Best and Worst of BET Awards

By Maya Mackey

This year’s BET Awards drew an uptick in viewership and Twitter engagement. The last 3 years viewership plummeted to a mere 1 million viewers. This year, the buzz felt fresh again. No doubt, the resurgence of Usher’s superstar status and promised Lifetime Achievement Award was a major factor to tune in. But the stars of today brought the heat as well. In case you missed it, here is a recap of the best and the worst that the show had to offer. 

The Worst (in order from most to least cringe)

Multi-hyphenate entertainer, B. Simone did a tacky bit, asking select celebrities and influencers, “What is a Black Job”? To be clear, this was intended to be a mockery of Donald Trump’s comments from last week’s presidential debate that migrants are “taking black jobs,” thus eliciting both humorous and serious discussions around the implications of Trump\s statement. Laughter is the highest form of alchemy in our community but some jokes should be gatekept. 

Childish Gambino mocked the now infamous Jay Z Grammy speech. If you missed it, earlier this year, Jay Z received the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, and in his acceptance speech, he stood up for his wife, claiming she can’t be the most Grammy decorated artist ever and yet never win the prestigious Album of the Year Award. Gambino made a similar complaint at Sunday’s BET Awards pointing out that Sam Smith has as many BET Awards as Gambino himself. Again, to be fair, that is asinine. And the point does stand, how can a white man be equally or more acknowledged than Donald Glover at the BLACK Entertainment Television Awards? He’s not wrong to point it out but he certainly could have found a way to be original about it. Donald is a talented man, no doubt, but he doesn’t have the swagger Jay Z has to pull off shade with such finesse. 

Will Smith, to the request of absolutely no one, debuted a gospel adjacent anthem about overcoming the storms of life. Bruh…we get it. You slapped a guy. Please let it go. We forgive you, I promise. 

The Biden/Harris propaganda. Ok, propaganda is a strong word but VP Kamala Harris, trying to be hip, claiming and I, quote, “yea girl, I’m out here in these streets” and proclaiming how gun safety is under threat (when she and Biden literally have the power to do something about it) is just…tired. Girl, just tell us to vote and move it along. Politicians don’t need to be cool, they need to do what they say.

Taraji’s hosting. It pains me to type this. I love Taraji. WE love Taraji.. But her rushed original rendition of ‘Not Like Us”, her live informercial/shameless plug of her TPH Hair Products at Walmart and the cringefest that was the “give them their roses” bit (Youtube it) was just a deplorable misuse of her talent. 

And now for the moments worth reliving.

Victoria Monet cemented her long term stay in the industry with an electrifying performance of her biggest hits to date, On My Mama and Alright. It was as much a tribute to Micahel Jackson’s show stopping BET Performances of the past as it was a debut of her mainstream power. Winner of multiple awards that night, what truly touched me was her advocacy for dancers to have unions and equitable pay as well as for women in the industry to form allegiances, and extending an open invitation to collaborate with her in the future. Her talent shines bright but her heart shines even brighter. 

McDonald’s spotlight on up and coming Black fashion designers has taken on a new initiative – “the Black & Positively Golden (B&PG) Change of Fashion, a game-changing program aimed at uplifting emerging Black fashion designers and equipping them with career-propelling mentorship, resources, and financial support that will accelerate their career trajectories.” Five winners of the grant will receive up to $40,000 each and a year-long mentorship from fashion industry experts to advance their careers. 

Van Van, everybody’s favorite tiny internet cousin got to perform a whole song about self love and empowerment. At only 5 years old, the stage presence, memorization and confidence is something to marvel at. Most 5 year-olds are bashful saying their name to the great aunt that comes around every holiday. Performing a whole song and dance in front of thousands of people? Van Van is unstoppable and a huge shout-out to her parents for instilling such courageousness and confidence in her. 

Killer Mike’s speech. Much like Taraji, voting was the heart of Killer Mike and during his acceptance speech for best rap album, he placed a call to action- “if you don’t like your politicians, you better replace them or run yourself”.

Shaboozey and Tanner Adell made history as the first country artists to perform at the BET Awards. Shaboozey, however, stole the show with a cowboy western theater-esque set design, performing his single “A Bar Song (Tipsey).” Shaboozey’s stage presence was certainly a delight but the set design and dancers are what really did it for me. Plus, he brought out J kwon, the original Tipsy king! Black Nostalgia meets theater, meets innovation! Give him his tens. 

Tyla! Baby that is a star, plain and simple. Her vocasl, dance moves and creativity – she had dancers  meticulously face painted and choreographed to look like tigers, playing on the ignorant trope that Africans go to school with lions and tigers. Always one to play it coy, Tyla brought “Africa” to the states. 

And lastly, the Usher tribute! While there were certainly some odd choices in the mix (Tinashe and Summer Walker for example), most of the tribute to the legend that is Usher was impeccable. CoCo Jones did a sultry rendition of his hit, “There goes my baby”, serenading Usher’s wife first before acknowledging the man himself. Chloe Bailey did “Good Kisser” which got Usher out of his seat, KeKe Palmer earned a standing ovation from him and Teyana Taylor and Victoria Monet, reinvented Usher and Beyonce’s classic 2004 BET Awards performance. Which brough the entire house down. Even Beyonce, who was not in attendance, shared Victoria Monet’s performance to her Instagram stories! When you impress the King AND the Queen? Well, it’s safe to say you did your job.

If BET can keep up the charm and the talent of this year’s award next year, I think they might be on their way back to greatness.