UPN to Air Troubled 'Source' Awards
P A S A D E N A, Calif., Aug. 24 -- UPN will broadcast a rap music awards show next week even though the glittery hip-hop celebration was cutshort by a bottle-throwing brawl.
Only three performances and a handful of awards were announcedbefore The Source Hip-Hop Music Awards 2000 was shut down byfights. Some witnesses said some involved members of various rapgroups, although police could not immediately confirm that.
“This is not a reflection of what hip-hop is really allabout,” rapper Coolio said. “Hip-hop is really about all thepeople coming together.”
The show, sponsored by The Source magazine, mingled rap starssuch as Grammy Award-winner Dr. Dre with mainstream celebrities.About 2,500 people were inside Pasadena Civic Auditorium, includingU.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, basketball star Shaquille O’Neal andboxing promoter Don King.
There were no arrests and no injuries, police said.
New Scenes to Be AddedUPN said it will broadcast the show on Aug. 29 as scheduled. Newscenes will be taped to include awards that were not presented,said Patti McTeague, a network spokeswoman.
“It’s an undertaking that we’re willing to make,” she said.
UPN broadcast the show for the first time last year, and itproduced the highest ratings the network had ever drawn for aFriday night.
“The Source does not condone violence of any kind and over theyears has worked hard to dispel negative images associated withhip-hop,” the magazine’s founder and publisher, David Mays, saidin a statement.
Dr. Dre was the big winner at the awards show, garnering honorsfor solo artist of the year, album of the year (Dr. Dre 2001)and producer of the year (with Mel-Man). Dr. Dre and Ice Cubereceived lifetime achievement awards.
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