This year’s 2020 BET “HIP HOP AWARDS” brought together some of the hottest names in music to celebrate Hip Hop’s biggest night. Comedians, actors, hosts of the “85 South Show” podcast and stars of “Wild N’ Out” – comedy supergroup 85 South (Karlous Miller, DC Young Fly and Chico Bean) co-hosted the annual show that premiered Tuesday, October 27, 2020, at 9:00 PM ET/PT.
Megan Thee Stallion ruled the night with three wins for ‘Hustler of the Year,’ ’Hip Hop Artist of the Year’ and a shared ‘Best Collaboration’ with Beyoncé for the “Savage (remix).” Beyoncé also took home an additional win for ‘Sweet 16: Best Featured Verse’ for the track. Roddy Ricch was a double winner for ‘Song of the Year’ and ‘Album of the Year’ for “Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial.” Pop Smoke was posthumously crowned ‘Best New Hip Hop Artist’ and UK rapper Stormzy took home the award for ‘Best International Flow.’
Cordae opened the show with a powerful freestyle about the importance of voting followed by ‘Impact Track’ winnerLil Baby performing his hit single “We Paid” with 42 Dugg. The City Girls blazed the stage with anthems ‘Kitty Talk’ and ‘Jobs’ in their first televised performance since JT’s release last year. Taking the stage for her television debut, Mulatto treated viewers to a medley of ‘Youngest N Richest,’ ‘B**** From Da Souf’ and ‘Muwop’ with an appearance from Gucci Mane. Quavo performed a special tribute to Pop Smoke that included “Shake the Room” and “Aim For the Moon.” Snoop Dogg honored the ‘I Am Hip Hop’ Award recipient Master P. 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne closed out the show in a major way with their hit single “Money Maker.” With the election less than a week away, Vice Presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance with an impassioned plea urging viewers to let their voices be heard at the polls.
During the timely “Hip Hop Cares” segments, G Herbo and Trae Tha Truth were spotlighted for their tireless work giving back to their communities and the world at large through social justice, mental health and environmental activism. Rappers Reuben Vincent, Bobby Sessions and Pretty Yellow shared fiery voting freestyles throughout the show.
The much-anticipated cyphers were hosted by DJ Hed and featured a bevy of emcees, R&B songstresses and reggae stars dropping hot sixteens including Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Original Koffee, Shenseea, Skip Marley, ZJ Liquid, Adé, Buddy, Deanté Hitchcock, and Flo Milli. Singers Brandy, Erykah Badu, H.E.R. and Teyana Taylor joined forces for a show stopping, all-female collaboration. Rappers Chika, Flawless Real Talk, Jack Harlow, Polo G and Rapsody let their voices be heard in the first ever “Social Justice” cypher.
Presenters for the evening also included Hip Hop heavyweight T.I. and R&B superstar Monica.
The complete list of 2020 BET “HIP HOP AWARDS” winners are:
BEST HIP HOP VIDEO
FUTURE FEATURING DRAKE – “LIFE IS GOOD”
BEST COLLABORATION
MEGAN THEE STALLION FEATURING BEYONCÉ – “SAVAGE (REMIX)”
BEST DUO OR GROUP
CHRIS BROWN AND YOUNG THUG
BEST LIVE PERFORMER
TRAVIS SCOTT
LYRICIST OF THE YEAR
VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
TEYANA “SPIKE TEE” TAYLOR
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
HIP HOP ARTIST OF THE YEAR
MEGAN THEE STALLION
SONG OF THE YEAR
RODDY RICCH – “THE BOX” (PRODUCED BY 30 ROCK & DATBOISQUEEZE)
HIP HOP ALBUM OF THE YEAR
RODDY RICCH – “PLEASE EXCUSE ME FOR BEING ANTISOCIAL”
BEST NEW HIP HOP ARTIST
HUSTLER OF THE YEAR
MEGAN THEE STALLION
SWEET 16: BEST FEATURED VERSE
BEYONCÉ – “SAVAGE (REMIX)”
IMPACT TRACK
LIL BABY – “THE BIGGER PICTURE”
DJ OF THE YEAR
BEST HIP HOP PLATFORM
THE JOE BUDDEN PODCAST
BEST INTERNATIONAL FLOW
STORMZY (UK)
BET launched its first-ever consumer products line timed to the 2020 BET “HIP HOP AWARDS.” Collaborations with New Orleans based artist BMike and outerwear apparel company Chalkline headlined the launch. These items and more are available now exclusively on BET’s new e-commerce site store.BET.com.
Connie Orlando, EVP Specials, Music Programming & Music Strategy at BET oversaw the annual show, with Jesse Collins, CEO of Jesse Collins Entertainment, serving as Executive Producer of the 2020 BET “HIP HOP AWARDS” along with Jesse Collins Entertainment’s Jeannae Rouzan–Clay and Dionne Harmon.