Earlier this week, BET announced the nominees for their upcoming 2011 BET Awards ceremony and to the surprise and chagrin of many fans (and the artists themselves), rapper Trina and singer Keyshia Cole were missing from the list of nominees in their music categories. And while most people were left scratching their heads, or simply shaking them in disdain, the Trina and Cole took to Twitter to speak out on the awards snub.
Cole, who released the album Calling All Hearts late last year, seemed to be surprisingly OK with her snub in the category for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist. Taking the news in stride, Cole, who was also snubbed at last year’s MTV Video Music Awards, explained that she is content with her career and even made light of the disappointing sales of her album and waning fame in the industry.
“its like this. Been on the scene 7 years. I was 21 when I got signed. 7 # 1 records. No awards 4 none of them/still touring. It is Wht it is,” tweeted Cole. These types of thing R the way they R. I’m not upset about any of it in any way. I hope everyone that goes has a wonderful time.
Adding, “That awkward moment when u realize in everyone’s eyes your not the s— anymore. #POW. I’ve officially got the memo. Thank mtv/bet. Oh. Forgot to put, LOL”
Although Cole seemed unfazed by the awards snub, Trina seemed downright infuriated by her snub in the Best Female Hip-Hop Artist category, tweeting a simple and pointed jab at the network, “f— BET…”
Trina’s heated response comes as no surprise, considering that out of the nominees, which include Nicki Minaj, Lola Monroe, Cymphonique (Master P’s daughter) and Diamond, only Nicki and Trina have released full-length albums in the past year. And although her sales are less than stellar, Trina’s 2010 album, Amazin, still managed to debut No. 2 on the Billboard Rap Albums chart and has sold 98,000 copies to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
After posting the potent jab, Trina then congratulated Diamond on her nomination after the Atlanta rapper expressed her confusion over the nominees list and praised the Miami emcee for her influence.
“Shoutout to my big sis @TRINArockstarr she has always been my idol! I don’t know what happened with [sic] the nominations.. But she raised all of US!” tweeted Diamond.
Even fellow nominee Nicki Minaj seemed to disapprove of Trina’s snub and simultaneously dismissed her fellow nominees.
“Looks @ nominations. Didn’t know it was April Fools… *waits for Trina’s name to appear before I take this seriously*” tweeted Nicki.
What do you think of Cole and Trina being snubbed by BET Awards?
–nicholas robinson
