The 2023 BET Awards celebrated 50 years of hip-hop with tributes to the genre’s earliest voices, late legends, and new talent during a show packed with spectacular performances that consistently felt like a party.
The biggest surprise came when Quavo and Offset, the surviving members of Migos, performed 'Bad and Boujee' in front of an image of Takeoff, who died in a shooting last December.
“BET, do it for Take,” the duo shouted near the beginning of their set, as their backdrop switched from the image of a space shuttle to one of Takeoff pointing in the air.
Throughout the show, whether it was Tupac, Notorious B.I.G., Biz Markie or Pop Smoke, performers and emcee Kid Capri paid homage to late hip-hop stars, often by quickly highlighting a taste of their best-known hits. In a show where few awards were given, Capri and BET kept the emphasis on the music.
Busta Rhymes took home the night’s biggest honour, the Lifetime Achievement Award, handed to him by Swizz Beatz. The 12-time Grammy Award nominated rapper, producer, and pioneering hip-hop figure is widely regarded as one of the great MCs, with seven Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits to his name.
Diddy, Janet Jackson, Chuck D, Missy Elliot, Pharrell Williams, and Mariah Carey recorded a video tribute to Rhymes.
“Alright, Imma wear it on my sleeve. I do wanna cry,” Rhymes started his speech, as his eyes started to water. He talked about his six children, being kicked out from his hip-hop group Leaders of the New School, and learning how to rebuild by going into studios, sharing a cigar with whoever was in the studio, and “quickly whipping up a 16 bar verse … By default, I pioneered the feature,” he said. “A lot of greatness from out people in our culture is by default. Because it’s just a magic we have.”
An energetic tribute to Rhymes followed — the MC teamed up with Spliff Star for 'Ante Up Remix', 'Scenario', 'Look At Me Now', 'I Know What You Want', before a long list of A-listers jumped in: Scar Lip with 'This Is New York', Coi Leray with 'Players', BIA with 'Beach Ball'. among them. Halfway through the performance, Rhymes shifted gears to celebrate dancehall alongside Dexta Daps 'Shabba Madda Pot', Spice, 'So Mi Like It', Skillibeng, 'Whap Whap', and CuttyRanks’ 'A Who Seh Me Dun (Wait Deh Man)'.
Throughout the show, old school hip-hop heroes and modern stars mixed it up onstage, performing tracks celebrating rap’s most influential cities and innovation. For Miami, Trick Daddy and Trina rocked through 'Nann' and Uncle Luke took on 'I Wanna Rock (Doo Doo Brown)'. For Atlanta, Jeezy ripped through 'They Know', T.I. hit '24’s', and Master P did 'No Limit Soldiers' into 'Make ’Em Say Ugh'. And for hip-hop’s reggae influence, Jamaica’s Doug E Fresh and Lil ’Vicious did an acapella version of 'Freaks', Mad Lion performed 'Take It Easy', and PATRA nailed 'Romantic Call'.
Capri spun some of Tupac’s 'Hail Marry' to tease a crash course on West Coast rap: Warren G’s 'Regulate', Yo-Yo’s 'You Can’t Play With My Yo-Yo', Tyga’s 'Rack City', and E-40’s 'Tell Me When To Go'.
An ode to trap started with Capri spinning the late Pop Smoke’s 'Dior', before Chief Keef nailed 'Faneto' and Ying Yang Twins did 'Wait (The Whisper Song)'.
