Every year, the powers that be at BET and legendary hip-hop deejay and producer DJ Premier, choose the best of the best in the world of rap to appear in one of the coveted slots at the annual BET Hip Hop Awards ceremony. And though this year’s BET Cyphers boasted a myriad of different artists ranging from the likes of rap superstars Eminem and Busta Rhymes, to hip-hop newcomers Yelawolf and Meek Mill and even singers-turned-rappers Chris Brown and Estelle, DJ Premier recently revealed that he had to draw the line when pop sensation Justin Bieber requested to be a part of the BET Cyphers.
In an audio interview posted on DJ Premier’s blog, Premo talked about the rigorous task of choosing emcees to appear on the BET Cyphers and explained that he’d gotten word that Bieber wanted to join in and spit a freestyle, but after hearing that the young singer wanted veteran emcee Ludacris to write his rhymes, DJ Premier decided to decline Bieber’s request.
“Justin Bieber even asked if he could do the Cypher and everybody was worried that might mess up the integrity of BET and I was like, ‘Yo, as long as he got a dope rhyme, let him spit.’ But then we heard he wants Luda to write his rhyme. I was like, ‘Oh no, no, no, no. If you ain’t writing your own rhyme, you can’t do it, so Justin, you gotta take a backseat. Write your own rhymes, honey.’ ”
Bieber may have cosigns from the likes of Ludacris, Brown and Usher, but clearly he has a lot more to learn about hip-hop before he can hang with Premo and hip-hop’s elite emcees. –nicholas robinson
