AJC critic’s picks to win the BET awards in Atlanta

It’s Lil Wayne’s world this year, and fans are just reveling in it.

New Orleans’ hip-hop superstar has had the biggest first-week sales of any act, in any genre, in 2008 — with his “Tha Carter III” debuting with 1,006,000 sold. The artist born Dwayne Carter is currently on two songs (“Let It Rock,” Kevin Rudolf featuring Lil Wayne; “Can’t Believe It,” T-Pain featuring Lil Wayne) in the top 10 of the hottest pop singles in the country. And he has three other hits (“Mrs. Officer,” Lil Wayne featuring Bobby Valentino and Kidd Kidd at No. 2; “Got Money,” Lil Wayne featuring T-Pain at No. 3; and “My Life,” The Game featuring Lil Wayne at No. 4) on Billboard’s Top 5 rap track listing.

Plus Lil Wayne leads the BET Hip-Hop Awards nominations with eight.

But he won’t sweep the ceremonies this Saturday at the Atlanta Civic Center (and airing on BET Oct. 23). At least, not according to this critic’s picks from among the top 5 categories:

Category: Best Video

Nominees: “Get Like Me,” David Banner featuring Chris Brown and Yung Joc; “I Want You,” Common; “I’m So Hood (remix),” DJ Khaled featuring Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, Big Boi, Lil Wayne, Fat Joe, Birdman and Rick Ross; “Lollipop,” Lil Wayne; “Sensual Seduction,” Snoop Dogg; “Good Life,” Kanye West featuring T-Pain.

And the winner should be: “Good Life” — if for no other reason than the bright, imaginative, cartoon (kind of) didn’t look like the nine other hip-hop videos in heavy rotation. (Though yes, the same can be said for “I Want You” and “Sensual Seduction.”)

Category: Lyricist of the Year

Nominees: Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Nas, T.I. and Kanye West

And the winner should be: Well, the year meaning this year, that probably should go to Wayne. All of these guys lead the way lyrically, every year. But in 2008, in hip-hop, perhaps no words rang more true than when Wayne says in “A Milli”: “I do what I do/and you do what you can do about it.”

Category: CD of the Year

Nominees: “American Gangster,” Jay-Z; “Tha Carter III,” Lil Wayne; “The Cool,” Lupe Fiasco; “Untitled,” Nas; “Graduation,” Kanye West.

And the winner should be: OK, “American Gangster” and “Graduation” were great last year; and as good as this year’s “The Cool” and “Untitled” were, in terms of impact, they paled in comparison to “Tha Carter III.”

Category: Track of the Year

Nominees: “A Milli,” Lil Wayne (produced by Bangladesh); “Dey Know,” Shawty Lo (produced by Balis Beatz); “Good Life,” Kanye West featuring T-Pain (produced by West and DJ Toomp); “Lollipop,” Lil Wayne featuring Static (produced by Jim Jonsin and Deezle); “Roc Boys — And The Winner Is,” Jay-Z (produced by Sean Combs and The Hitmen).

And the winner should be: “A Milli” — as annoyingly irresistible as it is anthemic.

Category: Hustler of the Year

Nominees: 50 Cent; DJ Khaled; Jay-Z; Lil Wayne; P. Diddy

And the winner should be: Lil Wayne — if we were just talking music. (Does the guy make a mixtape a week? And a guest appearance on someone else’s record, hourly?) But P Diddy’s hustle is so big he may have even more businesses (a record label, television shows — yes, that’s plural— a clothing line, fragrance line, a couple of restaurants and a very popular website) than he has monikers.