Justin Bieber Banned From BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher

By Christine Thomasos, Christian Post Reporter Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Justin Bieber wanted to show off his rap skills at the 2011 BET Hip-Hop Awards, but was denied after his credibility was questioned.

DJ Premier, an officiator for the annual BET Hip-Hop Awards cipher, where some of the biggest names in Hip-Hop show off their rhyme skills, recently appeared on a Sirius/XM radio show to speak about denying Bieber the chance to rap on the show.

According to Premier, he was open minded about the opportunity to give Bieber a chance until he heard that the 17-year-old crooner wanted another well known rapper to write his lyrics.

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"Justin Bieber even asked if he could do the cypher. Everybody was worried that it might mess up the integrity of BET but I was like, 'Long as he got a dope rhyme, let him spit,’” Premier said in the radio interview. “But, then we heard, 'He wants Luda to write his rhyme.'”

Bieber has appeared on Internet videos rapping under the moniker “Shawty Mane” and rapped on singer Chris Brown’s recent mixtape. However, Premier said the lack of authenticity being offered by Bieber was a deal breaker.

“I was like, 'Oh no, no, no, no. If you ain't writing your own rhyme, you can't do it,'” Premier said on the radio show. “So Justin, you gotta take a backseat. Write your own rhymes, honey. You gotta call him honey on that one."

Although the DJ has a lot of influence in the awards show cyphers, he admitted that BET executives were also involved in the decision concerning participating artists. Premier said the decision making process is not an easy one in selecting the coveted rappers to appear on the show.

“They'll give me the list,” Premier said. "We have arguments upon arguments. Shout to [President of Music Programming and Specials] Stephen Hill. Shout to [BET producer-writer] Jesse Collins. Believe me, we be arguing over who should be on it and all of that. Lots of big fights over the phone."

This year’s cypher featured Maybach Music Group, Slaughterhouse, Lacrae, Nitty Scott MC and Estelle among others.