BET Awards: The Recap

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“The Lord is Coming,” one of his angels wears blue and inspires us all. The Queen is also a servant that’s here to stay and that “one negro” who is a King, opened the doors to his people and shown them how to build their own Kingdoms."

The 2019 BET Awards took place at the Microsoft Theater at LA Live Los Angeles on June 23rd, and the baton was officially handed over to a new generation of stars. Two of entertainment’s most impactful legends, however, evoked ruminating thoughts, praise and dancing. Lots of dancing and crooning.

Mary J. Blige had the most talked about performance, hands down, and the 2019 BET Lifetime Achievement Award recipient was introduced by Rihanna. “Happy Mary. Sad Mary. Mad Mary. No more drama Mary. Dancing Mary. We’re here for all of it,” Rihanna proclaimed.

MJB then took the stage, giving a speech in which she talked about the love for her family, the “healed relationship” with her onetime estranged father (who she has sang about mistreating her through the years).  Meanwhile, Tyler Perry didn’t need any assistance from his box office beloved alter ego Madea to bring the house down accepting his “Ultimate Icon” award. He just needed his truth and insight. “Rather than being an icon,” he said, "I want to be an inspiration.”

Nipsey Hussle was named Humanitarian of the Year and his family, led by Lauren London, accepted the award on his behalf. As for the actual awards, Lil Baby won Best New Artist and Cardi B—who performed “Clout” with her husband Offset (he garnered heavy praise for his dancing and later Tweeted he would be incorporating more choreography in his stage shows)--won Album of the Year for "Invasion of Privacy."

QC were among the big winners at the 2019 ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Awards as Coach and P, Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, The Migos, City Girls’ Yung Miami and Cardi B were all in attendance. Cardi took home the 2019 Songwriter of the Year. The QC family also held it down on Saturday night at Staples Center, performing in the BET Experience concert. Cardi, who was recently indicted for allegedly masterminding and bank rolling an assault on two strippers, told the crowd she was not going to jail. Of course she brought out all the hits as well. On Friday, Meek Mill, YG and A Boogie were the marquee names for the BET Experience setting the stage for the activity filled weekend.

GIRL

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Yeah, Maren Morris did pose for Playboy, and she’s not sorry.

She also did an interview – did you know those were in that magazine? And most of it is about her career, and learning to love herself, and understanding that vulnerability isn’t a flaw.

She talks about those body shamers and slut shamers on social media: “Anytime someone is courageous or doesn’t try to blend in, it pisses people off.”

She says body shamers are asking to be shut down and she doesn’t regret a single time she’s done it.

Oh yeah, and she’s topless in several photos. She was inspired, she says, by Dolly Parton, who shocked the world when she graced the cover of the magazine in 1978. Other artists, too. “So many of the moves Dolly made in her career were about bucking the status quo, especially when it came to sexuality and gender norms within country music,” she says. “As a woman in country music—as a woman in any genre—it always fascinated me. So when I heard this magazine wanted to interview and photograph me, I thought, Okay, I’ve seen a lot of wonderful spreads you guys have done with artists I love, such as Halsey, so what the hell?”

Read the whole interview (and see the stunning photos) here.