Awards Show Brouhaha Doesn't Air

Notoriety for violence isn't necessarily a negative in the rap world: The UPN television network scored unusually strong ratings for its telecast of The Source Hip-Hop Music Awards.

The awards show taping was cut short last week after a bottle-throwing brawl but new scenes were later added to pad the two-hour telecast Tuesday night.

The program drew an average of 5.3 million viewers. That may be a fraction of the Grammy Awards audience, but they are big numbers at UPN, whose average audience on Tuesday nights this summer was 1.8 million until this week.

The ratings were 32 percent higher than for the 1999 show, which was UPN's top-rated special for the year.

UPN's telecast opened with a taped message from rapper Mos Def, who decried the violence but urged viewers not to condemn rap music because of it.

"It wouldn't be fair to cast aspersions on an entire cultural movement based on the actions of a few," he said. "To quote my grandfather, 'One bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch.'"

The freewheeling telecast included a mock "fight" between hosts Monique and Da Brat during their opening monologue, frequent censoring of profanities and an intentionally blurred camera shot of the first award winner, Eve, because she wore a revealing top.

Spliced into the show were awards presentations and acceptance speeches of winners that were obviously filmed after the Aug. 22 taping at the Pasadena Civic Center in California. The brawl stopped the show that night after only three performances and a handful of awards.

The show's third host, Busta Rhymes, also criticized the violence in a taped message included on the telecast.

"It's a negative image that the artists wanted to dispel," said Patti McTeague, UPN spokeswoman. "It's important to show that it will not be condoned."

Written by David Bauder