top of page
Writer's picturestoreywatch

The 21st BET Awards: For the Culture


Source: Rated R&B

The 21st BET Awards aired on this past Sunday and there were some high and lows. I must say it was good to see an in-person award show. The fashions and the pre-show questions as to what to expect during the show. BET is good to include at least on gospel-based performance in the show and that was brought to us by Kirk Franklin and Lil Baby. Lil Baby looked uncomfortable at times but pushed through the performance. Taraji P. Henson was a great host who honored the women she admired. She dressed like Diana Ross to Erykah Badu just to name a few.


Source: BET Network Youtube Channel


The BET Awards are known for the epic performances and there were a few. Jazmin Sullivan enlisted Congresswoman Maxine Waters to do the into for her song “Tragic” and Ari Lennox joined Jazmin for a soulful rendition of “On It”. Another awesome performance was done by the Bay Area’s own H.E.R. she performed her song “We Made It”. If you don’t have H.E.R.’s new album, you really should. One of the most creative sets was Tyler the Creator who performed “Lumberjack”, Megan the Stallion performed “Thot Sh$t!” she still makes my knees hurt but her performance was solid. The highlights were Silk Sonic (Anderson PAAK and Bruno Mars), who always have an entertaining set; just tell me when the concert will be already! Lil Nas X also had a great set paying homage to Michael Jackson with the “Remember the Time” choreography as well as theming along with interloping the song with his own “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)”. That kiss at the end had tongues wagging (No pun intended).


Source: E!News Youtube Channel


The surprise of the night came during the Migos performance. They started with their song “Straightenin” and then were surprised by Cardi B who performed their song “Type Sh$T” with a beautiful pregnant belly. Cardi is good to do her pregnancy announcement during a performance. Congratulations to her and OFFSET. This was a cute performance. I need someone to tell DaBaby that you don’t need everyone you know in life on stage with you. His performance was a chaotic mess. Moneybagg Yo, Roddy Rich and City Girls were ok, nothing memorable for me, but then again, I’m not the target audience.


BET honored Queen Latifah and the performance by Rapsody, Lil Kim, MC Lyte and Monie Love took me right back to my youth. Queen Latifah helped change the game for rappers. She was one, if not the first female rapper to transition over to acting. To see Queen Latifah’s historic rise through the entertainment industry has been amazing and has made all of us proud. The tribute to DMX was moving with the opening being with Method Man and a powerful performance by Michael K. Williams that all of Twitter posted about wanting him to play DMX is a movie. Busta Rhymes, Swizz Beats and The Lox were a few who also contributed to this too short of a tribute.



Special mention goes to DJ Khaled who always brings a high energy performance. Andra Day performed “Strange Fruit” and “Tigress and Tweed”. She has such a soulful voice that you can’t help but just watch and listen in awe.


Overall, the 21st BET Awards was surprisingly good. They need to incorporate more older acts for some of us old school lovers because some of these new artists still need to work on their stage presence. Everyone doesn’t need to dance. Sometimes just walking the stage with passion is enough.


Did you watch the BET Awards? What did you think? Let’s discuss!

9 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page