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| Getty Images Provided by BET |
Usher, Victoria Monét, and Tyla were among the big winners at the 2024 BET Awards, held tonight at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles.
Taraji P. Henson hosted the four-hour show, featuring an array of performances from Lauryn Hill, Will Smith, Megan Thee Stallion, Ice Spice, Childish Gambino, GloRilla, and many more.
A standout moment of the night was the tribute to Usher in honor of his Lifetime Achievement Award. Introduced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Usher watched as a parade of artists celebrated his illustrious career.
Childish Gambino, who had just presented the award for Album of the Year to Killer Mike for "Michael," kicked off the Usher tribute with a stripped-down rendition of "U Don’t Have to Call." He was joined by Keke Palmer, who took over mic duties for her version of "U Make Me Wanna."
Summer Walker then appeared for a verse from her collaboration with Usher, "Good Good," while Coco Jones serenaded the man of the hour with "There Goes My Baby." Marsha Ambrosius followed with "Confessions," Chlöe performed "Good Kisser," and Tinashe delivered "Nice & Slow."
Victoria Monét, who had performed earlier in the night, reemerged with Teyana Taylor for "Bad Girl," referencing Beyoncé’s performance with Usher of the same song. Latto closed out the medley with a take on Ludacris' verse in "Yeah!"
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| Usher accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award on stage during the 2024 BET Awards at the Peacock Theatre on June 30, 2024, in Los Angeles. |
after the performance, L.A. Reid and Babyface, who signed Usher as co-founders of his label LaFace Records, presented the award to him. “Getting here has definitely not been easy, but it has been worth it,” Usher said. “This life achievement award, I don’t know man. Is it too early for me to receive it? Because I’m still running and gunning and still love this like I was eight years old.”
However, things quickly turned strange for Usher, who admitted he hadn’t prepared a speech but loved to talk. He began cursing a bit, and about halfway through his substantial acceptance, the broadcast cut out the majority of what he was saying. As he stood on stage and thanked those behind him, including Jermaine Dupri, the audience experienced dead air as he finished up the speech. It was confusing since previous presenters and performers had cursed quite a lot without being censored in the same way.
Lauryn Hill had a strong night with her closing performance, touring songs from various eras of her career. She began with the title track from her groundbreaking debut album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” as well as “Lost Ones,” and brought out her son YG Marley for “Survival” — with a verse from Ms. Hill — and the viral hit “Praise Jah in the Moonlight.” Her fellow Fugees member Wyclef Jean, who performed with Hill at YG Marley’s Coachella sets earlier this year, joined her for “Fu-Gee-La” to close it out.
Elsewhere, Megan Thee Stallion made her first appearance at the BET Awards in three years, opening the show by emerging from an egg in a reference to the album artwork for her freshly released third studio project “Megan.” The rapper ripped through “Hiss,” flanked by four male backup dancers as plumes of flames shot up behind her. A substantial crew of dancers joined her as she performed “Boa” and “Where Them Girls At.”
Host Taraji P. Henson, dressed like Kendrick Lamar at his “The Pop Out” show, gave a show-opening rendition of the rapper’s hit “Not Like Us,” dapping up the track’s producer Mustard and delivering her own lyrics. “Y’all stop playing with me, I’m Taraji P. Henson, your host,” she said at the conclusion. “That’s how you pop out.”
Grammy-winning Victoria Monét ran it back to her breakthrough hit “On My Mama,” cutting it short after its iconic line “I’m so deep in my bag like a grandma with a peppermint” to transition into her latest single “Alright.” Kaytranada, who produced the song, manned the decks as Monét changed outfits and delivered the show-stopping choreography from its video.
Other performances of the night included Sexy Redd with a medley of “U My Everything” and “Get It Sexyy,” while Tanner Adell and Doechii gave brief renditions of “Buckle Bunny” and “Rocket,” respectively. GloRilla descended from the ceiling in a parachute for “Yeah Glo!” and “TGIF” before bringing back out Megan Thee Stallion for their hit collab “Wanna Be.” Shaboozey enlisted J-Kwon to duet on “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”
Latto had her own star turn with “Big Mama,” while one of the breakout performances of the night came from Tyla, who tapped Skillibeng and Gunna for their collab “Jump.” Ice Spice previewed her upcoming album “Y2K” with a back-to-back rendition of “Phat Butt” and “Think U the Shit (Fart).”