robots lol.”
“I KICK A-- I DON’T KISS A--,” he continued.
Hill then explained himself further.
“We had a GREAT look for you. Flames on stage. Great lighting,” he wrote, in a long entry that exceeded Twitter’s 140 character limit. “My man Jesse (producer) was on it with your look. We'll put the rehearsal on BET.com so folks can see what it was supposed to be. Then you decided to change the track without telling us... and jumping in the audience... without telling us... was disrespect.”
Waka, in reponse, continued to berate Hill.
“I THA[N]K BET AS A WHOLE,” he wrote. “99% SHOULD I SAY... ITS JUST THAT 1% IS A DUCK ASS N----.”
Eventually, Hill extended an olive branch.
“Let's you and me talk,” he wrote. “Bring your manager. I should NOT have sent that first text... but there's some learning here. You in?"
Waka has yet to respond to the BET executive's request publicly but RapFix hit Atlanta's Club Miami, where the rapper performed late Saturday night and said the following to a screaming crowd.
"Fuck BET n----," shouted a shirtless Waka into a microphone.
Waka vs. Hill aside, the BET Hip-Hop Awards have enjoyed a relatively smooth history despite a few other snags. Most notably, in 2007 when T.I. was arrested for gun possession just before the show. Then in 2008, comedian Katt Williams, who was set to host that year, was arrested as well.
Somehow this Waka vs. BET beef reminds us of this though.
The 2010 BET Hip-Hop Awards are set to air October 12th at 8pm.