The 2023 BET Hip Hop Awards has announced the Hip Hop Artist of the Year, and the winner is Kendrick Lamar.
Kendrick Lamar Wins Hip Hop Artist of the Year at 2023 BET Hip Hop Awards
The taping of the 2023 BET Hip Hop Awards aired on Tuesday (Oct. 10), with a few rappers coming away as big winners. Kendrick Lamar was honored with this year’s award for Hip Hop Artist of the Year. The past year has been good to K-Dot, who, despite not putting out an album since last May’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, has spent most of the year on his wildly popular The Big Steppers Tour. The performance trek began in 2022, and will continue with festival dates through December. Back in April, the tour broke the record for the highest-grossing tour by a rap act.
The Compton, Calif. rapper had some stiff competition at the awards show. 21 Savage, Burna Boy, Cardi B, Drake, GloRilla, J. Cole and Lil Uzi Vert competed against him. In total, Kendrick won four awards for the night, including Best Live Performer, Lyricist of the Year and Video Director of the Year. Kendrick Lamar also won the Hip Hop Artist of the Year at last year’s awards show. He earned six total wins, the most at the 2022 event.
Read More: Cardi B and 21 Savage Lead Nominations for 2023 BET Hip Hop Awards
The 2023 BET Hip Hop Awards Hosted by Fat Joe
While Kendrick Lamar basks in the glory of being named Hip Hop Artist of the Year, the 2023 BET Hip Hop Awards, originally recorded on Oct. 3, was a night that found hip-hop notables showered with some of the industry’s highest honors. With Fat Joe taking on hosting duties for the second year in a row, Queens-bred icon Marley Marl was this year’s recipient of the I Am Hip Hop Award while the endless contributions of both Timbaland and Swizz Beatz were recognized with the Cultural Influence Award.
In all, Cardi B and 21 Savage were at the helm with 12 nominations each while Drake trailed closely behind with nine nods of his own.
