BET Awards Performances, Ranked Worst to Best

Tanner Adell will have plenty of chances to leave her mark on the country music scene. Unfortunately, Adell’s performance comes off as more of a promotional ad for Nissan, as she steps out of the SUV to kickstart everything.

T.I. and Tiny’s daughter Heiress Harris represented for the kids while preaching a message of individuality to others across the U.S. The eight year old had the BET Awards stage turned into a classroom for the performance. Harris and VanVan energetically bounced around the stage hoping to see others just be 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 set in a pair of white furry boots might seem eccentric, but that’s just another day on Fordham Road in the Bronx. The “Deli” rapper performed her more experimental album opener “Phat Butt” and twerked across the stage, which led to the Y2K gas station going up in flames, before leading into “Think U the Shit (Fart).”

It’s Sexyy Red’s world and we’re just living in it. Big Sexyy kicked off her “U My Everything” performance looking like a ’70s soul singer equipped with her frilled cherry-red 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 security guards. One thing’s for sure, Sexyy’s set was much more invigorating than anything from last week’s Presidential debate.

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

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

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

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

The Memphis rhymer parachutes in with the “Yeah Glo!” thumping beat fills the venue. She moved into her new “TGIF” single before surprising fans while reuniting with her tour mate Megan Thee Stallion, who took the energy to another level with their “Wanna Be” collaboration performance. The track was slotted in 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 the studio is apparent. Thee Stallion looked like a proud sister when lending her approval to GloRilla’s improved twerking.

J-Kwon delivered one of the more memorable moments from the award show when he rose from behind the bar of Shaboozey’s honkey tonk set in his St. Louis Cardinals cap to perform a mesh of “Tipsy” mixed with the country singer’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy).

The 2004 anthem turned 20 earlier this year and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 2004. Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” interpolates J-Kwon’s counting flow and it’s beautiful to see the generations influencing each other and them being able to come together for the culture on nights like this.

Megan Thee Stallion is making 2024 a banner year. Rolling off the momentum of her Megan album arriving on Friday (June 28), the Houston Hottie set the tone for the night with an energetic performance. She continued her “rebirth” theme bursting out of an egg scantily clad.

Meg has come a long way as a performer when it comes to stage presence and breath control. The 29-year-old rumbled through her No. 1 hit “Hiss,” “Boa” and delivered the live debut of her latest anthem “Where Them Girls at?” There was plenty of twerking involved with her dancers and she even gave a shout-out to Victoria Monét and Coco Jones in the audience to cap off a solid start to the night.

Ahead of being honored with the lifetime achievement award, a phalanx of artists paid homage 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 tipped the cap to Usher’s throwback tradition of stripping throughout his performances.

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

However, Teyana Taylor and Victoria Monét may have stole the show with their gymnastic acrobatics recreating Beyoncé’s iconic performance when teaming up for “Bad Girl.” Latto closed down the epic set with her baggy outfit and XL chain for “Yeah!” sans Lil Jon and Ludacris.

With best new artist and nest international act wins in her back-pocket, Tyla’s “Jump” performance was the icing on the cake to a milestone night in her burgeoning career. What appeared to be a tiger in a cage was actually multiple dancers contorted like fixed puzzle pieces to make up the entire jungle predator. Tyla rappelled down on a swing for a sultry performance that also paid homage to her South African culture. Gunna and Skillibeng popped out for smooth assists too.

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

Kaytranada made a surprise appearance and Monét showed off her versatility as an artist with their “Alright” collab. She gets extra points for quickly changing into the Michael Jackson “Thriller”-inspired white suit and then ditching it to gyrate in the manufactured rain.

Lauryn Hill and her son YG Marley closed out the 2024 BET Awards in style. Ms. Lauryn Hill took fans back to her acclaimed 1998 The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill with the album’s title track and fan-favorite “Lost Ones.”

Her son, YG Marley, joined the party with his powerful “Survival” track, which Hill added a politically-charged verse to on the end — similar to what she did during the duo’s appearance on Fallon in May. As Ethiopian symbolism rotated throughout the visuals and Marley wrapped up “Praise Jah in the Moonlight,” they saved the best surprise for last with Hill’s Fugees running mate Wyclef Jean taking the stage to perform their 1995 “Fu-Gee-La” track. Hip-hop is alive and well.