The Annual BET Awards - General Discussion

[Iamsweetdee]

Anybody watch?

[spaceytraci1208]

I did. Can't believe it was almost 4 hours. I enjoyed the Lionel tribute (although I wish Ne-Yo participted), the tribute to Maya Angelou and Ruby Dee (Phylicia Rashad looks amazing!) and the 90's R&B flashback. Everything else was pretty much a mess.

I was pretty disappointed with Chris Rock; I appreciated that he didn't pull any punches, but a lot of his jokes were stale as hell.

[Ohwell]

I thought Chris Rock did a helluva job, considering how lame this show was.  I thought this year's performers were the worst I've seen on this show.  I'm sick of Pharrell and his dumb hats, and he can't sing. Usher is beginning to have old man moves and needs to go sit down.  John Legend never did anything for me.  I cannot stand Nicki Minaj.  L'il Wayne, Trey Songz, JayZ/Beyoncé, just....zzzzzzzzz.  The 90's groups were a disappointment; sadly, I didn't even recognize Color Me Badd.  I can't even remember who else performed.

 

Surprisingly, the best performance of the night for me was Chris Brown.  Putting aside his personal issues, I thought he was electrifying to watch and I liked the song.   

 

The tribute to Lionel was OK, but I agreed with Chris Rock:  He should have done "Zoom."

[After7Only]

I watched... Chris Rock didn't seem to prepare much for the actual hosting part of the show, outside of his opening monologue .  But that monster truck rally piece was hiliarious.  I loved Usher's performance.  Yes, he is getting to be the old man... but he knows how to work his old man swag.  I appreciated the trip down memory lane with his hits.  I also liked Chris Brown (hangs head in shame). 

 

The lack of interesting 'newbies' points out to me the lack of new artists in general in R&B.  I don't know if it's because music is so driven by singles nowadays instead of albums.  But you see very few R&B new artists with more than 1-2 hit songs, and definitely not hits that just feature them.  Every song is some type of collab, with wayne, Chris Brown, Drake, etc. 

 

90s Tribute... Great to see them all again, even if time hasn't been kind to all of them.  Wished they would have added Shai, H-Five, or Soul for Real, instead of Color Me Bad.  They were always more pop than R&B to me, plus they were missing the main singer.  

 

Lionel Richie tribute was good and long overdue.  We forget that Lionel Richie was HUGE for a few years in the 80s.  I adore Ledisi, but would have preferred she sing something besides Brick House.  Yolanda Adams sang my very favorite Lionel song.

 

The best female rapper award was a joke, and I appreciated Floyd for treating it as such.... I mean Charlie Baltimore is still rapping in 2014?.... Nicki was definitely throwing shade at Iggy with her comments.  But everything about Iggy lacks authenticity for me, so I wouldn't be shocked if she doesn't write her own stuff.  Plus her Fancy song, sounds like a rip off of Gwen Stefani and Eve. 

 

Hated... we waited 4 hours to watch a taped Bey/JayZ piece. They could have kept that. 

[Ohwell]

This is my first time starting a thread. *blushes*

It's tonight at 8 pm.  Anyway, I'm looking forward to the Prince tribute.  They better bring it!  

Madonna will probably be watching. 

[DearEvette]

Beyonce and Kendrick Lamarr were fan-fucking-tastic!!

[Ohwell]

I'm old so I didn't even know that was Kendrick Lamarr.  The only reason I know the Weeknd is because of that stupid hair.  LOL.

Still waiting for Prince tribute..........

[Brooklynista]

Dave Chapelle is looking a little like K-Ci from Jodeci...which is not necessarily a good thing.

Underwhelmed by the Prince tribute. They could have put together a better medley.

Edited June 27, 2016 by Brooklynista

[Ohwell]

I thought Eryka Badu sounded as bad as Madonna.  I don't know who the guy was but I thought he was pretty good.  There's more to come though, so I hope it gets better.

[DearEvette]

Yeah, that was Bilal. Neo soul guy.  I thought he got the voice just right.  But yeah there is much more to come.  Sheila E, Maxwell, etc. so I think they started low key and plan to get more hype.

Not feeling all the rap stuff.  I just don't get the newer rap groups these days.  Yes, I am an old. The performances have been feeling a little male-centric.

[Brooklynista]

Well alright then Jennifer.!!

[Ohwell]

You know, this is probably an UO, but I never felt the love for J-Hud.  That is, until tonight.  She killed it.  Go sit down Madonna.

I'm not feeling the rappers.  Plus, I want to take them all out to the back yard and hose 'em down, put some clean clothes on them.  Clothes that fit. LOL.

[Brooklynista]

Who is responsible for Maxwell? I mean who made him?  He is perfection.

[Iamsweetdee]

Sheila Mutha F'n E! And Mayte! Just wonderful. Yeah BET, you got me. 

Edited June 27, 2016 by Iamsweetdee

[Rick Kitchen]

2 hours ago, Brooklynista said:

Who is responsible for Maxwell? I mean who made him?  He is perfection.

His mother was Haitian and his father was Puerto Rican, but he was raised in a Baptist household.  He was born in Brooklyn, but raised in Haiti.

[AgentRXS]

Now that is how you do a Prince tribute! Only criticism I have is that I wish that BET would have created an hour or 2 programming dedicated to remembering Prince (including talking heads and clips) rather than including it in an already established award show.

Bilal's "Beautiful Ones" was perfection. Janelle Monae and Sheila E absolutely  slayed with their medlies .  Maxwell (who no Prince tribute should ever be without)  sung "Nothing Compares 2 U"  EXACTLY like how Prince sounded live. It was uncanny. I normally can't stand JHud, but damn if she didn't take it to church on "Purple Rain". Bye, Madonna.

Didn't really pay attention/care for the non-Prince parts, but I will say that even as a white female, I was cheering during Jessie Williams speech. Sam L Jackson was right in that was the closest I've heard to 60s activism and I loved it. So much racial and socioeconomic injustices in this country....I'm ready for this generation's uprising.

Edited June 27, 2016 by AgentRXS

[Negritude]

4 hours ago, Brooklynista said:

Who is responsible for Maxwell? I mean who made him?  He is perfection.

I just saw him in concert last Monday and he is just...yessss.

[Negritude]

It cannot be stated how much I love me some Jesse Williams. How are you that conscious, that "woke" as the kids call it and that fine? Loved the shout out to black women. And his wife got some meat on her bones, wears her hair natural and isn't some vapid arm candy. Lucky woman. Le swoon.

[Queena]

I thought that Beyonce did a good job. 

JHud! My girl! I've never been much of a Purple Rain fan, but I would buy her rendition. 

I like Janelle Monae. 

I am too old for this music. Why is that song Panda, a song? 

 

I flovvve Jessie Williams! I co-sign all that he says. 

Edited June 27, 2016 by Queena

[Ohwell]

I really wish BET had just done a separate tribute to Prince because I had to sit through a whole show of other stuff, just to see the Prince numbers. (I guess that's what BET intended.) 

That said, I enjoyed the tribute numbers (except for Eryka Badu).  I loved how Sheila E. ended it and, I swear, I didn't know she had so much energy!  She was all over the place, plus banging the hell out of those drums.  And then Jerome! showed up and I lost my shit.   I loved her and Mayte standing there at the end.

I did miss Morris Day and the Time though, and I wonder what happened to Wendy and Lisa and the rest of the Revolution?  I would have loved to have seen them again.  

One other thing:  I suppose they're trying to appeal to a younger demographic with the rappers, Beyonce and Alicia Keys but I wish they'd include more old school acts.   For example, they could have done just a five minute tribute to Parliament-Funkadelic since Bernie Worrell just died.  Bring back George Clinton.

Edited June 27, 2016 by Ohwell

[ZaldamoWilder]

4 hours ago, Queena said:

I thought that Beyonce did a good job. 

JHud! My girl! I've never been much of a Purple Rain fan, but I would buy her rendition. 

I like Janelle Monae. 

I am too old for this music. Why is that song Panda, a song? 

 

I flovvve Jessie Williams! I co-sign all that he says. 

I really don't rock with Jhud like that but baby she had us at 9 o'clock service and for that? Respect.

Girl that thing there? Lol.  Can we express some gratitude that he didn't bring the Panda?  My 16 year old had to literally break this down for me line by line.  I asked her to prove that it was all English.  That child is also barely coherent in the interviews I've seen him do so I don't feel so bad.   When Stevie came on I turned to her and said do you know who that is?  She eyerolled me tambout maaaahm! of course I do, it's Stevie Wonder.  I said Steveland Morris Wonder thankyouverymuch, who was making hits when your grandma was your age.  Let's bow our heads and have a moment of silence for your generation's music. 

Jesse. Brruuuh. I wasn't ready.   First of all I had no idea he was a humanitarian.  Now I have to see his documentary.  That's A.    B. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here, to celebrate this thing we call....life.   Shit.  I am all the way, collar yoked up, gathered.   C.   The revolution was just televised.    Stay Woke, indeed.

On a shallow note, Gabrielle Union (43), Tracy Ellis Ross (43), Regina Hall (45), Kimberly Elise (49).   #blackgirlmagic

[Ohwell]

Kimberly Elise is 49?  Holy shit!

[DearEvette]

5 minutes ago, ZaldamoWilder said:

Jesse. Brruuuh. I wasn't ready.   First of all I had no idea he was a humanitarian.  Now I have to see his documentary.  That's A.    B. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here, to celebrate this thing we call....life.   Shit.  I am all the way, collar yoked up, gathered.   C.   The revolution was just televised.    Stay Woke, indeed.

Between him preaching and and J.Hud, it was like church up in there.  For like 10 minutes anyway.

Seriously, like you said, I wasn't ready.  That shit was some powerful truth and he looked damn mad.  I think somebody on twitter said the first time he smiled all night was during the Sheila E. set.  LOL.

I actually just listened to him on the Denzel Washington is the greatest actor of all time period podcast   a few days ago (it is such a fun podcast series, btw) and he is woke even when talking about Denzel.  But also, somehow they got on the subject of Zoe Saldana playing Nina Simone and Jesse just laid it out so succinctly.  He went off, but he did it so elegantly.  Anyway I highly recommend a listen.

I did like them showcasing the new acts over there in the corner.  Those two sisters on Bey's label were interesting.  Nice to see some experimental and different music coming from black acts and not just rap, pop & R&B.  That one talk-sing guy was... kinda strange. 

But overall the BET awards were interminable, filled mostly with male rap acts  and Usher.  Bey & opening was excellent.  But really the only other female artist performing their own work was Alicia Keys.  That is terrible.  Also they only gave out like five awards and most of them were also male skewing.

The Prince stuff was really the only reason to keep watching and I do admit they came through.  From Bilal to Maxwell (Dayum!) to Janelle to Sheila they all did a great job.  Even managed to get Jerome to put in an appearance -- no Morris tho. 

[Racj82]

I'm always the one saying that I'm watching people. I'm not going to sit and count how many men performed to women or anything like that. Even if I did, the women were up there killing it last night. I'm sure all of those women rather have done what they did instead of doing some original work. So, I don't see a issue there either. The rappers that rap have the biggest songs in the country and that's why they were there. If I don't want to listen to them, that's why I watch awards shows on a delay. It was a great night. I don't really have any complaints. I'm never going to care about every performance, winner presenter bit. But, the highs were really high. 

Jesse killed it but smile man. I don't mean when he's talking but I mean every other time. I was like damn, does he hate being there. I know he's a funny guy generally. I'm glad he gave that message though.

[DollEyes]

My verdict: for the most part, it was better than I expected. As hosts, Anthony Anderson & Tracee Ellis Ross were great. The Hamilton-inspired opening number with Anthony Hamilton was cute, but I'm afraid that some of the jokes in that bit might have been a little too obscure for the target audience. 

  Re Jesse Williams, DAAYYMM!! His Humanitarian award was not only richly deserved, his acceptance speech was everything! His background as an ex-teacher shows because class was in session, in more ways than one. That acceptance speech alone proves that Jesse Williams is way more than just another pretty face. 

Beyonce' & Kendrick Lamar were awesome. "Freedom" is one of the best songs on "Lemonade" & that performance proved it. 

  The Prince tribute was, Erykah Badu aside, epic! Bilal, Maxwell & Janelle Monae killed it, but Jennifer Hudson's version of "Purple Rain" gave me life like my mama! She. Shut. It. Down. Shiela E., Mayte & Jerome Benton were the icing on the cake. Stevie Wonder & Tori Kelly's version of "Take Me With U" was great. However, I don't think that Wonder redeemed the Billboard Awards so-called "tribute" because he wasn't just the best thing about it; he was the only good thing about it. The fault was Madonna's & TPTB at the Billboard Awards, not his. 

Edited June 29, 2016 by DollEyes
corrections.

[ZaldamoWilder]

3 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Between him preaching and and J.Hud, it was like church up in there.  For like 10 minutes anyway.

Seriously, like you said, I wasn't ready.  That shit was some powerful truth and he looked damn mad.  I think somebody on twitter said the first time he smiled all night was during the Sheila E. set.  LOL.

I actually just listened to him on the Denzel Washington is the greatest actor of all time period podcast   a few days ago (it is such a fun podcast series, btw) and he is woke even when talking about Denzel.  But also, somehow they got on the subject of Zoe Saldana playing Nina Simone and Jesse just laid it out so succinctly.  He went off, but he did it so elegantly.  Anyway I highly recommend a listen.

You got me fucked up.  I've been sitting here listening to this trying to do work and re-listening for the past 4 hours.

"these are her lived experiences and to say that experience doesn't matter by casting a light skinned actress is grotesque.......it's almost like pretending Egyptians weren't African when they painted pictures of themselves with kinky hair."

Baybay?  I need a minute.

[DearEvette]

4 hours ago, Racj82 said:

I'm always the one saying that I'm watching people. I'm not going to sit and count how many men performed to women or anything like that. Even if I did, the women were up there killing it last night. I'm sure all of those women rather have done what they did instead of doing some original work. So, I don't see a issue there either.

Yeah, it wasn't like I was counting or anything.  But it is one of those things where I was watching (i did watch live) and realized it wasn't, well, interesting really outside of Bey and the Prince stuff.  And that I was just waiting for the Prince stuff.  And then figuring out why it didn't feel interesting.  It was because most the non-Prince acts seemed almost interchangeable.  And then realizing that was because they were mostly male rappers.   It wasn't necessarily a conscious thing like I was keeping score.  More like a subconscious thing. I mean, Andra Day was there and she was a nominee and she's having a moment too she could've had a slot.  So really just a lack that felt problematic to me after the fact.

[Ohwell]

I'd like to see someone else hosting next year instead of Tracee Ellis Ross and Anthony Anderson.  I know they have a hit series (which I don't watch), but I'm over them.  I've only seen a few scenes from Hamilton, so the opening skit was lost on me.  I really like Terrence J and I'd like for him to be one of the hosts next year.  He hosted the Miss USA pageant and I thought he was really good.   Maybe have him and Gabrielle Union (or Kimberly Elise) host.

I loved Maxwell singing "Nothing Compares 2 U" but if he had sung "Adore," I would have rolled around on the floor and my ovaries would have exploded. 

Edited June 27, 2016 by Ohwell
Typos

[Dee]

As a whole the show was great.

The only glaring omissions were a comprehensive in memoriam segment and individual tributes to Maurice White, Natalie Cole, Bernie Worrell & Phife Dawg.

[Llama]

6 hours ago, ZaldamoWilder said:

On a shallow note, Gabrielle Union (43), Tracy Ellis Ross (43), Regina Hall (45), Kimberly Elise (49).   #blackgirlmagic

Yes!! Can't forget Taraji P Henson. 45 and working it (though I wasn't a fan of that particular outfit she looks fabulous). 

[Brooklynista]

Where's Tevin Campbell? Why hasn't he been invited for any of these Prince tributes?

[Queena]

34 minutes ago, Brooklynista said:

Where's Tevin Campbell? Why hasn't he been invited for any of these Prince tributes?

Right! 

I was so glad that Beyonce didn't have on shoe's. All I could see was her slipping. I do like the song Freedom. 

[MaryTylerMoore]

Are people really dissing Bilal's performance but asking for Tevin fucking Campbell? Good lordt...I thought Bilal was perfect singing Beautiful Ones as was Erykah on Dorothy Parker.  Although I've wanted to hear Bilal sing that song since I saw him live in Philly about 15 years ago.

Maxwell was good but passion-less maybe he wasn't a Prince fan; his performance didn't move me at all. Jesse Williams' speech was everything and then some. He said everything I've been thinking about this new Civil Rights movement. I typically skip the BET Awards but there were enough great moments to balance the ratchet.

Alicia Keyes was boring. Somebody needs to help her find the key. 

[Ohwell]

24 minutes ago, MaryTylerMoore said:

Are people really dissing Bilal's performance but asking for Tevin fucking Campbell?

I don't see anyone dissing Bilal's performance; in fact, if you read some of the comments above, they're complimentary about his performance.  It's just that some of us were wondering where Tevin Campbell was because he could have performed a Prince song as well.

[WendyCR72]

Hey, all! I have altered the thread title so this thread may be used annually (as other awards show threads here are!) going forward rather than stuffing up the forums with temporary threads yearly. Carry on!

[Bastet]

BET has a transcript of Jesse Williams' fantastic speech up on its website.

[ZaldamoWilder]

here's a link containing the video too.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jesse-williams-bet-awards-humanitarian-award_us_57708cebe4b017b379f65077

19 hours ago, Llama said:

Yes!! Can't forget Taraji P Henson. 45 and working it (though I wasn't a fan of that particular outfit she looks fabulous). 

I did forget Taraji, shame on me! lol.  You don't know how badly I wish I could shrink pics and drop them in here.  The memes of that skirt yesterday were crazy.

[luckyroll3]

I mainly watched the Prince tributes and Jesse Williams.  I didn't really care about the rest of it, honestly. 

I'm still here salivating over the deliciousness of Jesse Williams.  Hot, educated, and woke....swoon!  I would not have learned anything if he was my teacher.  Where the hell are these men in real life?  His speech was great.  This: "If you have no interest in equal rights for black people, then do not make suggestions for those who do.  Sit down!", as well as many other things he said, gave me life! 

Sheila E. and Mayte and Jerome!  Greatness!  All the tributes were great, but I really felt that Prince would have rocked with that one. 

I know Spike Lee was attempting to honor Prince with that outfit, but he looked like Willy Wonka.

On ‎6‎/‎27‎/‎2016 at 7:39 AM, ZaldamoWilder said:

Girl that thing there? Lol.  Can we express some gratitude that he didn't bring the Panda?  My 16 year old had to literally break this down for me line by line.  I asked her to prove that it was all English. 

You know you need to share the knowledge of the youth!  I thought for weeks that the dude's name was "Designer Panda" and just recently realized the song was Panda and he is Designer.

Edited June 28, 2016 by luckyroll3

[Rick Kitchen]

Here's the JHud and Stevie tribute:

 

http://www.bet.com/video/betawards/2016/performances/stevie-wonder-tori-kelly-jennifer-hudson-prince-tribute.html

[Ohwell]

1 hour ago, luckyroll3 said:

I know Spike Lee was attempting to honor Prince with that outfit, but he looked like Willy Wonka.

You know, I spent the whole show trying to figure out who he looked like.  I was going with Lucky Charms in purple instead of green, but I think you nailed it.  

Edited June 29, 2016 by Ohwell

[Rick Kitchen]

Why was Spike wearing Prince's symbol upside down?  Was it some sort of tribute to Prince having died?

[DearEvette]

2 hours ago, luckyroll3 said:

You know you need to share the knowledge of the youth!  I thought for weeks that the dude's name was "Designer Panda" and just recently realized the song was Panda and he is Designer.

See I thought his name was Panda and kept wondering if he was also a designer. I literally had no idea the song was titled Panda until much later.

[TimetoShine]

On 6/27/2016 at 7:56 AM, DearEvette said:

I actually just listened to him on the Denzel Washington is the greatest actor of all time period podcast   a few days ago (it is such a fun podcast series, btw) and he is woke even when talking about Denzel.  But also, somehow they got on the subject of Zoe Saldana playing Nina Simone and Jesse just laid it out so succinctly.  He went off, but he did it so elegantly.  Anyway I highly recommend a listen.

Thanks for this link. This was a great listen. So funny and really spot on throughout.

[Queena]

12 hours ago, DearEvette said:

See I thought his name was Panda and kept wondering if he was also a designer. I literally had no idea the song was titled Panda until much later.

See I thought that the radio was broken, and that's why Sirius Satellite Radio said Designer Panda. 

 

Tevin should have been invited or something. I know that they both worked together, so he would've fit.

[Rick Kitchen]

BTW, the musician's name is Desiigner, with two i's.

Shrug.

[ZaldamoWilder]

21 hours ago, luckyroll3 said:

I mainly watched the Prince tributes and Jesse Williams.  I didn't really care about the rest of it, honestly. 

I'm still here salivating over the deliciousness of Jesse Williams.  Hot, educated, and woke....swoon!  I would not have learned anything if he was my teacher.  Where the hell are these men in real life?  His speech was great.  This: "If you have no interest in equal rights for black people, then do not make suggestions for those who do.  Sit down!", as well as many other things he said, gave me life! 

Sheila E. and Mayte and Jerome!  Greatness!  All the tributes were great, but I really felt that Prince would have rocked with that one. 

I know Spike Lee was attempting to honor Prince with that outfit, but he looked like Willy Wonka.

You know you need to share the knowledge of the youth!  I thought for weeks that the dude's name was "Designer Panda" and just recently realized the song was Panda and he is Designer.

I'd still be in school. Lol.

Could not possibly regurgitate the lyrics with a gun to my head.   Back in the day our music was fast but the words were still words.  To this day I can recite the entire paragraph that starts: I came in the door, said it before, I never let the mic magentize me no more, because ya'll the shit was English.  These children have their own tribe dialect and even with  my own personal interpreter, I'm LOST. 

19 hours ago, Rick Kitchen said:

Why was Spike wearing Prince's symbol upside down?  Was it some sort of tribute to Prince having died?

If you find out can you come back and share.  I'll feel bad for laughing at his ass if there was some actual significance.

p.s. I forgot to say I hope Tanya ran up an altogether new bill for that ass-ogle Sam got caught making on camera.  Marcy Projects Booty'll get em every time though lol!

[Iamsweetdee]

Quote

Could not possibly regurgitate the lyrics with a gun to my head.   Back in the day our music was fast but the words were still words.  To this day I can recite the entire paragraph that starts: I came in the door, said it before, I never let the mic magentize me no more, because ya'll the shit was English.  These children have their own tribe dialect and even with  my own personal interpreter, I'm LOST. 

Our parents said the same things about rap (before it was hip hop) and their parents said the same thing about rock-n-roll/Motown, etc.  I think its just a right of passage for aging. 

[ZaldamoWilder]

4 hours ago, Iamsweetdee said:

Our parents said the same things about rap (before it was hip hop) and their parents said the same thing about rock-n-roll/Motown, etc.  I think its just a right of passage for aging. 

Lol!! I know that's right.  Look can you grant me that they could've sung along if they'd wanted to? lol.  My grandchildren won't ever have heard of Fetty Wap.  Meanwhile the opening bass drop of All I Do, released in 1966, was on the radio as I drove home from work.  Girl did you hear me say that came out 50 years ago??   :D

[Iamsweetdee]

20 minutes ago, ZaldamoWilder said:

Lol!! I know that's right.  Look can you grant me that they could've sung along if they'd wanted to? lol.  My grandchildren won't ever have heard of Fetty Wap.  Meanwhile the opening bass drop of All I Do, released in 1966, was on the radio as I drove home from work.  Girl did you hear me say that came out 50 years ago??   :D

Ha! I was blasting Baby I'm a Star on the way home from work like it JUST came out!

[Ohwell]

Bumping this thread up.  Anyone watch this?  

Bruno Mars and his Hooligans bring it every time and they didn't disappoint in the opening.  And I loved the New Edition tribute with the group and all the actors on stage, dancing and singing together.  Between dancing to Bruno Mars and NE, I really got my exercise last night!

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of most hip hop stuff, so I just FFed through just about all of it.  I did kinda like Future's song though.