Kendrick Lamar was the night’s biggest winner, taking home five trophies from 10 nominations, including album of the year for GNX and best male hip-hop artist. The Compton MC surprised everyone by showing up in person to accept his album of the year award, making for one of the ceremony’s most thrilling moments. Chris Brown was the only other artist to win multiple awards at the BET Awards’ 25th iteration, taking home best male R&B/pop artist and the viewer’s choice award for his hit single “Residuals.”
In addition to the four sprawling Ultimate Icon tributes, BET also opted to split their in memoriam segment into thirds. For the first section, Sinners star Miles Caton joined Grammy winner Lucky Daye and Grammy-nominated crooner Luke James for a soulful Quincy Jones tribute. Shortly after, Andra Day delivered a haunting rendition of “Killing Me Softly With His Song” to honor the late Roberta Flack. Near the ceremony’s close, rising country star Brittney Spencer took to the stage for a show-stopping cover of the late Angie Stone‘s “No More Rain (In This Cloud).”
Both performers at Monday night’s show (June 9), Lil Wayne and Amerie made headlines for non-awards-related news. Weezy, who recently dropped a remix of “Banned From NO” with Nicki Minaj, dominated the weekend’s music conversation with his new Tha Carter VI album, which was largely met with a tepid reception from fans and critics alike. Amerie also faced a bit of the Internet’s wrath thanks to her spotty NPR Tiny Desk “1 Thing” performance, which she quickly came back from via two performances of her signature hit during BET Week.
With Fresh Picks, Billboard aims to highlight some of the best and most interesting new sounds across R&B and hip-hop — from Cynthia Erivo’s big solo swing to Sammy Virji and Skepta’s eclectic new collaboration. Be sure to check out this week’s Fresh Picks in our Spotify playlist below.
Usher has scrapped plans for his long-awaited return to Australia, with all dates on his Past Present Future tour now officially canceled. The R&B superstar was due to play 12 shows across Melbourne and Sydney in November and December, marking his first Australian tour in nearly 14 years. Tickets for […]
We finally get some background behind Amanda Seales telling Shannon Sharpe and the rest of the world that Boldy James owes her some bail money. The Detroit rapper sat down with Brian “B. Dot” Miller for his interview series Cover Lines and was asked directly if he owes her some […]
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