Hip-hop stars on best behaviour at awards show
Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES—The furniture stayed intact and tempers were kept in check on Saturday at the third annual Vibe awards, an urban music- and fashion-themed ceremony marred last year by a brawl that sent a man to jail for a year.
Amid heavy security on the Sony Pictures studio lot, pop singer Mariah Carey led the field by winning four prizes, including artist of the year.
Last year’s awards degenerated into a chair-throwing brawl after rap pioneer Dr. Dre was punched as he was walking to the stage to receive an award. The assailant, Jimmy James Johnson, was then allegedly stabbed by rapper Young Buck, whose real name is David Darnell Brown. Johnson was sentenced to a year in jail last September, while Brown is free on bail awaiting trial.
Vibe magazine, which organizes the event, said it decided to take another chance after receiving support from advertisers, record labels and broadcaster UPN, which will air the ceremony on Tuesday. “We certainly took all the necessary precautions that we felt we needed to take,” said Vibe publisher Kenard Gibbs.
Among them was demanding that the labels ensure that their artists were on their best behaviour, Gibbs said. Carey’s trove also included album of the year (“The Emancipation of Mimi”), best R&B song (“We Belong Together”) and R&B voice of the year. “If you pray and you ask, you will receive,” said Carey, whose album is the biggest seller of 2005 and marks a comeback a few years after she was dumped by her former label.