The most surprising wins at the BET Hip Hop Awards

In 2008, Akon was one of the biggest acts in the world and became a sought-out artist for hit features. At the time, he didn’t produce records for many other artists but would supply production on some of his own hits such as “Right Now (Na Na Na)” and “I’m So Paid.” He ended up beating out producers like Bangladesh and David Banner for this award.

Big Sean’s star was starting to rise after signing to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music imprint. He released his fourth mixtape, “Detroit,” in 2013 with features and productions from J. Cole, Lex Luger, Chris Brown and Kendrick Lamar. He won for Best Mixtape, defeating Chance the Rapper’s “Acid Rap” and Travis Scott’s “Owl Pharaoh.”

There was a time when J. Cole actually had artists featured on his solo albums. On his sophomore album, "Born Sinner," he recruited girl group TLC for his single “Crooked Smile.” He took home the Impact Track trophy, beating out hopefuls like Wale for “LoveHate Thing” and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis for “Same Love.”

Iggy Azalea was quietly creeping on the music charts when she dropped a couple of singles in 2013. It wasn’t until she released her Charli XCX-assisted single, “Fancy," that she become an international superstar. She beat out artists like YG, ScHoolboy Q, Young Thug, and Migos for the Rookie of the Year Award. 

In 2015, Fetty Wap dropped the biggest record of his career, “Trap Queen," which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Other artists up for the nomination were Kendrick Lamar for “Alright,” Future for “Commas” and Big Sean for “Blessings.”

Fetty Wap's single "My Way" was already a hit before Drake hopped on the remix. Drake won for Best Featured Verse, beating out Lil Wayne for Nicki Minaj's "Truffle Butter" and E-40 on Big Sean's "I Don't F**k With You." 

To step on to the scene, artists need to come correct because the fashion police are always watching. Dej Loaf rose to fame with her 2014 single, “Try Me,” and after making a number of red carpet appearances, people couldn’t help but notice how often she changed her style. She beat out nominees such as Nicki Minaj and Kanye West for the Made-You-Look Award.

After years of collaborating with each other, Beyonce and Jay Z finally gifted fans with a joint project. The album “Everything Is Love” featured songs like “APES**T" and "Boss." They beat out albums such as Cardi B’s “Invasion of Privacy” and J. Cole’s “KOD."

Rapper XXXTentacion posthumously won the trophy of Best New Artist following his tragic death. Although he released his first album in 2017, there was a surge in streams of his music after his passing. In hindsight, it's always better to gift artists with flowers while they can still smell them. 

In 2011, Lex Luger produced a number of records such as “H.A.M.” from Kanye West and Jay Z, Waka Flocka Flame’s “Grove St. Party” and Wale’s “That Way.” This was a pretty stacked category for Producer of the Year, as he competed against J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Kane Beatz, No I.D. and Kanye West.

In 2013, fans saw a number of rappers starting to get more shine. A$AP Ferg took the trophy home as the year’s rookie, as he went up against Action Bronson, Earl Sweatshirt, Joey Bada$$ and Trinidad Jame$.

DJ AM was known for spinning and producing for a number of artists, including Will Smith, Babyface, Papa Roach and Dilated Peoples. Unfortunately, he tragically lost his life in 2009 due to a drug overdose. He posthumously won the award for DJ of the Year. 

2017 had a number of hit collaborations, including Yo Gotti recruiting Nicki Minaj for "Rake It Up." Although Nicki won for Best Featured Verse, she had some steep competition such as Chance The Rapper for his work on DJ Khaled's "I'm The One" and Gucci Mane's work on Rae Sremmurd's "Bad and Boujee." 

As an R&B artist, Chris Brown hasn't been nominated often at the Hip Hop Awards. However, he won Best Hip Hop Video for his hit single "Look At Me Now" with Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes. Other artists he defeated in the category included Kanye West, Eminem and Big Sean. 

Every once in a while, an artist comes along with a huge debut hit, but questions arise whether the album will also have success. Fetty Wap knows this all too well when he won the Who Blew Up Award in 2015 after his major hits, "Trap Queen," "679" and "My Way."