HOT 107.9 Dirty Awards Ends In Violence Between Rival Camps

[Mumbo Sauce]

Caption: Lo and TIP head to backroom to discuss squashing the beef at Dirty Awards
Pic credit: Ozonemag.com

By Shaheem Reid,MTV NEWS

During the third annual Dirty Awards Monday night at Atlanta's Georgia International Center, members of T.I.'s and Shawty Lo's camps got into a physical altercation, according to witnesses. Lo puts full blame on the head of Grand Hustle records, while Tip could not be reached for comment after the dustup.

"I didn't go and start nothing. If they rewind the cameras, they'll see how it started," told MTV News early Tuesday morning (November 25). "I'm a man. I respect every man as a man. If a man disrespects me, what am I supposed to do? T.I. needs to contain his people. We're not standing down. I performed my music; 107.9 [one of the show's organizers] called me to perform. I didn't come to start no beef with him. I gave Tip a shout-out at the BET Awards."

As he was performing his hits such as "Dey Know" and "Dunn, Dunn," Lo said that members of Tip's Grand Hustle family, most notably artist Alfamega, came out of their seats, stood in front of the stage and started "mean mugging.'"

"Basically, I didn't start saying anything about Tip," Lo explained. "I was performing my music. During 'Foolish,' all of them was coming in front of the stage doing their mugging. After 'Dunn, Dunn,' I performed the dis record 'Don't I.' That's what made perform the dis record. I ain't gonna lie; they was disrespecting me. I wasn't gonna let them disrespect me."

As Lo rapped the barb-riddled track some eyewitnesses said Tip's crew started throwing chairs onstage. While Shawty said he cannot be sure who threw the first chair, he thinks it was Big Kuntry.

A witness told MTV News that Tip's camp did not get hostile with Lo before "Don't I" and that Lo threw gas on the fire by calling out Grand Hustle's Yung L.A.

Shawty Lo and his D4L camp were taken to the back after the fracas and the show was temporarily suspended. Surprisingly, it resumed shortly after, and that's when things got strange. Lo said that he ran into T.I. backstage, and Tip suggested an immediate closed door meeting to which Lo agreed. They once again talked about ending their feud — "It's been squashed a few times," a source who asked not to be named said — which has been going on for over a year now.

"He told me the beef was over with," Lo recalled. "I said, 'If the beef was let go, me and you have to publicize it. We have to do it together.' He agreed to do that, and we shook hands in the back room."

But the tension was far from over. With the show back in session, Lo and his people were allowed back to their seats. Tip got onstage to accept an award, and during his speech, a witness said the King of the South declared that "if somebody's got a problem with me, do something better than me." Soon after that comment, Tip started performing "Ain't I" with Yung L.A. They didn't get through the entire record, because during the performance, Alfamega and others in the Grand Hustle camp got into a scuffle with Lo's D4L squadron.

While Lo said that Alfa jumped off the stage to approach Lo and his crew, a witness said that Alfa was never onstage, just standing to the side. But everyone agreed that a melee took place during "Ain't I," ending the Dirty Awards for good.

T.I. himself was never involved personally in either of the night's scuffles, and he was escorted offstage and out of the show once the mini brawl began. Lo maintained that the two parties were cut off by police before they ever came to actual blows. Police did start shooting pepper spray and the self-proclaimed King of Bankhead was hit in the eyes.

"They sprayed me in my face. I couldn't see nothing," Shawty Lo told.

David Banner was the host of the Dirty Awards, which were attended by Big Gipp, Soulja Boy Tell'em, Monica, Murphy Lee, Ludacris and Rick Ross. There are also witness reports that a member of DJ Drama's Aphilliate camp got into a fight with one of Young Jeezy's CTE camp members. Has Monday night put a black eye on the example of unity Atlanta's rappers had recently set?

"I don't know, we'll see," Lo said. "[Me and Tip's conversation] ended on a positive note with the conversation. I don't know where he is [with the beef]. I guess he just be talking. One thing about it, Shawty Lo ain't no punk. T.I. is just a rapper. He knows how to read a book good. Where I live is for real. I ain't got nothing against homes. He's got family, I got family. I'm not trying to kill him, he's not trying to kill me. I got fans that love me. He's not not gonna run all over me. I ain't Lil' Flip."