Radar Magazine

What started back in 2001 to celebrate African Americans in the entertainment industry, has seemed to turn into a showcase for hip hop music and all that has gone wrong with music as we know it. The 2011 BET Awards aired June 26, 2011; and while one can yield to say it was all bad, you cannot bring yourself to say it was all good either. Some of the highlights of the show included: the host, Kevin Hart, and all of his funny anecdotes; the Walter Hawkins Tribute praise break; Patti Labelle’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the BET Music Matters snippets where they showcased up and coming artists such as Mali Music and KimberlyNichole; and Marsha Ambrosious. Clearly, the evening was not entirely wasted.

However, when will BET ask these artists to keep their clothes on, play more of the music that we have never heard that were in some of the categories (i.e. .Best Female Rap- besides Nicki, who were they?) or get a new audio tech (because clearly after 10 years that same person has failed to get it right). These may seem minute, but they made a big difference in the quality of the show. We get it BET. Lil Wayne, Rick Ross and DJ Khaled had a plethora of collaborations this year. Where were other artists that were actually nominated such as: Miguel (stuck on the pre-show), Keri Hilson (presenting), and J. Cole (who has had a silent but powerful come up)? Most importantly, where were the awards? It seemed to be mostly about the music, but there were other categories that we have been able to see presented over the past few years that were not mentioned this year. Best Actor and Actress went to Idris Elba and Taraji P. Henson, Best Movie went to For Colored Girls Only and the Centric Award went to Marsha Ambrosious. Maybe we missed these mentions in the time they were showing commercials for the new sitcom or in anticipation of Beyonce’s “live” telecast from Greenland. Oh, and congratulation to Tiffany Green for becoming the new Antoine Dodson-enjoy your fifteen minutes and a trending topic.

Perhaps some people just care too much about the other aspects of black entertainment other than music or that BET has had ten years to make sure this show runs a lot smoother that it did. Be that as it may, with good intentions, it is another year under the belt for the BET Awards; and we anticipate what is to come in the next year of black entertainment. Ready for some new faces with fresh and real talent!

Written by: TerashaNicole
Photo:globalfusionsproductions.com