Remember when I attended the BET Awards last year from the comfort of my home just like everyone else? Well this year, we’re back to regularly scheduled programming folks—WE OUTSIDE! That’s right, I had a seat right at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Talk about night and day!
Before attending the show, I covered the red carpet—you should see footage from that soon, but I just want to note right now that I hope this socially distanced red carpet becomes the norm instead of the sardine can we used to emulate pre-COVID.
Anyway, let’s get to the show highlights!
It’s Some Hosts in This House
OK, it was just one host, but Taraji P. Henson played many personas as she was all about celebrating our Black queens. It was fitting because the theme of the night was “Year of the Black Woman”—and Taraji leaned all the way into that! Not only did she literally give flowers to the notable women in the audience such as Issa Rae and Rep. Maxine Waters, but she also dressed in several costumes throughout the night, paying homage to ladies such as Erykah Badu and Tina Turner. Plus, I really appreciated when she gave some love to the Black TikTok creators, especially given their current strike.
WAP = Wild Ass Performances
Now y’all know I gotta lead with the fact Cardi B was bopping around the stage with a whole ass child (likely also bopping) in her uterus! Yup, Cardi B did a Beyoncé and announced she was pregnant with baby number 2 via performance. Y’all—coming from someone who was in the building, the crowd went WILD. Of course, Cardi is no stranger to that performing-whilst-pregnant life.
Lil Nas X took us back to the Egyptian set of Michael Jackson’s “Remember the Time” with his “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)“ performance, complete with some of the choreography from the iconic 1991 video. Oh, and it looked like he had a lot of fun:
H.E.R. went full rockstar, while Jasmine Sullivan and Ari Lennox (WITH Rep. Waters) told some soulfully sexy Heaux Tales.
Queen Latifah’s Lifetime Achievement Award meant we got a fire medley of “Ladies First” and “U.N.I.T.Y.” with Lil Kim, MC Lyte, Rapsody and Monie Love.
Following the In Memoriam segment, the Ruff Ryders, Swizz Beatz, Busta Rhymes, Method Man, Griselda, Lil Buck and Jon, The Lox and Michael K. Williams all took the stage to close out the show with an electric tribute to the late DMX. Some of the songs included, “Slipping,” “Where the Hood At?,” “Party Up,” “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” and more.
Megan Thee Winner
Overall, it was Megan Thee Stallion who showed up onstage to accept an award most often during the broadcast show. Each acceptance speech was super cute and a reminder as to why she’s our fave. During the night, she reiterated that she’s a “girl’s girl” and was super happy to know that “WAP” was so universally beloved (yes, even at the White House) and concluded, “everybody got that WAP.”
The complete list of winners at the 2021 BET Awards is below:
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Heaux Tales – Jazmine Sullivan
BEST COLLABORATION
Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion – “WAP”
BEST FEMALE R&B/POP ARTIST
H.E.R.
BEST MALE R&B/POP ARTIST
Chris Brown
BEST NEW ARTIST
Giveon
BEST GROUP
Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic
VIEWER’S CHOICE: BEST NEW INTERNATIONAL ACT
Bree Runway (UK)
VIEWER’S CHOICE
Megan Thee Stallion ft. Beyoncé “Savage Remix”
BEST FEMALE HIP HOP ARTIST
Megan Thee Stallion
BEST MALE HIP HOP ARTIST
Lil Baby
DR. BOBBY JONES BEST GOSPEL/INSPIRATIONAL AWARD
Kirk Franklin - “Strong God”
BET HER AWARD
SZA – “Good Days”
BEST INTERNATIONAL ACT
Burna Boy (Nigeria)
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion – “WAP”
VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Bruno Mars and Florent Déchard
BEST MOVIE
Judas and the Black Messiah
BEST ACTRESS
Andra Day
BEST ACTOR
Chadwick Boseman
YOUNGSTARS AWARD
Marsai Martin
SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR
Naomi Osaka
SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR
LeBron James