Music

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.

HER’s 2021 Lights On Festival Is Led By Erykah Badu, Bryson Tiller, And Ari Lennox

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In addition to winning Grammy and Oscar awards, HER also has her very own music festival. She first premiered the Lights On Festival back in 2019 with help from Summer Walker, Jhene Aiko, and Daniel Caesar. While there might’ve been plans to have the festival again in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic forced the singer to delay the show for the forseeable future. Now that things are reopening for the most part, HER used the 2021 BET Award stage to announce that the Lights On Festival would return this fall. Moments later, the official lineup for the show was revealed.

This year’s Lights On Festival will return the Concord Pavilion on the weekend of September 18-19. The show is led by Erkyah Badu, Bryson Tiller, and Ari Lennox as well HER who will appear with “friends” that have yet to be mentioned. Other performers for the Lights On Festival include Ty Dolla Sign, Keyshia Cole, Masego, Lucky Daye, Kiana Lede, Foushee, Blxst, VanJess, Arin Ray, Tone Stith, Tiana Major9, Maeta, Brianna Castilo, Samaria, Maxx Moore, Lorea, and more names to be announced.

In addition to announcing the festival at the BET Awards, HER also performed “We Made It” and won the Best Female R&B/Pop Artist award.

You can view the full lineup above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. 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.

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.

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.