BET Awards

Rapsody And Lil Kim Pay A ‘Ladies First/UNITY’ Tribute To Queen Latifah At The 2021 BET Awards

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Rapsody, Lil Kim, MC Lyte, and Monie Love paid lyrical tribute to Queen Latifah at the 2021 BET Awards as she won a Lifetime Achievement Award, performing Queen Latifah’s culture-defining hits “Ladies First” and “U.N.I.T.Y.” Rapsody and Monie Love opened things up with “Ladies First,” rocking gender challenging looks inspired by athletics, then Lil Kim and MC Lyte rapped “U.N.I.T.Y.,” with Kim ironically being the one to yell the iconic line, “Who you callin’ a bitch!?” The quartet’s tribute was followed by an acceptance speech from the pioneering Queen herself, who shouted out her partner, and wish fans a happy Pride Month.

Rapsody, who’s been a fixture of BET’s award shows over the years, last performed on the network in 2020, at the BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher, spitting socially conscious bars alongisde Chika, Jack Harlow, Polo G, and Rhythm + Flow finalist Flawless Real Talk. Throughout 2020, Rapsody made impressive appearances on a number of other artists’ projects, including Public Enemy’s What Are You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?, Reason’s New Beginnings, and T.I.’s The L.I.B.R.A., as well as Stevie Wonder’s social commentary, “Can’t Put It In The Hands Of Fate.” Meanwhile, she also made her own social commentary on the song “12 Problems,” ensuring she stayed in the conversation, even without having a new album out.

Watch the 2021 BET Awards tribute to Queen Latifah above.

City Girls Demonstrated How To Best Enjoy Their Hit ‘Twerkulator’ On The 2021 BET Awards

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The 2021 BET Awards were already a spectacle but at 10:20 pm ET / 7:20 PT, it was time for the “Twerkulator.” Miami duo City Girls — that’s JT and Yung Miami — hit the stage with a fleet of dancers in the shortest of short shorts to explain just what exactly their newest hit is about, with all the visual aids anyone could want.

Although the Miami duo’s musical output this year has been lower than it was at the same point when they were first breaking out, that doesn’t mean they haven’t been in the news quite as much. They’ve created their share of disturbance on social media, particularly with regard to JT’s relationship with fellow rapper Lil Uzi Vert, as well as Yung Miami’s similar possible situation with rap vet Puff Daddy — aka Diddy — aka “Love.”

However, the City Girls did share their new single “Twerkulator,” which had samples of Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock” and Cajmere’s “Percolator,” and tried to make sure that they had an entry for “song of the summer.” So far the track has peaked at No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100, which is a pretty strong start — although with Black TikTok on a strike, there won’t be a splashy dance number to push it along. Hopefully for them, tonight’s performance will do enough to get them to where they want to be.

Watch City Girls’s 2021 BET Awards performance of “TK” above.

There’s Some Understandable Confusion That Jack Harlow Is Nominated At The BET Awards

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Twitter has thoughts about a white rapper. Are you surprised? As has happened many times before, when the very white Eminem received multiple nominations at the BET Awards — an award show designed to highlight Black excellence in entertainment – fans are consternated that Jack Harlow is up for a few trophies tonight. Look, it’s not like these are small awards either, Harlow is nominated for Best New Artist, Best Male Hip-Hop Artist, and his “What’s Poppin” remix (which featured DaBaby, Tory Lanez and Lil Wayne).

Surely he is one of the rising stars in the genre, but in a space that’s reserved to focus on Black performers, who will consistently face barriers that Harlow never has and never will, it’s always a strange reality. That’s the main point for most people who are reacting to his nominations, though most aren’t really questioning his talent or disparaging his music. Still, whenever Twitter does what it does, seizing upon a subject and going to town with reactions, memes and jokes, it’s always worth checking out. Again, Jack, no hard feelings, just know those footsteps you’re walking in right now were laid down by Marshall Mathers many times over.

For his part, the main thing Jack is focusing on is his red carpet look:

Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Jazmine Sullivan Dazzled By Performing ‘On It’ With Ari Lennox And ‘Tragic’ At The BET Awards

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Jazmine Sullivan’s stellar 2021 year has brought her back to the BET Awards. For this year’s edition of the ceremony, the singer received two nominations, Album Of The Year for Heaux Tales, which she released back in January, and Best Female R&B/Pop Artist. In addition to that, she also took the stage to perform “On It” with Ari Lennox and her newest single, “Tragic.” As expected, Sullivan and Lennox absolutely impressed onstage as her soaring vocals filled the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California.

Her performance at this year’s BET Awards extends a string of excellent sets the Philly singer has delivered this year. It began when she brought her talents to NPR’s Tiny Desk in January to perform “Bodies (Intro),” “The Other Side,” “Lost One,” “Let It Burn,” and “Girl Like Me,” which she performed alongside HER who contributes a guest verse to the track. She then delivered a duet of the national anthem with Eric Church at Super Bowl LV. Elsewhere, she performed “Girl Like Me” on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and “Girl Like Me” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

“Tragic” is the singer’s first official release since dropping Heaux Tales at the beginning of the year. The track fits perfectly with the project from a conceptual and sonic standpoint which hopefully means that a deluxe reissue could be on the way.

You can watch her performance in the video above.

Roddy Ricch’s 2021 BET Awards Performance Of ‘Late At Night’ Was Classy And Cool

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Roddy Ricch‘s performance of his new single “Late At Night” for the 2021 BET Awards could best be summed up by two words: Cool and classy. Modeled after a burlesque show, the performance saw Roddy and his band styled as an old-school jazz band in front of a city skyline background and surrounded by showgirls in glittering, skimpy ensembles as he performed on the glistening stage.

Although the Compton rapper has been laying low for most of the year, he has popped up on occasion to perform at awards shows and feature on other rappers’ tracks. Earlier this year, he performed his No. 1 hit single “The Box” at the Grammys and appeared alongside DaBaby to perform their No. 1 collaboration of “Rockstar.”

Meanwhile, though Roddy didn’t release much new music himself, he popped up on 42 Dugg’s “4 Da Gang” and DJ Khaled’s “Body In Motion” with Bryson Tiller and Lil Baby. However, fans who’d been waiting for a new single from the West Coast rapper were by no means disappointed this year; June 4 saw him release his first brand-new single, “Late At Night,” after teasing it for nearly a year, and they can look forward to his next album sometime this year.

Watch Roddy Ricch’s 2021 BET Awards performance of “TK” above.

Moneybagg Yo Doubles Up At BET Awards W/ 2 Live Anthems

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Memphis rapper Moneybagg Yo made sure to pull through in epic fashion. The hip-hop heavyweight put on a performance his ride or die Ari Fletcher would be proud of. Instead of just holding things down with one set, he showed off his star power with two certified bangers. Things started off with Yo turning up […]

The post Moneybagg Yo Doubles Up At BET Awards W/ 2 Live Anthems appeared first on SOHH.com.

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.

Hip-Hop Fans Had Their Minds Blown By Cardi B’s Pregnancy Announcement At The 2021 BET Awards

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Among Cardi B’s many, many impressive accomplishments over the past few years, perhaps the most impressive one is that she’s managed to pull them all off while raising her daughter Kulture. In an industry where motherhood can often threaten the end of a musician’s career, Cardi’s defiant insistence on doing the double duty of child rearing and being an international superstar has made her a rarity in the hip-hop industry, as well as a shining light of the possibilities available to a woman who won’t settle for the status quo.

Now, Cardi B is taking that double duty even further, adding another kid to the equation and giving Kulture a little brother or sister. She kept her pregnancy a secret until tonight’s 2021 BET Awards ceremony, revealing her baby belly as she joined Migos for their performance, and sharing a photo to her Instagram shortly thereafter. Fans, naturally, went ballistic upon learning Cardi would soon bring a new life into the world. While BET Awards viewers are already inclined to turn the performers and honorees into trending topics, this one went super viral, as Cardi B jumped to No. 2 on the trending topics list.

Check them out below.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

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.

Cardi B Showed Up During Migos’ ‘Type Sh*t’ Performance To Announce She’s Pregnant Again

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Migos recently released the third installment of their ongoing Culture series, and Culture III offered more of the same triplet flows and lightning fast rap verses that have been their signature from the beginning. With the impact of Culture III — including a collaboration with none other than Drake on “Having Our Way” — of course the Atlanta trio would be a presence at tonight’s BET Awards. Of course, the beloved group has been up against some heavy charges with the drama that went down between Quavo and Saweetie, who were formerly one of hip-hop’s hottest couples and had a rather brutal, public breakup. Aside from allegations of cheating, which Quavo deflected, some expensive gifts have been rescinded, and Saweetie is ready to move on.

Another related couple is doing much better though, during their performance tonight of “Type Sh*t” off the album — a collaboration with Cardi B — the one and only “WAP” artist announced that she’s pregnant again. Though her own relationship with Offset has been a little tumultuous, it looks like the couple is happy to be expanding their family. Check out the video of their performance and Cardi’s big announcement above, along with a newly shared photo on Twitter below.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.