Black Entertainment Tragedy (BET) Triumphs
I promised that I would come with commentary pertaining to the 2010 BET Awards Show. I hate being late with my responses – cuz other geniuses end up saying the same joints that I wanted to say, and then I look like I’m biting. Know this, Cee doesn’t bite!
Ok, so here goes. Anyone who knows me knows that I DO NOT WATCH B.E.T. For years, I’ve been referring to it as the Black Entertainment Tragedy. For a long time, I’ve been in silent protest about the nigger mess that that station is. For a long time, I’ve avoided watching their Awards show. And sadly, it took Michael to die for me to tune back in. But, much to my chagrin, the tribute and the show re-affirmed all of the reasons why I stopped watching. But, because I’m a glutton for punishment – and you guys like hearing what I have to say (maybe I like hearing it more than you actually do), I decided to watch the 2010 B.E.T Awards show. And you know what? It had the nerve to be good.
Kanye is a self-righteous, pompous, egomaniac, pig – and I love him. His new joint, “Power,” is the business. To begin the show with him was really great for me. Plus, they gave him enough time to perform and be ushered out so there would be no repeats of mic jacking (notice how you didn’t see him after that performance). Before I move forward, let me just say that (Mel Dawg, this is for you), on the low, this Award Ceremony was strategically planned. I mean, this wasn’t your regular -put stuff together the night before -mess. This was some highly contrived, subliminal message sending, marketing.
The hostess, Queen Latifah, was a good choice. Now, younger and ghetto audiences would not agree about that. Perhaps it’s because B.E.T has now shown its audience nothing but tomfoolery and they do not have the capacity to receive a scaled back host or hostess. They could have easily used Mo’Nique or one of those loud mouth comedians, but they made the decision not to. Not only did they bring back the Queen, but also they brought back MC Lyte as the announcer. Queen Latifah’s decision to bring back certain characters (namely, Cleo), gave rise to the question of her sexuality. But, who cares about that?
I don’t have much negative to say about any of the performances. I was very pleased with the fact that they kept the Dougie and Soldier Boy crowds out at the pre-show. Again, this to me is part of this all being contrived. We all know they were honoring Prince – who no longer subscribes to the coonery. So, they had to scale it down.
Contrived – Chris Brown. I don’t care to argue with anyone about my position. I will not say that the emotion wasn’t real, however, one would be a fool not to believe that this wasn’t a scenario of magnificent management. There is no doubt that Chris Brown (and less than a handful of others) would have been the best choice for a tribute to Michael, but only singing to “Man In The Mirror,” and then consequently breaking down, was genius. Oh, how I wish I were his manager right now. He did an awesome job dancing. And, in turn, created the perfect stage to mount his comeback.
El DeBarge – most of the kids were saying, “Who the heck is that guy?” Well, it’s El folk. El is also a comeback story – turning his life around after incarceration. Album dropping in July. Where else would someone re/introduce themselves in the arena of black music than at the B.E.T Awards?
Then, there was the re-emergence of Eminem, T.I., and Puffy. Don’t front, you know that this is a comeback for Puffy. Drake had a chance to do it again sans minors dancing on the stage with him. And Prince – well Prince gave a really good speech. He focused on encouraging artists to make good choices. I could go on and on about this show. But, I think that Prince’s recommendation is a sufficient end to this commentary.
Very simply: B.E.T, make good choices. Don’t bask on being wild and reckless. Understand that you are the representatives of a whole culture. Don’t paint us like shucking and jiving, coon faced idiots. But, employ some semblance of class. Black music was dignified at one time – even with all the audacity it brought. B.E.T obviously heard what people said last year, and they made the effort to do better. And, even though I still won’t watch the channel, I salute them!