Kanye West leads the pack at this year's BET Awards with seven nominations to his name.

West's collaboration with rapper Jay-Z on the Watch the Throne project is the main reason for his string of nominations, with nods for awards including Best Collaboration and Best Video of the Year for Otis, among others.

New mom Beyonce comes in close with six nominations with nods for two of her music videos – from her album 4 – Countdown and Love on Top both up for Video of the Year.

South African songbird Lira is up for the Best International Act (Africa) award.

Meanwhile, rapper Big Sean is up for three nominations most notably for Best Male Hip Hop Artist – which he is very excited about.

He told MTV: "It's perfect. My grandma gonna be watching, my mom, my family, the whole city.

"It's just tight that I can represent those people, everybody who had that dream, everybody who used to ride to school listening to their idols, now I'm with them. It's just tight that I can show people that it's possible."

Strip singer Chris Brown scooped three nods while Starships singer Nicki Minaj bagged two. Both artists will perform at the awards ceremony.

The BET awards will be hosted by veteran actor Samuel L Jackson and will take place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on 1 July.

BET Awards, edited list of nominees:

Best Female R&B Artist:
Marsha Ambrosius
Beyoncé
Mary J. Blige
Melanie Fiona
Rihanna

Best Male R&B Artist:
Chris Brown
Bruno Mars
Miguel
Trey Songz
Usher

Best Group:
Bad Meets Evil
Diddy-Dirty Money
Maybach Music Group
Mindless Behavior
The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West)

Best Collaboration:
Beyoncé featuring J. Cole - Party
Big Sean featuring Kanye West & Roscoe Dash - Marvin & Chardonnay
DJ Khaled featuring Drake - Rick Ross & Lil Wayne - I'm On One
Drake featuring Lil Wayne & Tyga - The Motto
The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West) featuring Otis Redding - Otis
Wale featuring Miguel -Lotus Flower Bomb

Best Male Hip-Hop Artist:
Big Sean
Drake
J. Cole
Lil Wayne
Rick Ross
Young Jeezy

Best Female Hip-Hop Artist:
Diamond
Nicki Minaj
Brianna Perry
Trina

Video of the Year:
Beyoncé - Countdown
Beyoncé - Love On Top
The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West) - N***as in Paris
The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West) featuring Otis Redding – Otis
Usher - Climax

Best New Artist:
A$AP Rocky
Big Sean
Diggy
Future
Meek Mill

Viewers' Choice Award:
Beyoncé - Love on Top
Chris Brown - Turn Up the Music
Drake featuring Lil Wayne & Tyga - The Motto
Mindless Behavior - Hello
The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West) featuring Otis Redding - Otis
Wale featuring Miguel - Lotus Flower Bomb

Best International Act: Africa
Camp Mulla (Kenya)
Ice Prince (Nigeria)
Lira (South Africa)
Mokobe (Mali)
Sarkodie (Ghana)
Wizkid (Nigeria)

Best International Act: UK:
Estelle
Labrinth
Emeli Sandé
Sway
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