Lil Wayne was presented the “I AM Hip-Hop” Awards as part of the 2018 BET Hip-Hop Award on Tuesday night. Before the man with the number one album in the world took the stage, his friends and collaborators, including Kendrick Lamar and 2 Chainz, sang Wayne's praises in a pre-taped video package. DJ Khaled and Bun B had introduced their musical brother to the crowd. 
 
Despite all the high praise and momentous honor, Weezy took the stage in humble fashion and wanted to focus on everyone who never gave up on him.
 
“You’re awesome,” he said to the Fillmore Miami Beach audience. “To all my friends that was involved in the tribute, everybody whose face, whose voice I heard; you didn’t have to do that. I swear to God I appreciate every single one of y’all. To everybody in here who I know feels the same way, I appreciate y’all. This award right here... I must give this award to the people who refuse. What I mean is the people who refuse to stop supporting me during... You already know. The people who refuse, who haven’t seen me put an album out in six years, four years; you guys respected me. You guys supported me, you guys came to every show, you respect every album,  every feature… My family refused, refused to stop motivating me, to stop treating me as if I am not the man. As if I am not the father that I am. As if I am not the person that I am. Never let me feel anything less. Give it up for my family for that.”
 
He also had a special thanks for an extended family member he affectionately refers to as “Uncle Bob,” the New Orleans' police officer who responded to the call when Wayne accidentally shot himself as a child. 
 
“He came into an apartment one day,” Tunechi explained. “He bust in the door, guns drawn.  He saw nobody. He saw legs on the floor,  they were my legs. He saw blood everywhere. A bunch of police hopped over me, he refused to do so.’
 
Wayne disclosed that EMS were on the scene and tried to revive his lifeless body twice, to no avail. Uncle Bob drove the him to the hospital in a police car and had very clear instructions to the doctors. 
 
“He said ‘you do whatever you got to do and make sure this child makes it,’” the Grammy award winner continued detailing. 
 
Since then, Bob has never let Wayne give him any type of monetary thanks. 
 
“He refused to let me pay for his meal, refuse to let me do anything, take care of anything,” Weezy described. “I saw Uncle Bob the other day and said ‘let me help you in any kind of way.’ This man has two amputated legs. He refused to stop. He’s not in a wheelchair, he’s walking. You know what he asked for, a job. To my fans my family, my supporters, to BET, I refuse to stop. Thank you.” 
 
The 2018 BET Hip-Hop Awards also featured performances by T.I., Lil Pump, Lil Duval, Gunna, Gucci Mane, and Cardi B among others.

The Chicago and Atlanta combination of G Herbo and Southside have made for a electric hip-hop combination. Their Swervojoint LP (Southside Produced the entire project) has earmarked them as one of the hottest duos in the game. Despite their sizzling status, the two recently gave props to another heatseeking combo on the BET Hip-Hop Awards’ green carpet.

“I want to see the home team Lil Baby and Gunna,” said Southside, the man who has produced for Jay-Z, Kanye West, DJ Khaled, Waka Flocka Flame and Future, amongst others. “I want to see what they got going on."

“Ditto,” Herbo added. “I say the same thing. I want to see Baby and Gunna.”

Chi-Town’s Herbo has enjoyed Baby and Gunna’s rise, especially since they started on the underground circuit as he did.

“When you build it organically from the ground up, when you build it from the mud, it makes [the fans] cherish you more,” Herbo determined. “You want to keep striving literally. Like me and Southside knew each other before we had all these millions. He genuinely reached out to me when I was 15, still in the hood. Going on high speed [police chases] and going to jail. He saw it  in me before I saw it in a myself.”

“He was different. He was a different kid,” Southside reminisced. “The way he rapped. His style, everything. I couldn’t figure it out. I couldn’t figure it out. I love what I can’t figure out.”

Herbo and Southside are heading out on the road soon, headlining a 40 city tour.

Catch the BET Hip-Hop Awards tonight at 8pm on BET.

OK, who had October 14th in the pool?

I’m kidding. It’s easy to make jokes about Ariana Grande’s relationship with Pete Davidson – they seemed so mismatched, he seemed so goofy and awkward and just… not on her level.

But this is yet another sad blow to Ari in a season of tough life events. One of the biggest, obviously, being the untimely death of her ex, Mac Miller. Sources are saying that was the ultimate breaking point of her relationship with Pete.

Ari failed to show up to a scheduled event on Saturday night, the F___ Cancer Gala in Los Angeles. Her manager, Scooter Braun, who is also involved with the foundation, spoke up for her.

“Someone that I am very close to could not be here today because of things that she is going through. She couldn’t be here today, and while I was frustrated, being a manager, my wife, being who she always is, said to me, ‘She needs this time.’ If people are just here to see her sing and not [wanting to] be here for the cancer foundation, I don’t want them here anyway.”

The next day, news started to leak that Ariana & Pete's engagement had been called off. Ultimately I’m happy she’s not marrying him – I think she can do better! -- but I feel sad that her life has been so rough lately.

Maybe she can get some closure with Slacker’s The Twenty: It’s Over.

I’m not giving you a spoiler alert, because the AMAs were days ago and if you don’t know who won by now, you haven’t been on the internet. So.

By far, the big country winner of the night was Kane Brown. He beat out superstars Luke Bryan and Thomas Rhett for Favorite Country Male. He came out ahead of Thomas Rhett and Luke Combs for Favorite Country Album. And he also won Favorite Country Song for “Heaven,” edging out Dan + Shay’s “Tequila” and FGL and Bebe Rexha’s “Meant To Be.”

Here’s his acceptance speech for Favorite Country Male (and the good news is, he did NOT pass out).

His fiancée Katelyn Jae wasn’t with him – she was home watching on TV, but when his name was announced. Check out her reaction on Instagram here.

Carrie Underwood got her sixth AMA for Favorite Female Country Artist, in fact, she’s won that one every year since 2014. Check out her acceptance speech here.

Later, on social media, she says she got caught up in the excitement and the emotions and felt like her speech made no sense, and she left out half of what she wanted to say, so she finished here!

Not surprisingly, Florida Georgia Line took home the win for Favorite Country Duo or Group. Check out their red carpet interview with Jessie James Decker – and their STYLE.

Only one all-genre category included country artists. Florida Georgia Line and Maren Morris were both up for Collaboration of the Year for their projects with Bebe Rexha and Zedd, respectively. Neither won, but as they say, it’s an honor just to be nominated, right?

Last’s night’s American Music Awards might as well been called “Ladies Night.” Women dominated the proceedings by taking home awards and delivering jaw-dropping performances. One specific jaw belonged to Taran Killam of “Saturday Night Live” and “Wild N Out” fame, whose mouth agape reaction to Cardi B’s “I Like It" performance has made the internet rounds. But it was Cardi B who stole the night, as the Bronx native hit the podium three times to collect awards for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Song (“Bodak Yellow”), Favorite Soul/ R&B Song (Bruno Mars’ “Finesse” remix) and Favorite Rap/ Hip-Hop Artist. Beyond the trophies, it was Cardi's colorful, cultural and instantly iconic performance that turned the entire Microsoft Theater into Carnaval in Cuba meets Fordham Road in the Bronx. 
 
Taylor Swift, fresh off of taking her first-ever public political stance, focused on music for the night as she lead off the broadcast with her single “I Did Something Bad.” There’s no more ironic song title for the proud Tennessean song bird, as it was all good for her. Even Donald Trump, who says he likes her music “25% less” since her Sunday politically charmed Instagram post, would have a hard time hating on Swift as she continued her reign winning the AMA’s top honor, Artist of the Year. Less forgiving of Switft may be the BeyHive, which likely had to take a double shot of Dusse to calm their nerves as Swift also was awarded Tour of the Year, beating out such notables the Beyonce and Jay-Z stadium extravaganza “On The Run II” and Bruno Mars’ “24 K Magic World Tour.” While that victory may have been a shocker, it was no surprise that Swift got Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock and that her Reputation LP was awarded Favorite Album/ Pop Rock. Swift’s wins saw her surpass Whitney Houston as the most decorated female ever at the AMAs. 
 
While Swift stayed away from any heavy statements, AMA host Tracee Ellis Ross was declarative in words and in her audaciously beautiful garments. The star of “Black-Ish” wore clothes made by black designers from the legendary Dapper Dan to CD Greene. The most outspoken of her night’s wardrobe changes was the simply stated but powerful “I Am A Voter” tee shirt. 
 
Ciara had the biggest assist of the night, bringing her longtime friend Missy Elliott out for “Level Up.” CiCi and her dancers wowed with premiere choreography. Jennifer Lopez’s “Limitless” performance concentrated more on her vocals than her traditionally pristine dancing, but she still had flair, as did the timeless Mariah Carey who debuted a new song “With You.” Everyone is talking about how Carey barley moved while singing, but she did have a gaggle of dancers, some of whom emerged from her pink dress.

Brendon Urie takes us behind the scenes of week 6 of the Pray For The Wicked tour – everything from drumming in a unicorn onesie, to lip syncing to Steve Winwood, to interacting with fans. Get a look at what it’s like to be on the road with Panic!

And don’t forget, they’re bringing a Queen tribute to Tuesday night’s American Music Awards! Get psyched for the 2018 AMAs with The Slacker 20 here: https://www.slacker.com/station/the-twenty-amas