Snubs & Surprises at the 2024 BET Awards

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).

Sexxy Red went into the night with five nods. 21 Savage, Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion had four each. None walked away winners.

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.

Minaj won best female hip-hop artist for a record-extending eighth time. It’s surprising that it’s her first win in that category in eight years. In these intervening years, the award has gone to Remy Ma and Latto (once each), Cardi B (twice) and Megan Thee Stallion (three times).

Beyoncé won the viewer’s choice award for the record-extending fifth time for “Texas Hold ’Em.” She previously won in this category for “Formation,” “Sorry,” “Savage (Remix),” a Megan Thee Stallion track on which she was featured, and “Break My Soul.” She didn’t perform on the show, which wasn’t really a surprise: Queen Bey hasn’t performed on the BET Awards since 2016 when she opened the show performing “Freedom” with Kendrick Lamar. 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.

Bob Marley: One Love won best movie, beating, among others, Cord Jefferson’s acclaimed American Fiction, which was nominated for five Oscars, including best picture, earlier this year. We’ll have to wait until next year to see how well the Marley biopic fares with Oscar voters.

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.