Culture | the porch | Terence Poole
If we’re being honest, for the past few years, the BET Awards has been somewhat of a snooze fest. From lackluster performances, hosts that fell flat, to a slew of technical difficulties. This year however, was different---it felt different. The BET Awards 2021 was, dare I say it, actually good and entertaining. While it wasn’t a perfect show, BET finally got more things right than wrong. Here are some of my favorite and least favorite moments:
The host: Taraji P. Henson
This year's theme for the awards show was “Year of the Black Woman” and who is more appropriate to host than Taraji P. Henson. She had an assignment, stuck with it and gave lessons. She was funny, entertaining, and even informative with her history about Esther Jones who inspired Betty Boop and the origins of twerking (that segment was funny.) I was even in awe at how she elegantly ascended from the rafters to the stage floor. Throughout the show she made a point to pay homage by dressing up as the Black icons that have inspired her, from the likes of Tina Turner, Diana Ross and the crowd favorite Erykah Badu (which I must add, I had to do a double take because Taraji looked exactly like her). I hope she comes back and hosts once more in the future. I will definitely watch it!
The Performances:
Can we start with Tyler, The Creator’s set? Was it the most awe inspiring performance, no? But to see a rapper do more than just stand up there, walk back and forth rapping and leave was refreshing to see (shouts out to you too, DaBaby). He actually put in effort to make his set different and it worked. He performed ‘Lumberjack’ from his new album ‘Call Me If You Get Lost’ and it made me more intrigued to finish listening to his album.
Silk Sonic has been riding ‘Leave The Door Open’ since its release early March 2021. While they did put on a show, I do have one question: WHERE IS THE ALBUM?! The people are waiting! To make matters worse, at the end of the song, Anderson.Paak teased performing their second single from their album ‘An Evening With Silk Sonic,’ which got me out of my seat, just to deflate the hearts of millions. They played Leave The Door Open as an encore before running off their set and the camera going black for a commercial. Such a cruel joke!
Now onto the performance of the night in my opinion! Miss Jazmine Sullivan! I don’t need to say more but of course I will. She gave everything that was supposed to be given. She started her performance with her new single ‘Tragic’, which also featured thee Maxine Waters. But it wasn’t until she walked down the stage and was greeted by Ari Lennox when the stage was set ablaze. They performed one of the more risqué singles on Heaux Tales, ‘On It’, and I’ll be the first to say, from the looks, stage presence, to the vocals, they were definitely “On it!” The vocals were so pure, you would have thought they played the track from Spotify and just lip-synced. I never wanted to rewind a live moment that much until then. They left me wanting more, and I hope that’s what we get from Jazmine and Ari in the near future. If you missed that performance, it is highly recommended that you watch it!
Jazmine Sullivan collecting her flowers:
I could not end my favorite moments from this year's BET Awards without mentioning Jazmine Sullivan winning Album of the Year and dedicating it to her mother, who was diagnosed with breast cancer and is thankfully in remission. While Heaux Tales wasn’t really marketed to men, I enjoyed that EP from beginning to end. This award was well-deserved. She thanked her fans for being patient with her but with the gift she has, we’ll wait as long as we need to! Since the start of her career in 2008, Jazmine has been grossly overlooked and underrated. Can you believe that before Sunday, Jazmine had only won just ONE BET Award? They always say God’s timing is perfect, and his timing with Jazmine and her career couldn’t have been better for her.
I won’t go into beast mode with my least favorite moments from the Bet Awards 2021 but one in particular sticks out the most, and it deserves a discussion:
I am talking about ChloexHalle. The amount of times they were robbed this awards season is sickening to think about, and that did not change at the BET Awards. They were nominated for four awards and walked away with nothing. UnGodly Hour is probably one the most robbed albums of all time. Want to add more insult to injury? ChloexHalle who have been a group since FOREVER losing Best Group to Silk Sonic, who JUST formed earlier this year. This was indeed a slap in the face considering the theme was “Year of The Woman.” The ‘Do It’ duo has been putting in Beyonce level work since the start of the 2020 pandemic and has not let up off the gas since. While Ungodly Hour didn’t get the recognition it deserved, we can shout out The Image Awards for nominating and awarding ChloexHalle with two Image Awards for Outstanding Duo and Outstanding Soul/R&B Song. Keep putting in that work, ladies, because in due time, people will be throwing flowers at their feet, waiting to hand them awards for all the hard work they are putting in.
The BET Awards still has a ways to go to get back to all of the glory it experienced back in the mid to late 2000s and early 2010s. The 2021 award show was a step in the right direction. Maybe Beyonce will eventually come back and shut it down like she used to. Who knows. But what I do know, I’m looking forward to next year's show!
I am Terence J. Poole. Born in Fayetteville, N.C. Raised in Spring Lake, N. C. I attended Fayetteville State University and received my Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration in 2014. Since graduating, I have worked many jobs trying to discover what was right for me, only to finally realize that I want to be a writer of all sorts. I started my writing career briefly contributing to an online gossip blog as a music writer. I have aspirations of being a television show writer but the main goal is to eventually create my own shows. I plan to use my platform to bring up my peers who may be having a hard time breaking into the industry and give them a voice. I look forward to what the future holds as I continue to walk this journey of being a writer.
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