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The 2022 BET Awards took place on Sunday, June 26TH at the Microsoft Theater in Downtown Los Angeles, California. Dubbed “Culture’s Biggest Night”, the event did not disappoint as some of the world’s greatest melanated icons showed up and showed out from the red carpet to the stage.

The winners of the night’s awards were as follows:

Best Female R&B/Pop Artist

Winner: Jazmine Sullivan 

Nominees:

Doja Cat

Mary J. Blige

Ari Lennox

H.E.R.

Chlöe 

Summer Walker

Album of the Year

Winner: An Evening With Silk Sonic, Silk Sonic

Nominees:

Certified Lover Boy, Drake

Donda, Kanye West

Planet Her, Doja Cat

Heaux Tales, Mo’ Tales, Jazmine Sullivan

Back of My Mind, H.E.R.

Best Male R&B/Pop Artist

Winner: The Weeknd

Nominees:

Yung Bleu

Blxst

Wizkid

Lucky Daye

Chris Brown

Best Male Hip-Hop Artist

Winner: Kendrick Lamar

Nominees: 

Drake

J.Cole

Lil Baby

Kanye West

Future

Jack Harlow

Best Female Hip-Hop Artist

Winner: Megan Thee Stallion

Nominees: 

Nicki Minaj

Cardi B

Doja Cat

Saweetie

Latto

Best Collaboration

Winner: Essence, Wizkid Ft. Justin Bieber, Tems

Nominees:

Kiss Me More, Doja Cat Feat. SZA

Every Chance I Get, DJ Khaled Feat. Lil Baby & Lil Durk

Whole Lotta Money (Remix), Bia Feat. Nicki Minaj 

Family Ties, Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar 

Way 2 Sexy, Drake Feat. Future & Young Thug 

Best New Artist

Winner: Latto

Nominees:

Tems

Muni Long

Yung Bleu

Benny the Butcher

Baby Keem

Best Group

Winner: Silk Sonic

Nominees:

City Girls

Young Dolph & Key Glock

Migos

Chlöe X Halle 

Lil Baby & Lil Durk

Video Director of the Year

Winner: Anderson .Paak aka Director .Paak.

Nominees:

Missy Elliott

Benny Boom

BeyoncĂ© & Dikayl Rimmasch 

Director X

Hype Williams

Video of the Year

Winner: Family Ties, Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar

Nominees:

Pressure, Ari Lennox

Have Mercy, Chlöe

Way 2 Sexy, Drake Feat. Future & Young Thug 

Kiss Me More, Doja Cat Feat. SZA

Smokin Out the Window, Silk Sonic 

Best Gospel/Inspirational Award

Nominees:

Grace, Kelly Price

Hallelujah, Fred Hammond

Jireh, Election Worship & Maverick City Music

All in Your Hands, Marvin Sapp

Come to Life, Kanye West

The audience and viewers were treated to an array of performances some unanticipated, others expected yet all memorable and wildly entertaining. The night was wrought with some surprise appearances from artists like Brandy, who popped into Jack Harlow’s set rapping and giving all female MCs a run for their money. This was especially heartwarming given how Jack Harlow had mistakenly offended Brandy and her fan base a few weeks before by not knowing who she was and referring to her as “Ray J’s sister” when we all know it’s rather the opposite: Ray J is Brandy’s brother and Brandy is BRANDY. Speaking of Ray J, he had a viral moment himself when he was caught red handed chowing down on some ramen noodles. The moment has now earned him an endorsement with the company that makes the noodles he couldn’t wait till after the show to devour. In the end, 24 year old Harlow certainly realized he’d erred and decided to honor the living legend by including her in his set where she showed off her rapping chops; proving that she is not only the vocal Bible but a force to reckon with in Hip Hop as well. Should we look forward to a rap album from Brandy soon? Time will tell, but currently all signs seem to point to YES!

Another moment that shook up the entire auditorium and made the audience go crazy was when Latto honored another living Legend, Mariah Carey, when she brought her out on stage to perform her hit “Fantasy” as a remix to Latto’s sample of the latter “Big Energy”. The crowd erupted in cheer as we all watched in awe not believing we were getting to see Mariah live. It is said that Mariah leaves the house for no one so to get to see her is an honor for any audience. Her vocals were immaculate as well and the auditorium erupted in confetti in honor of the legend. This was definitely the highlight of the night for me as far as performances. It began with Latto getting the audience on her feet with her trendy tunes as she held her own and proved that she is not just a rapper but an entertainer as well.

Other highlights of the night included a killer performance by newcomer Doechii who proved she is certainly one to watch. Billy Porter stormed the stage with a fabulous display in honor of Pride Month, treating us to ball room culture as LGBTQIA icons- including stunning Pose Co- Star Dominque Jackson- rocked the runway as the audience held up score placards of all nines and tens across the board. Another great performance was delivered by Muni Long with immaculate vocals and breathtaking feather choreography that shocked us all as we initially thought she was wearing a giant pink feather skirt only for it to start moving at some point and breakout into what looked like dozens of dancers that made a beautiful accompaniment to her hit song Hrs & Hrs. In a BET first, we also got our first ever Afro Beats Live performance when Fireboy performed DML and had the crowd singing the popular social media tune, “Peru Para”.

Finally, we could not possibly highlight the night’s performances without bringing up the epic tribute to Sean “Diddy” Combs. The rapper, media mogul and entrepreneur, 52, was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2022 BET Awards. He treated us to several star-studded performances by Bad Boy artists, past and present, that included Mary J Blige, Jodeci, Lil Kim, Shyne, Jadakiss and Sheek, Busta Rymes and Faith Evans. Kanye West also made an incognito appearance in honor of Diddy announcing that he had plans to declare himself “legally dead for a year” but had broken his Hiatus for the chance to present Diddy with his Lifetime Achievement Award.

In a touching moment, Diddy got personal and gave a special shout out to his late ex, Kim Porter.  He played a video clip of her telling him, “ Congratulations, Puffy, you’re a star. I can’t tell you how proud I am. From Harlem to Hollywood, that’s a long journey … You work so hard, and I’ve watched you, your blood sweat and tears, and you’ve arrived”. He also featured adorable home videos of their children King Combs, 24, and the twins Jessie James Combs and D’Lila Star Combs, 15 in the video Montage.

In an awkward twist, however, Diddy thought it appropriate to thank his, now married with 2 children, ex-girlfriend of 10 years, Cassie, in his award speech for “holding me down in the dark times, love”, all while his rumored current girlfriend, Yung Miami, was in the audience holding up a sign that read “Go Papi” in support of her alleged man. He also thanked a several other people that he said were there for him over the years, with no mention of Yung Miami. Perhaps he plans to do so at the next Milestone tribute.

All in all, this year’s BET Awards gave us countless moments to leave us milling over excitedly. As we wait for next year’s show, however, below is a compilation of all the performances that rocked “Culture’s Biggest Night” this year to hold you over till them.

Latto and Mariah Carey
Chloe
Muni Long
Lizzo

Written By: Rachel Mbuki