After the tragic Prince Tribute at the Billboard Music Awards, BET stepped up to the plate with this shady lil’ tweet, promising to do a better job at the 2016 BET Awards:
Don’t be scared #BET. (Yeah, I nabbed that promo link before it was deleted.) We got you. #PrinceTribute pic.twitter.com/CUB9tmvtQ1
— ~ Reina (@ReinaCarbetta) May 24, 2016
Did BET indeed “have us”? Let’s break it down:
Instead of doing the traditional single epic performance with several artists, BET decided to give us Prince tribute interludes throughout the show:
THE ROOTS,ERYKAH BADU, & BILAL:
The interludes kick-started with Philly’s (and our) favorite band introducing Erykah Badu‘s rendition of Prince’s “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker” which was…cute, to say the least. Are we the only ones that wish she performed a different song? We really wanted Erykah to kill this. It wasn’t until Bilal showed up that things really got started. Performing “The Beautiful Ones,” Bilal truly channeled the energy of Prince, instantly making him the contender for best performance of the night. Yes Bilal, that’s how you pay homage!
STEVIE WONDER, TORI KELLY, & JENNIFER HUDSON:
Not that Stevie Wonder could ever do any wrong but seeing him on stage last night seemed like a redemption from that “other performance” he did honoring Prince. With the talented new comer Tori Kelly by his side, the two re-enacted the Prince and Appollonia duet “Take Me With You”….but of course with each trio of performers, there is always one star that seemed to shine the brightest. That star being Jennifer Hudson, who we expected would take us to church, but not to the degree in which she did! With her soul-saving version of “Purple Rain,” Jennifer reminded us that this show aired on a Sunday. Were we the only ones that caught the pan to Fantasia (who is the queen of the tribute) and thought: What if?
MAXWELL:
Notably one of the most aesthetically-pleasing tributes of the night (the projection of puddles, umbrella, and actual rain), Maxwell reminded us that he’s still got it with the introduction of his latest single “Lake By The Ocean” which transitioned into Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Maxwell breathed new life into the song remixing it to reflect the current state of a world without Prince: “It’s been 7 hours and 66 days since you took your music away,” “I went to the record store, Apple, Spotify too, and they told me ‘Boy you’d better try to make some music, which you can’t do –’cause Prince is the truth!” Yes, this was the waterworks performance of the night.
JANELLE MONAE:
Now we knew somebody was gonna’ show their ass, but we didn’t know it would be Janelle Monae! With barely-dry eyes after Maxwell’s performance, Janelle Monae reminded us how much fun Prince was with records like “Delirious,” “Kiss,” “Pop Life,” and our absolute favorite “I Would Die 4 U”… plus, who else could be bold enough to wear ass-less chaps? Oh yeah, that’s right…
SHEILA E:
Miss Sheila E knew that she was one of the most-anticipated performers in this Prince tribute because mama and her band came with the tracks that made us all walk down memory lane: “Erotic City,” “Let’s Go Crazy,” “Let’s Work,” “You Got The Look,” “A Love Bizarre,” “The Glamorous Life,” “Soul Salsa,” “America,” and “Baby I’m A Star.” Talk about song selection! The finale of it all: Petals falling from the ceiling while holding one of Prince’s most elaborate guitars. EPIC.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
We won’t hate, BET DID THAT. But uh….where was D’ANGELO???
TELL US: What were your thoughts on this Prince tribute? Did BET do the Purple One justice? Comment below or mention us @tvonetv!
