By La’Janee Cosby | For the Atlanta Voice
MIAMI, Fla.—The 2017 BET Hip Hop Awards premiered and was an ode to Hip Hip, honoring Uncle Luke and was also used as a political platform to call out President Donald Trump. Hosted by Miami’s own DJ Khaled, the event couldn’t have been any more inspiring.
With an opening performance of “I’m so Hood” by Florida-based rappers DJ Khaled, T-Pain, Trick Daddy and Plies along with Cardi B taking home three awards—Hustler of the Year, Single of the Year, and Best New Hip Hop Artist of the Year—it was clear that she owned the night.
Cardi B stole the show with 5 wins for ‘Single of the Year’ for her Number #1 Billboard hit, ‘Bodak Yellow’; ‘Best New Hip Hop Artist’, ‘Best Mixtape’, ‘Made-You-Look Award (Best Hip Hop Style)’, and ‘Hustler of the Year.’ Kendrick Lamar followed closely picking up 4 awards for ‘Best Hip Hop Video’, ‘Album of the Year’, ‘Hot Ticket Performer’ and ‘Lyricist of the Year’.
Host DJ Khaled snagged 3 honors for ‘DJ of the Year’, ‘Best Collab, Duo or Group’ and ‘MVP of the Year’, dedicating the accolades to his son, Asahd Khaled. Rapper Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell received the show’s lifetime achievement honor, the ‘I Am Hip Hop Award,’ for his contribution to Hip Hop.
While being honored, the Miami-Dade resident was a bit tearful and talked about his fight for his freedom of speech with the Supreme Court and getting kicked off of stages.
“Thirty years in this business and ain’t nobody ever honor me for sh*,” Campbell said. “We got kicked off stage because they said we did booty music. Said we wasn’t hip-hop. With the conventions, they told us that the South would not be what it is today.”
The highlight of the night was none other than rapper Eminem.
With the anticipation of his eight-album building, the Detroit rapper released a blazing almost five-minute freestyle that he has titled, ‘The Storm,’ which is a call to President Donald Trump for his racist antics and anyone else that supports his narrative.
Eminem rapped: “This is his form of distraction. Plus, he gets an enormous reaction, when he attacks the NFL so we focus on that instead of talking about Puerto Rico or gun reform or Nevada. All of these horrible tragedies and he’s bored and would rather cause a Twitter storm with the Packers.”
The “Lose Yourself” rapper also had a message for any of his confused fans: “And any fan of mine who’s a supporter of his, I’m drawing in the sand a line, you’re either for or against, and if you can’t decide who you like more and you’re split on who you should stand beside, I’ll do it for you with this F— you,”
Ending the night with high energy and ladies dancing everywhere, Campbell performed his favorite hits, including fan favorite “Hydraulics.”
