DRAKE, YE, KENDRICK LEAD BET HIP HOP AWARDS NOMINEES

Drake and Ye (aka Kanye West) lead the pack of 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards nominees with 14 and 10 nods, respectively. Kendrick Lamar has nine nominations for Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.

The Fat Joe-hosted ceremony will be taped 9/30 at Atlanta's Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre and is slated to air 10/4 at 9pm ET/PT on BET.

Other nominees include Baby Keem, Cardi B and J. Cole, with six apiece. Doja Cat, Latto, Lil Durk, Tems and Young Thug each received three nominations, while Benny the Butcher, City Girls, Fivio Foreign, GloRilla, JAY-Z, Megan Thee Stallion, Nas and Usher all came up with two.

The trophyfest's 17 categories include Lyricist of the Year, Hip Hop Album of the Year and Hip Hop Artist of the Year. Drake is looking at recognition in the majority of them, including Hustler of the Year, Best Hip Hop Video and Song of the Year.

Other nominees in the Lyricist of the Year category span Baby Keem, Benny the Butcher, Cole, Jack Harlow, JAY-Z and Lamar. As for Album of the Year, Latto’s 777, Drake’s Certified Lover Boy, Ye's Donda, Future’s I Never Liked You, Pusha T’s It’s Almost Dry, Nas’ King's Disease II and Lamar’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers are all in the running.

Check out the full list of nominees here.

In a related story, a HITS editor attempted to freestyle over the weekend and was briefly hospitalized with exhaustion.