The taping of the BET Hip-Hop awards took place this past weekend (Sept. 17) at at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre a few miles north of Atlanta.
Snoop Dogg a.k.a the Dogg Father of the Rap game was the night's honoree. He was awarded the prestigious "I am Hip-Hop award," which was appropriately presented by Kendrick Lamar.
“To all the young rappers in the game, a lot of people don’t understand you. Y’all are misunderstood,” said Snoop with Kendrick Lamar standing beside him. “I was misunderstood at the beginning. So you got to keep pushing, be original and diverse. Hip-hop was created many years ago and it’s taken people so many places. You have to be who you are.”
The event was star-studded as usual, with an attention demanding roster of artists featuring T.I., Jeezy, Gucci Mane, Lil Uzi, Desiigner, Fat Joe, Remy Ma, and of course, DJ "I got the Keys" Khaled as the evening's host.
The press is referring to the show as "politically charged" in reference to the limelight continuously shone on Black Lives Matter movement throughout the set-list. Of all the progressive moments, T.I.'s performance of "Us of Else" set the bar for uplifting hip-hop culture.
The recognition of the Black Lives Matter movement was also led by a powerful speech from Sway. Big K.R.I.T also spit a poetic rhyme, shedding truth all over the stage.
Gucci Mane took the stage first, setting the performance bar high. He was greeted with a warm welcome by his home-town Atlanta crowd who was ecstatic to see him since his recent prison release. He fittingly opened the show with "First Day Out" and "First Day Out Tha Feds."
Ready for your restroom break? Feel free to take some time to handle your business as soon as Desiigner is introduced. Let's just say that once this award show airs, there's bound to be plenty of videos, memes, & gifs of his performance as soon as you get back from the bathroom. He'll be performing "Timmy Turner," just in case that makes you want to stick around.
Lil Yachty & Big Baby D.R.A.M took the stage to get the crowd hype. They performed "Broccoli," and everyone was up and out of their seats before Yatchy could finish saying "Hey Lil Mama would you like to be my sunshine!"
And of course, Dj Khaled dropped a few major keys on us to close to night. There are a few more note-worthy moments, but we don't want to spoil the show. Be sure to catch the program when it airs October 4th., 2016 on BET.