2024 BET Awards

Fans Are Caught Up In Confusion At The Usher Lifetime Achievement Award Tribute Performance At The 2024 BET Awards

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Usher Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show Press Conference 2024
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Tonight (June 30), the 2024 BET Awards was about giving entertainers their flowers. The most notable honorary of the evening was Usher. As the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, several other musicians joined in on the celebration.

Uproxx cover star Chlöe, Childish Gambino, Keke Palmer, Coco Jones, Tinashe, Teyana Taylor, and more paid tribute to Usher with special performances of his greatest hits. Despite the jammed-packed lineup, following the set, users online shared their mixed reviews of what they witnessed.

The biggest gripe folks had on Twitter was the actual acts selected to take the stage. Continue below to read a few of their responses.

“Hopefully Usher gets a better tribute at the #GRAMMYs cause this wasn’t it. #BETAwards,” wrote one user.

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“Usher deserved BETTER. Teyana Taylor was the only good one,” penned one user.

“I just don’t understand who dropped the ball for the KING OF RNB LIKE THIS?!?!?! SHOW YOURSELVES,” wrote another.

“Soooo Luke James, Tank, Vedo, Eric Bellinger, Trevor Jackson, Baby Face, Tevin Campbell, Miguel, etc weren’t available for this Usher tribute?,” added another.

View the full Usher Lifetime Achievement Award tribute performance below.

Usher’s BET Lifetime Achievement Award Speech Was Censored So Heavily, Fans Had A Lot Of Questions

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Usher has had one hell of a 2024. He’s got a new album, he’s headed on tour, he performed at the Super Bowl, and now, he’s been honored with a BET Lifetime Achievement Award. However, we aren’t sure how he feels about it, because BET’s infamously touchy censor weighed in pretty heavily during Usher’s acceptance speech after he let some colorful language fly in reference to his absentee father. The speech ended up sounding a bit like the radio edit of Snoop Dogg’s “Ain’t No Fun (If the Homies Can’t Have None),” only without the fly instrumental. Fans were quick to let their own commentary off the chain on Twitter.

Despite this, the mics were indeed on during the tribute performance honoring Usher, which featured an all-star roster of nearly all women singers covering hits from across Usher’s near-30-year run of hits. Included in the performance were Childish Gambino (“U Don’t Have To Call”), Keke Palmer (“You Make Me Wanna”), Summer Walker (“Good Good”), Coco Jones (“There Goes My Baby”), Marsha Ambrosius (“Confessions Pt.2”), Chlöe (“Good Kisser”), Tinashe (“Nice & Slow”), Teyana Taylor & Victoria Monét (“Bad Girl”), and Latto (“Yeah!”).

This isn’t the first time the BET Awards have had censor issues — it’s a tradition going back decades at this point. Nor is this the first time this month Usher has had technical difficulties on the mic, after Latto had to help save his performance at her Birthday Bash in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. Check out his speech… in all its censored glory… above.

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Childish Gambino, Keke Palmer, Coco Jones, And More Paid Homage To Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Usher At The 2024 BET Awards

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It was a big year for Usher, who completed his Vegas residency, then released his new album Coming Home just as he performed in the Super Bowl Halftime Show. It was as good a year as any to give him the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented by none other than legendary producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

With his new multimedia project Bando Stone And The New World on the way, and his album Atavista already out, Donald Glover — aka Childish Gambino — was the first to hit the stage at the 2024 BET Awards to pay homage to Usher with a fluttering falsetto performance of Usher’s 8701 hit, “U Don’t Have To Call,” with Keke Palmer. Palmer picked up the torch to perform his breakout “You Make Me Wanna,” then his “Good Good” collaborator Summer Walker hit the stage to perform their collab.

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Coco Jones was the next star to emerge — from the crowd, no less — to sing “There Goes My Baby” with some audience participation that would make Usher himself proud. “Confessions Pt.2” was performed by Marsha Ambrosius — and yes, she did hit that run — as she was encircled by laser beams. Chlöe popped out next to perform “Good Kisser” in a glittering bodysuit, followed by Tinashe, who performed Usher’s first No. 1, “Nice & Slow.”

Next up was Teyana Taylor and Victoria Monét, who performed a sexy duet dance routine to “Bad Girl.” Latto then joined a fleet of dancers to remake the “Yeah!” video onstage, with her performing Ludacris’ iconic verse ahead of the finale, during which all the other women returned to the stage.

You can watch the performance above and find the full list of 2024 BET Awards nominees and winners here.

Tyla Embraced Her Inner Lioness (NSFW Body Paint And All) At The 2024 BET Awards With A Performance Of ‘Jump’

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Tyla’s self-titled debut album has received raved reviews, from fans and Uproxx alike. Unfortunately, supporters weren’t album to enjoy any of the songs from the project after she was forced to cancel her supporting tour.

But tonight (June 30), supporters from around the world were able to witness what could’ve been. Alongside her collaborators, Gunna and Skillibeng, Tyla performed her single, “Jump.” To pay homage to her South African heritage (as shown in the track’s official video), the set was filled with nods to the motherland.

There was no water to be found, but there was plenty of nature element. Surrounded by a mock safari display, Tyla’s background dancers even assumed the role of lioness trapped in a cage with NSFW body art. But even the box couldn’t hold Tyla’s slithery dance moves.

Tyla found viral success thanks to her liquid and booty jump combination seen in the official video for “Water.” But she has much more than one-legged twerking in her choreography bag. She can wine, twerk, but most importantly sing live. As the budding amapiano pop crossover princess, Tyla’s vocal ability can’t be ignored. Earlier in the evening, Tyla took home the awards for Best New Artist and Best International Act, so it certainly didn’t go unnoticed.

Watch clips Tyla’s 2024 BET Awards performance above.

Latto Delivers A Feline-Fierce, Twerk-Filled Performance Of ‘Big Mama’ And ‘Sunday Service’ At The 2024 BET Awards

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Latto started the year with a few sour words for her foes on tracks like “Sunday Service.” But Latto leaving the bitterness behind to enjoy her recent successes, which includes making history at Birthday Bash ATL 2024 as the event’s first woman headliner.

During the 2024 BET Awards, Latto took another victory lap. With the “Big Mama” rapper’s Sugar Honey Iced Tea album on the way, she used the stage to delivery a sweet offering of what to come.

Tonight (June 30), Latto performed a medley of an unreleased song, “Sunday Service,” and “Big Mama” with her sister Brooklyn Nikole cheering her on in the front row.

Last year, Latto took home the Best Female Hip-Hop Artist award and put it all on the floor with a showing of her then viral hit. So, today, it was only right to outdo herself.

Dripped in diamonds and fur, Latto that she’s come a long way since her time on the music competition show, The Rap Game. Latto referenced the series in the opening snippet. But that wasn’t the only throwback deep cut she spotlighted. Dressed in a silk leopard set, Latto thumbed her nose at jokes about her only owning animal print undergarments with a savage twerk session.

Watch Latto’s performance at the 2024 BET Awards above.

GloRilla And Megan Thee Stallion Had An On-Stage Twerk-Off For Glo’s 2024 BET Awards Performance

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GloRilla has one of the year’s biggest songs so far with “Wanna Be,” and that tune and others made the cut for her 2024 BET Awards performance.

Right from the jump, GloRilla decided to enter the stage via a (prop) parachute. From there, she ran through an energetic medley featuring “Yeah Glo!,” “TGIF,” and “Wanna Be.” “Wanna Be,” of course, is a collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion. Meg opened the BET Awards with a performance of her own, so she stuck around and gave Glo an assist by joining for the song, even wrapping things up with an on-stage twerk-off.

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Glo has been up to a lot lately. She recently hosted a “WAP” reunion by getting Cardi B on a remix of her and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Wanna Be,” which was already in contention for Song Of The Summer consideration even without Cardi. She also teamed up with Latto for some backstage dance competition action backstage on Meg’s Hot Girl Summer Tour. Uproxx also declared that her latest, EhhThang EhhThang, was one of April’s best hip-hop albums.

GloRilla has two nominations tonight: She’s up for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist and “Yeah Glo!” is in contention for the BET Her award.

Watch Glo’s performance above and find the full list of 2024 BET Awards nominees and winners here.

Will Smith Goes Full Kanye In His 2024 BET Awards Performance With A Brand-New, Inspirational Song

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Will Smith took a page from the book of Kanye West — fortunately, not the one about Jewish people — for his 2024 BET Awards performance, employing a full Sunday Service-esque choir (led by Kirk Franklin, naturally) to accompany him as he debuted an inspirational new song, “Bulletproof.” The stage was set up like something West would have deployed during his Donda era, replete with dancing flames and extremely Yeezy wardrobe to boot — pun intended. If Will Smith wants to move into the space recently vacated by the disgraced Kanye, though, we could do worse.

Smith certainly has had his share of self-inflicted tribulations over the last couple of years. Those stem, of course, from the 2022 Academy
Awards, when Smith walked onstage to slap the host, comedian Chris Rock, after Rock made some disparaging remarks about Smith’s wife(?), Jada Pinkett Smith. Since then, due to Will and Jada’s promotional tours for their respective memoirs, the rapper/actor fell out of public favor for some time due to their persistent oversharing.

However, you’re only ever one hit away from a comeback, and in Will’s case, that hit is Bad Boys: Ride Or Die, which is not only dominating the box office, but also reminding people why they loved the Philly native as an actor in the first place. With his new song, he’s really returning to his Fresh Prince roots, and perhaps on the cusp of a musical comeback, as well.

You can watch Will Smith’s 2024 BET Awards performance above and find the full list of 2024 BET Awards nominees and winners here.

Sexyy Red Twerked In Front Of The White House For Her 2024 BET Awards Performance Medley

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Sexyy Red 2024 BET Awards
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It’s election season, and while the last presidential debate didn’t exactly inspire confidence, Sexyy Red threw her hat in the ring with her 2024 BET Awards performance.

Sexyy kicked things off with with “U My Everything” before a hard pivot into a massive White House-themed set, to shift into “Get It Sexyy,” complete with Secret Service-looking backing dancers. The performance ended, as all good ones should, with Sexyy twerking in front of the White House.

Sexyy Red has been taking advantage of election season by going politically themed with her latest output, like with her patriotic new video for “Bow Wow Wow (F My Baby Dad).” She also made her WWE NXT debut recently and twerked up a storm while doing so. She even made an unexpected cameo appearance at, of all places, Zach Bryan’s tour.

Sexyy is one of the night’s leading nominees, with five total nods. Her, Drake, and SZA’s “Rich Baby Daddy” is up for Best Collaboration; she’s up for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist and Best New Artist; and “Rich Baby Daddy” is also up for Video Of The Year and the Viewer’s Choice Award.

Check out clips of the performance above and find the full list of 2024 BET Awards nominees and winners here.

Victoria Monét Paid Homage To Michael Jackson With Her 2024 BET Awards Performance

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Fresh off announcing her song for the Disney+ Star Wars series, The Acolyte, “Power Of Two,” and dropping her Kaytranada-produced single “Alright,” Victoria Monét hit the stage at the 2024 BET Awards to perform that song, along with her breakout hit, “On My Mama.” Beginning with the latter and hitting the stage in a sporty, Y2K-era outfit, Monét paid homage to Michael Jackson, donning his iconic “Smooth Criminal” suit, then stripped down to perform “Alright” with some help from Kaytranada, ending the set with a striking, Flashdance-inspired pose, backed by a simulated waterfall. The performance was the star’s first for the BET Awards, but judging by the warm reception it received, it won’t be her last.

Although Victoria has had a fantastic year so far, it hasn’t all been good news. In May, the star said she was “gutted” to announce the cancelations of several of her upcoming festival appearances for health reasons. “Candidly I have been dealing with some ongoing health issues that have to be addressed right now, but I will be back out there soon, that’s a promise!” she wrote on her social channels. Please know it wasn’t an easy call but it’s definitely for the best. All other shows are still moving forward as planned. See you soon.”

You can watch Victoria Monét’s 2024 BET Awards performance above.

Sexyy Red Twerked In Front Of The White House For Her 2024 BET Awards Performance Medley

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Sexyy Red 2024 BET Awards
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It’s election season, and while the last presidential debate didn’t exactly inspire confidence, Sexyy Red threw her hat in the ring with her 2024 BET Awards performance.

Sexyy kicked things off with with “U My Everything” before a hard pivot into a massive White House-themed set, to shift into “Get It Sexyy,” complete with Secret Service-looking backing dancers. The performance ended, as all good ones should, with Sexyy twerking in front of the White House.

Sexyy Red has been taking advantage of election season by going politically themed with her latest output, like with her patriotic new video for “Bow Wow Wow (F My Baby Dad).” She also made her WWE NXT debut recently and twerked up a storm while doing so. She even made an unexpected cameo appearance at, of all places, Zach Bryan’s tour.

Sexyy is one of the night’s leading nominees, with five total nods. Her, Drake, and SZA’s “Rich Baby Daddy” is up for Best Collaboration; she’s up for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist and Best New Artist; and “Rich Baby Daddy” is also up for Video Of The Year and the Viewer’s Choice Award.

Check out clips of the performance above and find the full list of 2024 BET Awards nominees and winners here.