Kendrick Lamar wins Hip Hop Artist of the Year at BET Hip Hop Awards

Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Kendrick Lamar won Hip Hop Artist of the Year at the BET Hip Hop Awards.

The rapper, 37, won a total of eight awards during the ceremony, which took place Oct. 8 in Las Vegas and aired Tuesday on BET.

Other big winners were Metro Boomin and Future, with three wins each.

The show featured performances from music artists such as Fat Joe, Bossman DLow, Juicy J, 2 Chainz, 310babii, Trina, Soulja Boy, Roscoe Dash, Flau'Jae, E-40, Big Boogie and GloRilla.

Travis Scott was awarded the "I Am Hip Hop" accolade, presented by Teyana Taylor and Tyla.

In his acceptance speech, Scott thanked God, his parents, his grandmothers and his children.

"I come from this generation where they considered us nowhere near like 'hip hop,'" he said. "Every day I try to push the sound and coming in as like a producer. Nobody knew what I was trying to do. But I always had this idea and I had this vision, still to this day, to just take the sound and take things just to the next level, and I'm just so glad that we made it this far."

He added, "I just wanna let everybody know where you come from doesn't really matter, it's just what goes on in your brain can take you to the next level and beyond, and with true focus and true drive ... you can go wherever you wanna go."

The BET Hip Hop Awards were held in Las Vegas for the first time this year. The show had previously taken place in Miami and Atlanta.

This year's winners include:

Best Hip Hip Video

"Not Like Us," Kendrick Lamar

Best Collaboration

"Like That," Metro Boomin, Future, Kendrick Lamar

Best Duo or Group

Future & Metro Boomin

Song of the Year

"Not Like Us," Kendrick Lamar

Hip Hop Album of the Year

Pink Friday 2, Nicki Minaj

Hip Hop Artist of the Year

Kendrick Lamar

Best Live Performer

Missy Elliott

Best Breakthrough Hip Hop Artist

Sexyy Red