Welcome to the latest TGJ Roundtable!

Over the years, That Grape Juice has established a distinguished voice that – whether loved or loathed – sparks discussion, debate, and on occasion drama!

Though comprised of seasoned writers who share a similar outlook on Urban Pop culture, the idiosyncrasies of the TGJ team members often lends to quite heated debates “behind the scenes” about the hottest topics.

Now, we give you a front-row seat to the show. In a format similar to ‘The View,’ TGJ editors – Sam, Rashad, Joe, and Ryan – get real in a very candid way.

Today’s roundtable topic asks each anchor their thoughts on the…

BET Awards 2024

Sam

Annually, the BET Awards often prove to be the most entertaining show – back to front – of all award ceremonies. And this year reaffirmed that fact in earnest.

Expertly curated, every facet – from the performers to the nominees to the winners – felt in divine alignment with the pulse of the Culture – cementing the fact that the show indeed is the Culture’s Biggest Night.

So, let’s get into it!

The Usher tribute was hands down the top moment of the evening for me.

A rollercoaster ride of electricity, the back-to-back slayage from the likes of Chloe Bailey, Coco Jones, Tinashe, and Keke Palmer had me on the edge of my seat. Yet, it unquestionably was the blazing ‘Bad Girl’ showing from Teyana Taylor and Victoria Monét that that stole the show.

Holistically, the presentation largely watched like a peek into the future of tomorrow’s titans and, if so, the future is luminously bright.

Musically, very little brings me as much joy as seeing artists meet the moment. Specifically, meeting THEIR moment. And such was the case for Victoria Monét and Tyla.

Armed with the momentum of ‘On My Mama’ and basking in the applause of ‘Alright,’ Ms. Monét did not come to play. Instead, she delivered a dynamite masterclass that I feel cemented her spot as a leader in her lane. And learning that her performance was creatively shaped by some of my personal “behind-the-scenes” faves, Sean Bankhead and Aisha Francis, rendered the moment all the more sweeter. When greatness links with greatness, greatness is the assured outcome.

In loving Tyla’s ascend, I have been salivating for a major award show performance from her. And she did not disappoint. From the homage to her African roots to the slick choreography and staging, this very much functioned as the rising star’s “pop out” moment and it was potent. I must say that a splash of ‘Water’ would have elevated the performance the more.

Even acts who aren’t most renowned for their live prowess dialed it up. Ice Spice clearly had her Red Bull, while Glorilla appears to have found what works for her after last year’s debacle.

What’s an award show without the shenanigans?! And I was all sorts of here for the corners of the ceremony that were a little rough around the edges. From Usher’s bleep-a-thon acceptance speech to Taraji’s occasional faux pas. It all added to the “this is live television” and the “anything can happen” of it all.

Lastly, I’m heavy on the notion of Black not being a monolith. As such, seeing the impact of Beyonce’s Country album ‘Cowboy Carter’ in the form of solid performances from the likes of Shaboozey and Tanner Adell was awesome.

A GREAT show. Kudos BET!

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Rashad

From where I sat they should’ve called it “BET Awards: Ladies Night Edition,” because the girls ran the show from open to close.

The highlights of the night undoubtedly being the “twins” Megan Thee Stallion and Victoria Monét. While the former kicked things off in a fiery manner (like the Hot Girl she is) and ran that same energy back as assistant for GloRilla‘s showing, Monet – the show’s overall standout – gave notice that she did NOT come to play with her epic solo performance and latter as part of the jaw-dropping tribute to Usher. No matter how you slice it Miss Monet was the undisputed Queen of the 2024 BET Awards.

Another callout was the STRONG presence of female Rap. While my heart smiled to see the likes of Sexyy Red, Latto, Ice Spice, GloRilla, Megan Thee Stallion, and the incomparable Lauryn Hill (who shut it ALL the way down) on one bill, I couldn’t help but be slightly disappointed that Nicki and Cardi didn’t add their names to the performance roster. Either way, their absences definitely didn’t take away from the formidable forces of the femcees who did rock the stage.

Finally, whoever came up with the idea for a mostly female tribute to Usher needs a raise pronto. Chloe Bailey killed it (even though I wasn’t crazy about the song choice), Coco Jones wowed something serious, Tinashe did the damn thing, Keke Palmer was great, Marsha Ambrosius was…there, and Teyana and Victoria were just the cherry on top. Kudos to the entire ensemble for putting on a heck of a tribute – easily one for the books.

Per usual, the BET Awards set the standard among award shows. From the hype audience to the impressive staging and the energy of the performers, the ceremony served reminder why it truly is culture’s biggest night.

P.S. – Umm…Muni Long?

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Joe

One thing I wasn’t expecting in this lifetime, was to see Bishop Will Smith and his parish taking center stage at the BET Awards!

As enjoyable as the movie star’s return to the BET stage has been, the whole thing reeked a little bit too much of  “classic cultural redemption arc” aroma for my liking. Saying that, I do believe the world as a whole should eventually give Smith “that” second chance he’s been struggling to earn for the past two years.

Let’s all be honest, the piece de resistance of the night was the Usher tribute. To put it simply, the girls – and Donald – did that. I can’t help but feel sad for Normani who would have fit perfectly with the other girlies on that stage.

If on said tribute, Victoria Monét wowed with her Beyonce-inspired performance, her solo showing was another showstopper, fully placing her as the one-to-watch when it comes to award shows but also career progression.
Megan Thee Stallion will always give us something solid and exciting, and yesterday was no exception; which can’t be said about Ice Spice and Sexyy Red, take that as you will…

One question invaded my mind though: where are the boys? Without little to no representation during culture’s biggest night, is male R&B on life support in 2024?

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Ryan

The BET Awards 2024 has come and gone, taking over the internet as it did so.

There are a few standout moments from the night. In fact, I think women owned the night hands down. The best performance was undoubtedly Victoria Monét with ‘On My Mama’ and ‘Alright.’ The choreography was superb and really showcased how much of a talent she really is.

Tyla also came to conquer for many of the same reasons. Choreo was giving what it was supposed give and was just a fun and lively performance from one of the generation’s next biggest stars.

Megan Thee Stallion was the best female rapper to perform last night, not that that’s a surprise. Her stage presence is unmatched by anyone else in the game.

Shoutout to Tanner Adell too for bringing some country music influence to the BET Awards. Truly an underrated talent.

As for the duds, the two biggest ones were Sexyy Red and Will Smith. Beginning with the former, her singing was downright painful when she opened the show. I honestly thought my glass was going to break and not in a good way.

And as for Will Smith, do we really even need new music at this point? Just stay with the hits and you’re fine. Music does not need any more dated, uplifting anthems. It’s summer, we want to party.

Overall, this year’s show was a lot better than last year and proved, as earlier echoed, that women run the world.

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Do you agree with our picks? Who was spot on? Let us know your thoughts on the latest TGJ Roundtable and your thoughts on the BET Awards 2024.

Your thoughts?

[Photo credit: BET / Getty]