BET Hip Hop Awards at the Atlanta Civic Center

Gucci Mane on the BET Hip Hop Awards red carpet Saturday at the AtlantaCivicCenter. PHOTOS: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com

BET doesn’t bother to air the BET Hip Hop Awards live because who wins doesn’t really matter much to anybody. The network taped it on Saturday at the AtlantaCivicCenter for airing on Tuesday, October 12.

So it is of no crime to say who won or who was there. Drakewas the MVP of the year but like a year ago, didn’t show up. (He is going to be in Atlanta later this week in concert, though.) Jay-Z won a few awards but also was a no show.

In fact, A listers were in relative short supply. No Kanye West or Ice Cube or DiddyorSnoop Dogg this year. (Kanye and Ice Cube did do some raps on video for the often fun Cipher free-style rapping segments that aired after commercial breaks.)

Blond, cupie-voiced New Yorker Nicki Minaj was there to win Rookie of the Year. “I’m paving the way for girls,” she said. “I wanna thank all the girls of hip-hop.” That’s an impressive feat considering she’s had only one genuine hit so far (”Your Love”) and her first album isn’t scheduled to come out until next month. She beat outJ. Cole, Roscoe Dash, Chiddy Bangand Waka Flocka Flame. Too bad she didn’t perform. Miami’s Rick Ross also took home Track of the Year and Club Banger of the Year, providing rather short, less-than-enthralling thank you speeches.

Among the attendees includedBusta Rhymes, Nellyand plenty of Atlanta denizens includingTrey Songz (the Floridian moved here a year ago), Big Boi, B.o.B., Waka Flocka Flame, Lloyd (who sang a bit of “Bedrock” to us after we told him it was the 50th anniversary of “The Flintstones”), Gucci Mane (right), Soulja Boy,Mo’Nique and reality starAntonio “Toya” Carter.

Old-timers included members ofDigital Underground (who dueted with Cali Swag District to conclude the show), M.C. Hammer and Icon award winners Salt-n-Pepa. Sadly, even 25 years after Salt-n-Pepa, females are in relative short supply in hip-hop land.

During the show, Waka Flocka Flame reportedly caused production issues by jumping in the crowd. He also went off script with his songs, which peeved BET presidentStephen Hill, who Tweeted, “BET Hip-Hop Awards. The show was going so well…and then Waka Flak-ed. Yeah. I said it.” Waka responded with a rather unkind words on his Twitter, the cleanest being: “ima let fans know the inside of this lame game yall call rap they want u to don’t b ya self.”

After the red carpet, I tried to get into the show with my camera equipment. They wouldn’t let me do so. I had to go back to my car, then take a shuttle back into the show. So I arrived 20 minutes after taping had begun.

I missed Ross and Hammer. The highlight of the show, I felt, was the only person who brought in a live band: Atlantan B.o.B., who blends melody with rap in a truly enjoyable fashion. The man already has three back-to-back-to-back hits under his belt, including “Nothin’ On You,” “Airplanes” and “Magic.” He’s definitely a rising star.