The 2024 BET Awards on Sunday (June 30) went pretty much as expected. The awards were presented at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, with Taraji P. Henson hosting for the third time.
Usher won best male R&B/pop artist for the fifth time. He also received a lifetime achievement award. To win a major current award at the same time he picked up a career-capping honor made it very much his night.
Usher has had a big year, headlining the Super Bowl halftime show and landing a big crossover hit with “Good Good,” a collab with Summer Walker and 21 Savage. That song logged 28 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, a tally matched by only seven of his 53 career Hot 100 hits.
SZA won best female R&B/pop artist for the second year in a row. She’s the first artist to win back-to-back award in this category since Beyoncé won six years in a row from 2014-19. SZA’s smash “Saturn” kept her name in the forefront even though she hasn’t released a new album since SOS in December 2022.
Tyla’s win for best international act was a foregone conclusion. The South African singer has had a breakthrough year. In January, her smash, “Water,” reached its No. 7 peak on the Billboard Hot 100. In February, that track won the inaugural Grammy Award for best African music performance.
But don’t get the idea that everything went predictably. There were also a few snubs and surprises sprinkled throughout the four-hour show. Take a look.
This story will be updated after all of the winners are announced.
Drake went into the night with a leading seven nominations, but he was shut out. Drake was also seen as having been outgunned in the diss-track battle with Kendrick Lamar. This has not been his year, but America loves a comeback, and this disappointing season sets him up for one.
Killer Mike’s Michael won album of the year. The album won best rap album at the Grammys on Feb. 4. Michael peaked at No. 58 on the Billboard 200, lower than all but one of the seven other BET nominees in this category, which included three albums that reached No. 1 – Drake’s For All the Dogs, 21 Savage’s American Dream and Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday 2. This year’s other nominees were Usher’s Coming Home (No. 2 on the Billboard 200), Gunna’s A Gift & a Curse (No. 3), Chris Brown’s 11:11 (No. 9), and Victoria Monét’s Jaguar II (No. 60).
Tyla won best new artist, beating Sexyy Red, among others. Sexyy went into the night with five nominations, more than any of the other best new artist nominees. (Tyla was second with four nods.) The South African singer is just the third winner for best new artist who was not born in the U.S. She follows Nicki Minaj, who was born in Trinidad, and Sam Smith, who was born in England. The winner here often goes on to land a Grammy nod for best new artist, but that won’t be possible this year. Tyla won a Grammy on Feb. 4 (best African music performance for “Water”), which makes her ineligible for best new artist next year.
Queen Bey hasn’t performed on the BET Awards since 2016 when she opened the show performing “Freedom” with Kendrick Lamar, so the fact that she didn’t perform wasn’t a surprise. But two artists who were featured on her Cowboy Carter album performed on the show. Shaboozey performed his smash “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” Tanner Adell performed “Buckle Bunny”
and “Cowboy Break My Heart” on the BET Amplified Stage, a showcase for new and developing artists.
Simpson’s inclusion in the In Memoriam roll was a surprise. The deeply polarizing figure, who died on April 10 at age 76, was identified as a football player, but is seen by many as someone who may have gotten away with murder. It will be interesting to see if Simpson, who had extensive TV and film credits, is included in the In Memoriam rolls at the Primetime Emmys on Sept. 15 and/or the Oscars on March 2, 2025.