HipHopWired was in the building at the taping of the 2016 BET Hip Hop Awards. Here’s what we saw.
HipHopWired had some good*ass seats at the BET Hip Hop Awards. Of course we don’t want to spoil the show for you since it doesn’t air until October 4. But, we made some observations and wanted to share them with you.
1.) It’s Way Past Time We Start Mentioning Big K.R.I.T With Kendrick Lamar And J. Cole
Big K.R.I.T. wasn’t up for any awards but he stole the show with his spoken word piece on police brutality and white supremacy. He started the piece dressed as a cop, barely raising his Mississippi tone above a whisper. Halfway through he threw off the officer hat on the ground and raised his voice to a more aggressive tone, much like the officers who have been caught on camera shooting and killing unamred, non-threatening Black men. By the end of the piece he was screaming and almost spitting from anger and pain as he shouted orders, simultaneously evoked the cold-hearted emotions of the killer cops and the frustrated feelings of those effected by their actions. Lecrae would latter appear to give a similar performance, but from the police shooting victim’s perspective.
Now that K.R.I.T. off of Def Jam records and completely independent, we can look forward to more performances like this as well as songs like his joint with Kenneth Wahlum.
