LL COOL J Honored as This Year's "I AM HIP-HOP ICON" Award Recipient at the "BET Hip Hop Awards"

Hosted By Comedian Mike Epps, The "BET Hip Hop Awards" Premieres October 11, 2011 at 8:00 P.M.*

NEW YORK, Sept. 20, 2011 -- Celebrating its sixth year, the "BET Hip Hop Awards," hosted by comedian Mike Epps, will tape at The Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center on Saturday, October 1, 2011 and will premiere on the network on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 8 p.m.* This year's show will honor LL COOL J with the "I AM HIP-HOP ICON" Award.

What began for LL COOL J in the nascent, burgeoning rap and hip hop scene of the 80's, has now seeped throughout the musical and cultural phenomenon that is today's hip hop. All the while, LL COOL J has remained a musical and cultural force. First introduced to the world in 1984 as a Def Jam Records flagship artist, the multi-platinum two-time GRAMMY Award-winner is the first rap artist to amass ten consecutive platinum-plus selling albums and is currently tied for third place for most Billboard chart debuts by a rapper.

A talented actor, LL currently stars on the #1 hit CBS show "NCIS: Los Angeles", which returns for its third season this fall and has appeared in dozens of films and TV shows ("Any Given Sunday," "Charlie's Angels," "30 Rock").

An NAACP Image Award winner, LL is also the world wide ambassador for Gendarme and runs the popular social media music website Boomdizzle.com. He has also released four books, including his Autobiography "I Make My Own Rules," children's book "And The Winner Is..." and the New York Times bestselling workout book "LL COOL J's Platinum Workout" and the inspirational lifestyle/fitness book "LL COOL J's Platinum 360 Diet and Lifestyle," which was just released in paperback.

Previous "I AM HIP-HOP ICON" recipients include Grandmaster Flash (2006); KRS-One (2007); Russell Simmons (2008); Ice Cube (2009) and Salt N Pepa (2010).

This year, BET once again teams up with Cossette Productions, the famed producers of the GRAMMY Awards(R) and the record-setting BET AWARDS shows, to handle production of the telecast. Stephen G. Hill, BET President, Music and Programming, along with Lynne Harris Taylor, BET Vice President of Specials, are executive producers of the telecast.

*All times ET/PT

About BET Networks

BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.