BET Awards Brawl

Soulja Boy is second rate compared to Chris Brown ... at least to BET, which chose Chris over Soulja for Saturday's Celebrity Basketball Game.

Sources close to Soulja tell us a BET rep reached out to his manager, Miami Mike, Friday ... one day before the sold-out event, and asked him not to come because of security concerns. Everyone knows Chris and Soulja don't like each other ... there have been multiple violent threats between them.

Still, Soulja was scheduled to appear, and his face was even on promo posters.

We're told Soulja's camp tried to reassure BET there'd be no problems, but execs didn't buy it ... and cut him from the game. Chris not only showed as scheduled, but earned co-MVP honors.

Soulja, on the other hand, had to settle for BET compensating him for travel expenses.

**WARNING -- THIS VIDEO CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE**

A video has surfaced showing rapper Gunplay getting his head slammed into a metal barricade outside the BET Awards Sunday night in Atlanta -- and it appears 50 Cent was part of the violent mob.

The clip shows 50 in the parking lot with his crew -- and out of nowhere, a massive brawl breaks out ... with rapper Gunplay on the receiving end of a ferocious attack.

Gunplay weathered the initial onslaught and managed to fight back, even though he was largely outnumbered.

It's hard to see in the shaky footage if 50 threw a punch -- or got involved at all -- but someone can be heard on camera saying, "That was 50 fighting too!" Gunplay called in to TMZ Live Monday, saying 50 Cent was involved in the action ... but was "hiding behind security."

We reached out to 50 for comment, so far no word back -- but G-Unit rapper Mike Knox (who appears in the clip) said in a radio interview this morning, "The only thing I can tell you is [Gunplay] was in the wrong place at the wrong time and he was acting a certain kinda way that he shouldn't have been actin' ... So, he got dealt with ... He got his ass kicked."

Gunplay says he absolutely DID NOT fire a gun at the BET Awards ... but claims he DID beat up a member of 50 Cent's entourage ... and says he wants to "kill" everyone in the G-Unit crew.

Gunplay -- a rapper who's signed to Def Jam -- just called in to TMZ Live to talk about the madness at the BET Awards in Atlanta on Saturday ... where multiple fights broke out behind the scenes.

Gunplay tells us ... he "had to fight off five dudes" who he believes were members of 50 Cent's camp.

Gunplay says things got violent with 50's group because, "I never liked them and always wanted to kick his ass ... and I finally got the opportunity."

The rapper says 50 Cent WAS involved in the action ... but was "hiding behind security." Gunplay says he was trying to "break his f*ckin' neck."

Gunplay says he did manage to beat down one of the guys in 50's entourage -- "kicked one of their fat-asses ... kicked them off in the dirt." Gunplay says cops then rushed in and sprayed him with mase.

Gunplay -- who's friends with Rick Ross -- says his fight had nothing to do with Rick's altercation with Young Jeezy's crew at the BET Awards ... but explains, "We just goin' at it with everybody ... let's go kill 'em all."

The BET Awards brawl between Rick Ross and Young Jeezy took an army of guards to break it up and left a trail of destruction backstage -- and TMZ got the intense footage on tape.

In the video, security can be seen stepping in between the various combatants almost immediately, separating everyone before the fight got out of hand.

A shirtless Rick Ross can be seen yelling before being escorted away from the scene. Whoever Ross was yelling at tried to follow after him, but security stepped in before he could get there.

There was one casualty however -- a random mirror.

50 Cent wasn't too phased after attending the BET Hip Hop awards last night -- despite the 911 calls, alleged back-stage brawls and reported gun shots -- telling TMZ it was just a regular awards show.

We caught up with 50 arriving in NYC directly after attending the awards show in Atlanta. As TMZ previously reported, Atlanta Police were called after a crazy fight allegedly broke out between Rick Ross and Young Jeezy (and a few people reported hearing gunshots). We're also told 50 got into it with a rapper named Gunplay.

But when we ask 50 to explain the craziness surrounding the night's events, he said nothing happened except ... "They gave out awards."

A fight broke out backstage at the BET Hip Hop Awards tonight between Rick Ross and Young Jeezy that resulted in shots being fired .. sources at the awards tell TMZ.

According to our sources, Ross and Jeezy exchanged words backstage and started pushing and shoving each other. We're told BET security and bodyguards for each of the rappers eventually separated the two.

Our sources on the scene say that after the fight had been broken up, a member of Rick Ross' entourage pulled out a gun while in the parking lot and shots were fired.

We're told Jeezy and Ross are still at the awards, which are being taped tonight in Atlanta and air next month.

A spokesperson for the Atlanta Police Department tells TMZ, "Shortly after 7:15 pm Saturday, a fight broke out in the parking lot at the Atlanta Civic Center (where the BET Awards were being taped) between two groups. Atlanta Police Department officers on scene responded to break up the fight and used OC spray in the process. Individuals fled the scene. There were no arrests or reports of serious injuries. Reports of shots fired appear to be untrue." Our sources maintain shots were fired.

We're also told that 50 Cent got into it with a rapper named Gunplay, a protégé of Rick Ross.

Can't we all just get along?