Lil Wayne Leads BET Nominations

Lil Wayne has cemented his status as one of Hip Hop's hottest properties after receiving an amazing 12 nominations for the third annual BET Hip Hop Awards.

Kanye West was second with seven nominations closely followed by Jay-Z who got six nods. T.I. is hoping he has a better year after being nominated three times. Last year T.I. (real name Clifford Joseph Harris Jr) was arrested hours before he was scheduled to headline the show.

BET will also recognise Hip Hop mogul Russell Simmons who helped to launch Def Jam amongst other things, with the "I Am Hip-Hop" icon award.

The highly regarded awards ceremony airs Oct. 23 on the network with returning host Katt Williams.