2016 BET Awards Recap, Read, Roast and Gathering………..Part 1

Last night the 2016 BET Awards aired via Viacom…meaning it aired on every single damn Viacom channel. Thank you corporate america! Now, I really don’t see it for the BET Awards and haven’t for some years now. I think that I was done when I saw Citi Trends as a sponsor. It seems from then on…the show has gone down hill. The hosts are boring, the show seems rushed, the skits are corny and draining, I don’t know half of the people there and they can’t bring in big names on a consistent basis. These big stars pay them DUST each and every year and only show up if they’re going to win an award, have something to promote, are performing or getting a tribute. Hell…they will Fed Ex their performance on a VHS tape and ship that bitch overnight. They will pay the extra coins rather than show up. So that shows the decline and magnitude of this awards show. In my opinion all award shows have lost their merit and don’t actually reward talent all of the time and usually stick with popularity. So anyway…here it goes….

A couple of hours prior to the awards, a buzz started that Beyoncè was performing and possibly the opening act. Most people, including myself were like…”yeah okay…I’ll believe it when I see it.” Then right before the awards pre-show started her dancers came STOMPING on that red carpet in all of their ‘Formation’ glory. So…maybe it’s true, Beyoncè could very well be here. I mean…why would her dancers be there and not her? The only two things I will say about the pre-show are: 1. Terrance J and Rosci are still annoying to me. 2. Tory Lanez can’t sing for SHIT! Onto the opening of the show….Beyoncè actually shows up and performs ‘Freedom’ from her ‘Lemonade’ album. The powerful song and performance set a great tone for the show. Kendrick Lamar who is featured on the track rose onto the stage and began stomping in the water as Bey danced her ass off in the background. Then it appeared that they started feeding off of each other and danced in that pool of water together. It was a great performance. Then the buzz kill…

Our host for the evening, and for the second year in a row were two people who I love dearly…Tracee Ellis Ross and Anthony Anderson. I’m sorry, but they immediately brought down my high from the opening performance. It was just corny and dumb. As much as these two are loved…they don’t need to host an award show. After that I went onto pour drink #2. It’s about time for these award shows to think about hiring these social media stars who are hilarious and not caught up in being famous and safe. They can hire them for cheap and get a good host that can actually carry the show. But I digress. The first commercial break did clock the tea on why Beyoncè showed up…she got promotion for her ‘Formation Tour’ a few times throughout the broadcast. Got it! Desiigner’s crazy ass performed and his ass hopped all around the stage into the audience about to give people heart attacks. When will these young rappers learn that jumping around all over the place looking a fool with a hype man, is not a performance. The only good thing that came from his performance were the meme’s that followed. One question…Does BET own MC Lyte…she is the MC every year. Get your coins sis! I love Lyte! Child…Chris Brown’s fans were PISSED that he lost to Bryson Tiller, and I think he beat him twice. Please don’t turn into the BeyHive and think no one else can win but your fav. Y’all already encourage his crazy ass behavior, so be fair to other artist.

The Prince tributes were going to take place throughout the show. For the first tribute, Dave Chappelle made the introduction. Dave’s made a few appearances lately. I saw him at the NBA Finals game in Cleveland and now at the BET Awards. Dave done bulked up, I see you! He introduced Erykah Badu, The Roots and Bilal for the first tribute set of the evening. Erykah sang ‘The Ballad of Dorothy Parker;’ with the Roots backing her. It was just okay for me, but it did give me a nice vintage feel. At first I wasn’t impressed, but when I listened to it again, I liked it a little more. Next Bilal comes out a brings out his inner 1984 Prince via ‘Purple Rain’ and performs ‘The Beautiful Ones’ complete with making love to the floor and all, just like how Prince would’ve done it. I lived for his performance. The following commercial break we got the first trailer to the upcoming New Edition biopic slated to air as a three-part miniseries in 2017 on of course…BET; I can’t wait for that. We were also introduced to the cast of the movie. We saw the young men who will be playing them as young kids and the men who will be playing them most likely from teenagers to adults which included Bryshere Gray and Luke James. So then of course these younger viewers were questioning New Edition’s relevance and are they worthy of a movie. WHO RAISED YOU? Ugh…they get on my nerves. I have a special read & roast for the younger generation and their disrespectful asses.

Next was the second Prince tribute performed by Stevie Wonder and Tori Kelly. Tori sang her face off as usual but I think she felt naked without her guitar. Poor Stevie…I love this legendary father but…Stevie never knows the lyrics. Always ends up mumbling through. Now Steveie…I won’t blame you for Madonna dragging you out (literally) on the Billboard Awards stage for her non-sense, but this one I can’t give you a pass on. Stevie sings at EVERYONE’S tribute. HAHAHA! When Stevie goes onto glory…everyone better sing at his tributes and things. Jennifer Hudson closed out this tribute with her gospel, yelling rendition of ‘Purple Rain’ and took us straight to church. She did a great job and also wore that white shirt thing with the hood very similar to what Prince wore once upon a time. Sidetone: Where was D’Angelo? BET…Please stop with the skits while presenting the awards. They all are corny and fall flat. And let me say this…BET y’all spent so much time, effort and money into this Prince tribute and getting Beyoncè (no shade), but totally ignored the other legends that we lost over the last year. I know Natalie Cole and Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire had amazing tributes at the BET Honors earlier this year, but they still could’ve been mentioned. I’m PISSED OFF that there was no Phife Dawg tribute. What in thee fuck? That’s insulting to his legacy, A Tribe Called Quest, his family, his fans and the hip-hop community. Get that shit together for next year. And don’t talk about you all will be honoring him at the Hip-Hop Awards, because he’s a legend and deserved to be honored on the main awards show. Y’all fuckin tried that!

Recap continued into next post…part 2