BET Awards 2021

The Biggest Moments Of The 2021 BET Awards

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Getty Image / Paul Rosales

The 2021 BET Awards were, as usual, full of surprises, with enough moments that lit up social media to forgive the at-times seemingly slapdash and slightly overlong production (going to commercial during performances should simply not be a thing, ever, especially in a show that ran almost four hours). Whether those moments prompted wig removals, like Jazmine Sullivan’s virtuoso vocal performance of “On It” with Ari Lennox, or roasting, like DaBaby’s bursting-at-the-seams, off-sync rendition of “Ball If I Want To,” BET put on a show worth talking about, pulling its fair share of online buzz even amid an NBA conference finals game with lots of dynamite moments of its own.

With so much chatter throughout the show, though, there will still a few moments that rose above the rest, causing more than just a stir. Instead, they felt more like culture-shifting occurrences, whose residual effects will ripple outward like waves in a pond when a stone breaks the surface. These may end up being the ones that inspire retrospectives as we look back on them as the inciting incidents for huge changes in the way things are. Here are the three biggest moments of the 2021 BET Awards.

Cardi B Announces Her Pregnancy

Joining Migos to perform their Culture III standouts “Straightenin‘” and “Type Sh*t,” Cardi B pulled another pregnancy reveal for the ages, walking out midway through the performance in a rhinestone-studded bodysuit with a sheer midriff to show off her belly. The crowd pop when she does says everything that needs to be said; Cardi is already helping to carve out a new status quo for mothers in entertainment, but adding another child to the mix makes things even more interesting. It’s one thing to be a working artist while pregnant, it’s another to keep working when you have a child, but it’s an another-other thing entirely to get pregnant again, keep working, and still outwork the dudes — including the one who helped make all these kids in the first place.

Lil Nas X Remembers The Times — And Makes Out With One Of His Dancers

When Lil Nas popped out in dazzling golden ancient Egypt-inspired regalia to perform “Montero,” it didn’t take long for Twitter to draw comparisons to Michael Jackson’s 1991 music video for “Remember The Times.” After all, that was the theme for Mike’s video, which despite being way before Nas’ time, is such a fixture of Black culture that I’m sure he’d been exposed to it about 100 times before he hit puberty. So when he broke out into the iconic choreography from that video with his dancers, a thrill of satisfaction shot through viewers’ timelines — then transformed when he called back to another legendary award show moment. In 2003, Madonna, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera made history with a same-sex kiss at the MTV VMAs, solidifying their status as queer icons. I imagine we’ll look back on Nas’ kiss with his dancer the same way, as a watershed moment of representation. Happy Pride!

Megan Thee Stallion Refuses(?) To Perform Alongside DaBaby

This one’s more of a developing situation, but viewers couldn’t help but note that despite their long string of collaborative hits together — including DJ Khaled’s “I Did It,” which they performed last night — Megan Thee Stallion and DaBaby’s relationship seems to have strained to the point where at least one of them won’t share a stage with the other. While there could be any number of reasons why Meg slunk off stage after finishing her verse for “I Did It” without joining the group shot at the end (which included DaBaby, Lil Baby, Lil Durk, and HER), considering their recent social media spat, which resulted in Meg unfollowing DaBaby across platforms, it’s almost assured we haven’t seen the end of this saga. One or the other may soon be called upon to address the rather obvious moment — in which case, another round of reactions wouldn’t be out of the question.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Lil Nas X Claps Back At Criticism Of His On-Stage Kiss At The BET Awards

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Yesterday’s BET Awards ceremony was full of memorable moments, but Lil Nas X delivered one of the most notable with his performance of “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” He ended the performance by kissing one of his male backing dancers, and while the response to the moment was largely positive, there was still inevitable backlash, at which the rapper promptly clapped back.

One Twitter user referenced the performance’s aesthetic theme and wrote, “DONT USE AFRICAN CULTURE FOR SH*TS LIKE THIS!!!!!!! RESPECT OUR ANCESTORS.” Nas replied, “y’all really like to pretend homosexuality didn’t exist in african culture.”

Indeed, a 2015 column from The Guardian cites numerous examples of homosexuality in African culture, from relevant words in local languages to Mwanga II, the king of Buganda from 1884 to 1888 who “was openly gay and faced no hate from his subjects until white men brought the Christian church and its condemnation.”

Elsewhere, another tweeter shared some criticism of the rapper’s red carpet dress, writing, “I’m sure he was paid a million dollars to wear this nonsense. This will cause other little boys that admire him to dress this way for free and I hate seeing men emasculated.” An unbothered Nas responded, “we causing the emasculation of men all 2021.”

Check out Nas’ performance here.

Megan Thee Stallion Walked Off The Stage Before DaBaby Arrived For Their BET Awards Performance

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The 2021 BET Awards was a smooth sailing affair. The artists delivered great performances and many of the award winners arrived to accept their trophies and give touching acceptance speeches. However, for those who kept a close eye on their TVs during the award show, they might’ve noticed a slightly awkward onstage moment between Megan Thee Stallion and DaBaby.

The two rappers were set to perform “I Did It” with DJ Khaled and Lil Baby at the BET Awards, but after an argument broke out between them on social media, it was hard to imagine they’d take the stage together without their somehow settling their differences beforehand. With Megan leading the way on the song, the Houston rapper performed her verse and slyly exited staged right as Lil Baby rapped his verse. By the time DaBaby arrived to perform, Megan was nowhere to be found as Khaled, Baby, and DaBaby were left as a lone trio to bring the performance to a close.

Megan and DaBaby’s rift began after the latter retweeted a post on Twitter about him and Tory Lanez being cool because they “both shot somebody and don’t have to do no jail time.” DaBaby claimed the retweet was accidental, but Megan wasn’t buying his excuse. “Support me in private and publicly do something different…these industry men are very strange,” she said in one tweet. DaBaby replied, “You know like I know I ain’t no “industry” n****.” The two exchange a couple more tweets before unfollowing each other on the social media platform.

You can watch Megan walk off the stage during the performance in the video above.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

DJ Khaled Brought Out Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Baby, And More For His 2021 BET Awards Performance

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DJ Khaled returned in time for summer with Khaled Khaled, a 14-track album absolutely stacked with major collaborations like Justin Bieber, Meek Mill, HER, Migos, Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Baby, DaBaby, and more. Since DJ Khaled is nominated for Best Collaboration at the 2021 BET Awards, it only makes sense that he would celebrate by bringing Lil Durk, Lil Baby, Megan Thee Stallion, and more to the stage at for his medley performance.

Lil Durk and Lil Baby first kicked off the set to deliver their collaboration “Every Chance I Get.” Then taking the stage, DJ Khaled hyped up the crowd in his typical fashion with one-liners like, “Jealousy is a disease” and “Don’t get mad, get a bag.” Finally, Megan Thee Stallion and DaBaby appeared, joined by HER on guitar, to fire off a pumped-up rendition of “I Did It.”

Ahead of his 2021 BET Awards performance, DJ Khaled was invited to record his reaction to Megan Thee Stallion’s “Thot Sh*t” video before it aired. The producer looked incredulous, shaking his head in disbelief and pointing to a new, raunchy era of the rapper’s music. “Yo, they gon’ actually air this? It’s going on YouTube and all that? Nah! Yo. It’s a new world, and it’s definitely a new video,” he said. DJ Khaled’s reaction was pretty spot-on, as Megan’s video featured clips of her twerking on the desk of an old conservative senator.

Watch a clip of DJ Khaled’s 2021 BET Awards show performance above.

Khaled Khaled is out now via The Best/Epic Records. Get it here.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Silk Sonic Delivered A Smooth Rendition Of ‘Leave The Door Open’ At The 2021 BET Awards

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Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars took the music industry by storm when they formed their duo Silk Sonic and released their upcoming album’s lead single “Leave The Door Open.” The song soared to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks, went viral on TikTok, and earned them the chance to perform at a number of awards shows, including the 2021 Grammys. Silk Sonic now bring their lush track to a silky-smooth rendition at the 2021 BET Awards to celebrate their Best Group nomination.

Leaning into their ’70s aesthetic, .Paak and Mars took the stage sporting matching pastel tuxedos. Joined by a few dancers, the duo left the stage and delivered the rest of their song amid the crowd. After their set ended, .Paak and Mars trolled the audience by asking if they wanted to hear a brand new song. But instead of unveiling a brand-new track, the performance cut to a commercial break.

Ahead of their set, .Paak and Mars sat down with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe to discuss their new duo. The two had been on tour together in 2017 and were intermittently messing around in the studio. As Mars explains it, though, things really kicked off when he called up a drunk .Paak and told him to meet him in the studio. “When we got to the studio, I actually called him on his birthday and I said, ‘I think I figured out that little hook we had. Come to the studio.’ He’s like, ‘It’s my birthday.’ So he came drunk. After every take, he was on fire.”

Watch a clip of Silk Sonic performing “Leave The Door Open” at the 2021 BET Awards above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Lil Nas X Delivered A Steamy Rendition Of ‘Montero (Call Me By Your Name)’ At The 2021 BET Awards

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Lil Nas X has already had quite the eventful year. He dropped two new singles, had a wardrobe malfunction on his SNL debut, and was sued by Nike for selling “Satan shoes.” Now, Lil Nas X may not hold a nomination at the 2021 BET Awards show this year, but he still gave a showstopping performance of “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” at the ceremony.

Lil Nas X went all-out during his 2021 BET Awards set. He waltzed out wearing in an all-gold, Egyptian pharaoh-inspired outfit, paying homage to Michael Jackson’s iconic “Remember The Times” video. That wasn’t the only pop culture moment Lil Nas X paid tribute to. At the end of his set, the musician made out with a few of his fellow backup dancers, drawing inspiration from the iconic kiss shared by Britney Spears, Madonna, and Christina Aguilera at the 2003 VMAs.

Ahead of his BET Awards performance, Lil Nas X revealed that he knew his “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” track would eventually land on Fox News, even during the planning stages. The musician laid out his vision as a recent guest on the Desus & Mero show, saying he had some idea of its controversial nature before it dropped. “Even when I was planning the video, I was like, ‘Oh, this is definitely going to hit Fox News,’” he said. “I definitely didn’t expect the outrage as much as it was at all, especially, like, governors tweeting me. Like, you’re a governor. You don’t have anything better to do?”

Watch a clip of Lil Nas X perform “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” at the 2021 BET Awards above.

Tyler The Creator Kept His Promise To ‘Yell On Stage’ At The 2021 BET Awards

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Earlier this month, Tyler The Creator gave just over a week’s notice before dropping his new project Call Me If You Get Lost, which features musicians like Lil Wayne, Pharrell Williams, Lil Uzi Vert, and even an brief and uncredited appearance by Frank Ocean. Now hot on the heels of his recent album, Tyler The Creator appeared on stage at the 2021 BET Awards for a blustering performance.

Hours ahead of taking the stage, Tyler The Creator made a promise to his fans on social media. “I YELL ON STAGE TONIGHT AT THE BET AWARDS,” he wrote on Twitter ahead of his appearance. Well, it seems as though the rapper kept his pledge as he gave a rendition of his “Lumberjack” track. His entire performance was delivered while a simulated weather storm was happening on stage, causing the rapper to continuously stumble over while firing off the lyrics to his Call Me If You Get Lost track.

Ahead of returning with his Call Me If You Get Lost LP, Tyler The Creator had been endlessly teasing a new era of music. He debuted his new pastel persona earlier this month with a short teaser, showing that he had traded in his Andy Warhol-inspired IGOR character for a more vibrant look. It looks like Tyler is sticking with the new look as he showed up on the 2021 BET Awards red carpet sporting the same faux fur hat.

Watch a clip of Tyler The Creator at the 2021 BET Awards above.

Call Me If You Get Lost is out now via Columbia. Get it here.

Megan Thee Stallion Is On Her ‘Thot Sh*t’ At Her 2021 BET Awards Performance

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After emerging from a brief hiatus, Megan Thee Stallion marked her return by dropping her sweltering song “Thot Sh*t.” Megan is leading the pack at the 2021 BET Awards Sunday night with an impressive seven nominations. To celebrate, the rapper pulled off a eye-catching rendition of her hit “Thot Sh*t” track.

Taking the stage in an all-black outfit, Megan was joined by a crew of backup dancers to strut her stuff for her “Thot Sh*t” set. The rapper delivered her cutting lyrics while dropping it low as a projected image of a diamond flashed behind her.

Ahead of her performance, Megan’s “Thot Sh*t” song caused quite an uproar from both sides of the political aisle. One GOP congressional candidate, DeAnna Lorraine, was very outspoken about her distaste for Megan and Cardi B’s song “WAP” last year. So when Megan dropped “Thot Sh*t,” Lorraine thought the song was throwing direct shade at her.

On the other hand, “Thot Sh*t” became the subject of a boycott by Black TikTok creators. According to Mashable, Black TikTok creators were fed up over the tendency for non-Black TikTok users to co-opt their dances — and get more attention. Those on strike noted how popular TikTok users like Addison Rae and Charli D’Amelio essentially copied already well-known dances, which were oftentimes created by Black users, and used them to boost their fame.

Watch Megan Thee Stallion perform “Thot Sh*t” and ” above at the 2021 BET Awards.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

DaBaby Got Sporty For A Performance Of His New Track ‘Ball If I Want’ At The BET Awards

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When DaBaby isn’t getting into a Twitter flame up with Megan Thee Stallion over a “retweet” — aka about “Skat,” his new collaboration with Tory Lanez who is person non grata with Megan after he shot her — he’s still one of the most popular rappers of the year. He doubled down on recent success with a sporty performance of “Ball If I Want,” one of his new solo singles from 2021. The track is one of his newest releases, followed up by another new single, “Red Light Green Light.”

Though the lyrics reference balling out whenever he wants, the performance played into the sporty side of the phrase and featured the North Carolina native sporting his very own letterman jacket while he performed, athletes dunking in hoops and cheerleaders twerking around him. Not to mention a cartoonish looking mascot of a giant baby dancing along during the set. No sly camera work cut around to get a read on Megan Thee Stallion’s reaction to the performance, if she’s in the audience watching it, but odds are these two will be staying very far away from each other tonight. Or maybe they’ll meet up and find a way to squash the beef? Either way, it doesn’t seem like DaBaby is losing any sleep over the drama. Check out his performance above.

H.E.R. Performed ‘We Made It’ Off Her New Album ‘Back Of My Mind’ At The BET Awards

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H.E.R. has just released an excellent new album, Back Of My Mind, and was part of Amazon’s Prime Day concert film alongside Kid Cudi and Billie Eilish, so she’s been in the spotlight a lot lately. All that wasn’t enough to stop her from entering her BET Awards performance tonight by descending from the ceiling on a floating platform while playing the drums herself. Is there anything she can’t do? The multi-talented artist was performing the intro off her new album, “We Made It” during tonight’s show, and after kicking things off with the drums, she later put on a guitar to shred the guitar solo toward the end of the track.

Though it’s one of the earliest performances in the show, and it will be hard for people to top Cardi B and Offset announcing that the “WAP” rapper is pregnant with their second child, H.E.R.’s live rendition of this track is still going to be one of the highlights of the night. She’s become a cultural force in the R&B world in just a few short years, but clearly, this woman is a career artist. Check out her performance above and if you haven’t spent any time with her new album, Back Of My Mind yet, definitely give it a spin.