BET Performances Awards, Rated Worst to Best

Tanner Adell will have plenty of opportunities to make her mark on the country music scene. Unfortunately, Adell's performance comes across as more of a commercial for Nissan as she steps out of the SUV to kick things off.

TI and Tiny's daughter, Heiress Harris, stood up for the children while preaching a message of individuality to others in the US. Harris and Van Van energetically bounced around the stage hoping to see others just being themselves. “Just be you, playing tag cus I'm it,” Harris sings while surrounded by other students.

Ice Spice running through her gas station stage in a pair of white fur boots may seem wacky, but this is just another day on Fordham Road in the Bronx. The “Deli” rapper performed her more experimental album opener “Phat Butt” and rocked the stage, leading to Y2K the gas station goes up in flames, before leading into “Think U the Shit (Fart).”

It's Sexyy Red's world and we just live in it. Big Sexyy kicked off her performance of “U My Everything” looking like a 70's soul singer outfitted in her cherry red puffy dress. The Sexyy Red for President campaign continued at the BET Awards for her “Get It Sexyy” anthem, as she turned the stage into the White House with her dancers doubling as bodyguards. One thing's for sure, Sexyy's set was far more refreshing than anything from last week's presidential debate.

Latto is another artist whose performance art is almost unrecognizable compared to a few years ago, and that's a compliment for how far she's come in a relatively short amount of time. The “Big Energy” rapper teased fans with a heartwarming unreleased track where Latto gets candid about her unbreakable bond with her sister, Brooklyn, who was sitting in the front row.

She took the Microsoft Theater to “Sunday Service” and delivered a sexy live debut of her new single “Big Mama” in leopard shorts and a matching crop top.

Will Smith's Revenge tour is here. The “Miami” rapper-actor made his first major awards appearance since Chris Rock's infamous slap at the 2022 Oscars. Smith released his live debut of the gospel-themed inspiration “You Can Make It” with some help from the Sunday Service Choir, Kirk Franklin and Chandler Moore. “Dance in your darkest moments,” Will proclaims through the ring of fire.

Big Glo came in at No. 6 on our inaugural Hottest Female Rappers list, and if GloRilla's winning streak continues, she should definitely find her way into the top five and possibly top three by the end of the year.

Memphis rhymer skydives with “Yeah Glo!” strong rhythms fill the space. She moved into her new single “TGIF” before surprising fans while reuniting with tour partner Megan Thee Stallion, who took the energy to another level with a performance of their collaboration “Wanna Be.” The track charted at No. 25 on the most recent Hot 100 chart.

It's refreshing to see how much fun Big Glo and Meg have with each other on stage, and the chemistry they've built outside of the studio is evident. Thee Stallion looked like a proud sister when she lent her approval to GloRilla's improved twerking.

J-Kwon provided one of the most memorable moments from the awards show when he got up behind the bar of Shaboozey's honkey tonk wearing a St. John's hat. Louis Cardinals to perform a mash-up of “Tipsy” paired with the country singer's “A Bar Song” (Dizzy).

The 2004 anthem turned 20 earlier this year and reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 2004. Shaboozey's “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” interjects J-Kwon's metered flow, and it's beautiful to see the generations they influence each other and they are able to gather for culture on such nights.

Megan Thee Stallion is making 2024 a banner year. Rolling from her momentum Megan album that arrived on Friday (June 28), the Houston hottie set the tone for the night with one active performance. He continued the “rebirth” theme by breaking out of a scantily clad egg.

Meg has come a long way as a performer in terms of stage presence and breath control. The 29-year-old belted out her No. 1 hit “Boa” and debuted her latest anthem “Where Them Girls at?” There was plenty of twerking with her dancers and she even called out Victoria Monét and Coco Jones in the audience to get the night off to a good start.

Before he was honored with the lifetime achievement award, a phalanx of artists paid tribute to Usher by performing some of the classic records from his Hall-of-Fame career spanning four different decades. Childish Gambino set the tribute bar high with “U Don't Have to Call,” and Keke Palmer put the lid on Usher's tradition of stripping down throughout his performances.

Coco Jones, Summer Walker and Marsha Ambrosius covered anthems from the R&B luminary. The momentum of Tinashe's “Nasty” turned into My Way's classic “Nice & Slow,” and Usher loved every minute of seeing his career flash before his eyes.

However, Teyana Taylor and Victoria Monét may have stolen the show with their gymnastic stunts when they teamed up for “Bad Girl.” Latto closed out the epic set in her baggy outfit and XL chain for “Yeah!” without Lil Jon and Ludacris.

With wins for Best New Artist and Best International Act in the back of her pocket, Tyla's performance of “Jump” was the icing on the cake on a milestone night in her rising career. What appeared to be a tiger in a cage was actually many dancers strung together like fixed puzzle pieces to make up the whole jungle predator. Tyla got down on a swing for a delightful performance that paid homage to her South African culture. Gunna and Skillibeng came out for smooth assists as well.

Victoria Monét is at home when she's on stage. She brought the college/high school vibes for the BET-winning video of the year “On My Mama,” as the singer and her dancers were dressed in “My Mama Tribe” varsity jackets. Monét deftly combines the aesthetic of being a tomboy with being a queen. The 2000's influence was heavy with baggy jeans and the array of headbands and bandanas on stage. However, the oversized app couldn't knock off VM's dance routine.

Kaytranada made a splash and Monét showed her versatility as an artist with their collaboration “Alright.” He gets extra points for quickly changing into Michael Jackson's “Thriller”-inspired white suit, then tucking it in for a spin in the rain he made.

Lauryn Hill and her son YG Marley closed out the 2024 BET Awards in style. Ms. Lauryn Hill took her fans back to her famous 1998 Lauryn Hill's Bad Education featuring the album's title track and fan favorite “Lost Ones”.

Her son YG Marley joined the party with his powerful cut of “Survival,” to which Hill added a politically charged verse at the end — similar to what he did during the duo's appearance on They fall under in May. As Ethiopian symbolism swirled throughout the visuals and Marley finished “Praise Jah in the Moonlight,” they saved the best surprise for last with Hill's Fugees' Wyclef Jean taking the stage to perform their track “Fu- Gee-La” from 1995. Hip-hop is alive and well.