Young Thug and Gunna kicked things off, while Nelly closed things out.
The show gave flowers to some legends and legends in the making. Nelly received the I Am Hip Hop Award and closed the show with a medley of his greatest hits. And another icon, LL Cool J, presented Tyler The Creator with the Rock the Bells Cultural Influence Award.
Comedy podcast trio 85 South hosted the show, bringing the laughs and keeping things moving with short skits and jokes between performances and award presentations.
Other highlights included:
Young Thug opened up the show with “Tick Tock” while standing on top of a giant pink spider.
Gunna and Young Thug performed “Too Easy.”
Bia brought out Lil Jon for a “Whole Lotta Money” remix
Baby Keem performed “Family Ties” without his cousin Kendrick Lamar.
Latto came through with some "Big Energy."
Tobe Ngiwe - “Fye Fye” featuring Fat Ngigwe
A tribute to Biz Markie
Isaiah Rashad “Wat U Sed” featuring Doechii and Kal Banx
Nelly performed a medley of his biggest hits, including “E.I.,” “Country Grammar,” “Air Force Ones,” “Where The Party At,” “Grills” with Paul Wall, “Must Be the Money,” “Flap Your Wings,” “Hot in Herre.”
Cyphers:
Tierra Whack, Grip, Smino, and D-Smoke
Fivio Foreign, Rico Nasty, Sleepy Hallow, Erica Banks
Toosii, Lakeyah, Kidd Kenn, Symba
Award winners:
HIP HOP ALBUM OF THE YEAR: "CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST" - TYLER, THE CREATOR
SONG OF THE YEAR: CARDI B FEAT. MEGAN THEE STALLION - WAP
HIP HOP ARTIST OF THE YEAR: LIL BABY
BEST HIP HOP VIDEO: CARDI B FEAT. MEGAN THEE STALLION - WAP
BEST NEW HIP HOP ARTIST: YUNG BLEU
BEST COLLABORATION: CARDI B FEAT. MEGAN THEE STALLION - WAP
BEST DUO OR GROUP: LIL BABY & LIL DURK
BEST LIVE PERFORMER: TYLER, THE CREATOR
LYRICIST OF THE YEAR: J. COLE
BEST INTERNATIONAL FLOW: LITTLE SIMZ (UK)
VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR: MISSY ELLIOTT
DJ OF THE YEAR: DJ SCHEME
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR: HIT-BOY
HUSTLER OF THE YEAR: SAWEETIE
BEST HIP HOP PLATFORM: GENIUS
SWEET 16: BEST FEATURED VERSE: JAY-Z - "WHAT IT FEELS LIKE" (NIPSEY HUSSLE FEAT. JAY-Z)
IMPACT TRACK: NIPSEY HUSSLE FEAT. JAY-Z - "WHAT IT FEELS LIKE"