Black culture’s biggest night took center stage, as some of our brightest stars showed up and showed out at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles for the 21st Annual BET Awards.
Hosted by Taraji P. Henson, the night kicked off with a performance of ‘We Win’ by Kirk Franklin and Lil Baby, that merged “the church house with the trap house,” and right away, the energy felt way different from last year’s show. If you remember, last year the BET Awards was one of the first major awards shows to take place virtually and remotely due to the pandemic. The theme for this year was the “Year of the Black Woman,” with rapper Meg Thee Stallion leading nominations with seven, alongside Da Baby. Meg took home four awards last night, including one for her collaboration with Beyonce for the ‘Savage’ remix, and her summer smash with Cardi B last year for ‘WAP’. The Houston hottie also killed the stage in an all-black latex bodysuit during her performance for her latest single ‘Thot Sh*t’.
Also, the first winner of the night was Andra Day, named best actress for her stellar role as Billie Holiday in ‘The United States vs. Billie Holiday.’ Jazmine Sullivan won album of the year for Heaux Tales, and H.E.R. was named best female R&B/pop artist.
Now let’s get into Cardi B’s performance with the Migos. The hip hop trio performed two songs from their new album ‘Culture 3’, but the biggest talker following the performance was Cardi revealing her second pregnancy with husband and Migos group member, Offset.
And it didn’t just stop there! Throughout the night, Black women continued to steal the show and receive their flowers. Actress Lauren London shouted out and honored Darnella Frazier, the young woman who recorded George Floyd’s death. Queen Latifah received the Lifetime Achievement Award, with celebrities like Lil Kim and MC Lyte honoring her 30-year career. And you can’t talk about Black women without mentioning the City Girls, period! The Miami-duo hit the stage with a whole crew of Black women dancing behind them as they showed the world how to do the ‘Twerkulator’.
Another big talker of the night, Lil Nas X! Let me just say that after last night’s performance, everyone will be talking about this young man! During his performance for his single ‘Call Me by Your Name’, he ended by locking lips with a male backup dancer. It got my attention, and the audiences too!
To close out the night, Swizz Beatz put together a moving tribute to honor his friend, rapper DMX, who died in April. The medley included performances of some of his most popular songs and featured Busta Rhymes and Method Man.
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