Killer Mike thanks Black people for seeing him, believing in him and honoring him during an impassioned speech for his Album of the Year win at the 2024 BET Awards tonight.
Killer Mike Takes Home Album of the Year at 2024 BET Awards
On Sunday (June 30), Killer Mike accepted the award for Album of the Year at the 2024 BET Awards during a ceremony that aired live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The Atlanta rapper came out on top of a stacked category. He snatched the honor from seven other worthy nominees. Hip-hop had a slight edge for Album of the Year with nominations that included Gunna’s A Gift & A Curse, 21 Savage’s American Dream, Drake’s For All the Dogs (Scary Hours Edition) and Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday 2. On the R&B tip, Chris Brown’s 11:11, Usher’s Coming Home and Victoria Monét’s Jaguar II were nominated as well.
Since its release in 2023, Michael has earned critical acclaim and several awards. Earlier this year, he made a sweep by scoring three Grammy awards for the project: Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance for his track “Scientists & Engineers” featuring André 3000, Future, and Eryn Allen Kane, and Best Rap Album for Michael. However, Killer Mike was arrested before the ceremony for getting into it with a security guard and was unable to accept his win for Best Rap Album at the event. His BET Awards Album of the Year win seems like the perfect opportunity to share the speech he never got to say this past February.
His acceptance speech at the 2024 BET Awards turned into a special delivery. “I’m humbled to achieve this award,” he said as he read from a paper in his hands. “Thank you for seeing me Black people. Thank you for believing in me Black people. Thank you for honoring me in this way.”
He acknowledged his Grammys arrest didn’t stop his shine. “Technically, I was not supposed to be here,” Mike shared. “I was put in handcuffs and I was marched out of this building, but I want to tell you look at God ’cause I’m back, baby, I’m back and I’m winning.”
Read More: See All the Rappers on the 2024 BET Awards Red Carpet
This Is Hip-Hop’s First BET Award for Album of the Year Since 2020
Killer Mike’s win marks a major victory for hip-hop, as this year is the first time a rap album has been crowned Album of the Year at the BET Awards since Roddy Ricch’s Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial in 2020. In an extremely rare tie, last year’s honor was split between Beyoncé’s Renaissance and SZA’s SOS.
Read More: Sexyy Red Performs ‘U My Everything’ and ‘Get It Sexyy’ at 2024 BET Awards
What Else Is Going Down at the 2024 BET Awards?
On a night that includes high-energy performances from rhymers such as Megan Thee Stallion, GloRilla, Sexyy Red, Lauryn Hill and Will Smith, among many others, Drake is the top contender with more chances to win than any other artist. Aside from Album of the Year, the 6 God is also nominated for Best Male Hip-Hop Artist and two nods in the Video of the Year category for both “Rich Baby Daddy” featuring Sexyy Red and SZA as well as “First Person Shooter” featuring J. Cole.
Take a look at Killer Mike’s ardent speech at the BET Awards and listen to his award-winning Michael album below.
