7 Best Moments From The 2024 BET Awards: Taraji's Kendrick Spoof, Childish Gambino's Call Out & More

Since he also spent the night paying tribute to Usher and sharing the official trailer for his upcoming new movie, it was hard to know if Childish Gambino was serious in his impromptu rant about BET and the awards.

The Emmy and Grammy winner — whose new single “Lithonia” is due July 2 — quipped that he has more Grammys than Will Smith, but the same number of BET Awards as Sam Smith. The Mr. and Mrs. Smith The actor was right in that assessment, pointing out some strange ambiguities in how the BET Awards honors and celebrates left-wing TV, movies and hip-hop music. There were a few heads nodding in the process, but the crowd didn't exactly get a chance to agree with Gambino and ride for him. In fact, most people were busy taking random jabs at Sam Smith.

This wasn't the only time a joke landed with a resounding thud during the telecast, but telling a joke right before the album of the year winner was announced was clearly far from ideal. Still, the performance didn't completely muddy Bino's point, which many audience members continued to chew on in individual conversations throughout the rest of the night.

A two-time winner at this year's show (Best New Artist and Best International Actress), Tyla would have had a near-perfect night even if she never performed on stage. Again, this is Tyla we're talking about. Naturally, the amapiano/afropop queen with the infectiously unique choreography ended up performing.

Cleverly leaving the other singles from her self-titled debut studio album in the dust, Tyla opted to perform her Afrobeats and danceable “Jump” for her BET Awards debut. With dancers painted to look like life-size tigers, huge stilts and an art-directed set that played on the earth of Homeland, “Jump” was a feast for the eyes and ears.

A collaboration with America's Gunna and Jamaica's Skillibeng, “Jump” is a musical amalgamation of different sounds of the African diaspora, and South Africa's Tyla cleverly invited both of her collaborators to share the stage with her. When Skillibeng walked on stage and began his introduction, dance queen Spice and her crew were some of the first people to get to their feet and show the 27-year-old artist some love. Instead, when Gunna appeared for his verse, he received a noticeably lukewarm reception from Tyla and Skillibeng.

While more than enough people didn't have a care in the world about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock, several people were in complete disbelief and tenderness that Bad Boys: Ride or Die The singer still believes he should at least half-participate in a traditional apology tour. Enter Kirk Franklin and the Sunday Service Choir.

Just two days after releasing the Friday-assisted “You Can Make It,” the Oscar-winning actor took to the BET stage to debut the song live, swapping Fridays with his five-time Grammy-winning artist gospel, Chandler Moore. While the actual song is nothing groundbreaking — it's unfavorably reminiscent of Macklemore circa 2017 — it depicted a much bigger moment. An anthem of determination and perseverance, “You Can Make It” essentially served as Smith's testament to surviving the most tumultuous period of his career and coming out on top with yet another box office-topping film.

“We are not punished. we're hammering,” he proclaimed shortly after Kirk Franklin nearly obliterated his microphone while sharing his own outpourings of praise and thanks. “Dance in your darkest moments.”

Between a delectable set by Sexyy Red and a tribute to an artist with a three-decade career, the BET Awards isn't really the place for kids. However, VanVan and Heiress Harris, daughter TI and Tiny, brought every adult in the room back to their elementary school days. The two pint-sized performers rocked the crowd with 'Be You', effortlessly rapping, singing and dancing along to their anthem of individuality. It really cannot be overstated how in love with VanVan and Heiress the crowd inside the Peacock Theater was. Whether they were cheering or watching slightly incredulously, there was a smile on every face in the crowd as these two black girls carved out space for themselves – and all the kids – on the hip right before our eyes.

Going into the 2024 BET Awards, whether or not Kendrick Lamar's “Not Like Us” would be mentioned was a no-brainer. The real question was how often people go back to mustard helmet ringing.

The evening's host, Oscar-nominated actress Taraji P. Henson, began her emcee duties wearing a replica of K.Dot's Pop Out concert, in light denim and a crimson hoodie. The baby boy The actress rapped a BET-specific version of the track, while the crowd inside the Peacock Theater continued to rap along to the opening lyrics of Kendrick's latest chart-topper. With her backup dancers riffing on Kenny's Pop Out concert dance moves and a perfect pitch of those final ad-libs, Taraji delivered the second best thing to the real Kendrick Lamar.

If the numbers weren't proof enough, Kendrick Lamar dropped the defining anthem of the year with “Not Like Us.” No other song – whether part of a skit, DJ set or scheduled performance – has captivated the crowd as much.

Four years after Kane Brown became the first black male solo country artist to perform at the BET Awards, two Country's rising stars put on strong performances at Culture's Biggest Night.

For her performance on the BET Amplified stage, Tanner Adell — who featured on “Blackbird” and provided vocals for Beyoncé's Billboard 200 hit “American Requiem” Cowboy Carter earlier this year – delivered a medley of her breakthrough hits “Buckle Bunny” and “Cowboy.” Dressed in a lacy white dress reminiscent of classic Southern belle, Adell showed off both her vocal prowess and stage presence — both of which won over the crowd at the Peacock Theater despite performing outside the venue.

Shaboozey — who appeared on Cowboy Carter's “Spaghettii” (featuring Linda Martell) and “Sweet * Honey * Buckiin” — blew the roof off the floor with his smash hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” Despite the song's impressive No. 3 peak on the Hot 100, it took a while for the crowd to really lose themselves in Boozey's performance. When J-Kwon came out to perform “Tipsy” — interspersed with “A Bar Song” — in the honky-tonk-themed set, the crowd went completely wild. Once the two artists started going back and forth with “Everybody at the Club gettin' Tisy” and “Everybody at the Bar Getting Tisy” at the end, they unlocked a level of hip-hop/country synergy that hasn't been seen. from Nelly peak.

If anyone had the chance to carry the night away from Usher, it's Victoria Monét. The R&B powerhouse — who won three Grammys earlier this year and won the Vanguard Award at the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Awards last week — was practically glued to the stage between her wins and performances.

For her solo performance, she delivered a rocking medley of 'On My Mama' and her latest single 'Alright', which featured a surprise appearance from Kaytranada, who produced the house-packed track. Between an HBCU rendition of her breakthrough hit and a performance of “Alright” that included a costume change, aquatic choreography and a literal jaguar outro, Victoria Monét delivered one of the most technically impressive performances of the night. Later in the show, Monáe returned to the stage with Teyana Taylor for an insanely sexy rendition of Usher and Beyoncé's iconic “Bad Girl” routine for the Lifetime Achievement Award tribute.

However, Monet's finest moments came during her acceptance speeches. When she won the BET Her Award for “On My Mama,” she accepted the award alongside her real-life mother—who also appears in the track's acclaimed music video—making it a priceless full-circle moment and a welcome addition to her epic quest to reunite with her birth father. Closing out the night as the winner of Video of the Year (“On My Mama”), Monét used her acceptance speech as an opportunity to support dancers — the key players in the music industry who often help break a song apart. i get paid in literal scraps. She even brought her long-time partner and choreographer of “Alright” on stage with her while receiving her award. After all, it's Monét's impressive execution of Bankhead's choreography that helped catapult both her stage presence and the commercial success of her singles.