New York, NY – October 5, 2021 – This year the 2021 BET “HIP HOP AWARDS” brought the hottest names in Hip Hop back to Atlanta, GA for the annual taping. Comedy supergroup 85 South (Karlous Miller, DC Young Fly, and Chico Bean) hosted this year’s awards from The Cobb Energy Centre which premiered on Tuesday, October 5 on BET, BET Her, MTV2 and VH1. Watch an encore airing of the award show Thursday, October 7 at 9 PM ET/PT on BET.
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion ruled the night by jointly snagging three wins each including ‘Song of the Year,’ ‘Best Hip Hop Video’ and ‘Best Collaboration’ for their smash hit “WAP.” Tyler, The Creator took home two wins for ‘Hip Hop Album of the Year’ and ‘Best Live Performer’ in addition to his “Rock the Bells Cultural Influence Award”presented by LL Cool J. Jay Z scored double wins in the “Sweet 16: Best Featured Verse”and “Impact Track” for his Nipsey Hussle collaboration “What It Feels Like.” NewcomerYung Bleu was crowned ‘Best New Hip Hop Artist’ while rap sensation Saweetie took home ‘Hustler of the Year.” Music icon Missy Elliott was voted ‘Video Director of the Year’ and ‘Lyricist of the Year’ went to J. Cole. UK rapper Little Simz took home the ‘Best International Flow’ award.
Young Thug kicked off the night with an explosive performance of “Tick Tock” followed by Gunna with “Too Easy” before coming together with their hit collaboration “Ski.” Hot new rapper Bia performed her smash single “Whole Lotta Money,” then brought out Atlanta icon Lil Jon for “Bia Bia” to close it out. Baby Keem made his award show debut with “Family Ties.” Hip Hop sensation Latto brought the house down with a sparkling, high energy performance of “SoufSide” and new song “Big Energy” while Tobe Nwigwe made it a family affair with Fat & Nell on their song “Fye Fye.” Isaiah Rashad performed alongside Doechii & Kal Banx for “Wat U Sed” before ending the set with his solo single “From the Garden.”
The hotly anticipated cyphers were hosted by DJ Hed and featured a bevy of emcees dropping hot sixteens including Grip, D Smoke, Smino, Tierra Whack, Rico Nasty, Sleepy Hallow, Erica Banks, Fivio Foreign, Toosii, Lakeyah, Kidd Kenn and Symba.
Presenters for the evening included a trio of Hip Hop powerhouses Trina, Remy Ma, andRapsody. “I Am Hip Hop Award” recipient Nelly closed out the show with a performance of his greatest hits including “Country Grammar,” “Hot In Herre,” “Air Force Ones,” “Dilemma,” “Grillz” with an appearance by Paul Wall and more.
The complete list of 2021 “BET Hip Hop Awards” winners are:
HIP HOP ALBUM OF THE YEAR
"CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST" - TYLER, THE CREATOR
SONG OF THE YEAR
CARDI B FEAT. MEGAN THEE STALLION - WAP
HIP HOP ARTIST OF THE YEAR
LIL BABY
BEST HIP HOP VIDEO
CARDI B FEAT. MEGAN THEE STALLION - WAP
BEST NEW HIP HOP ARTIST
YUNG BLEU
BEST COLLABORATION
CARDI B FEAT. MEGAN THEE STALLION - WAP
BEST DUO OR GROUP
LIL BABY & LIL DURK
BEST LIVE PERFORMER
TYLER, THE CREATOR
LYRICIST OF THE YEAR
J. COLE
BEST INTERNATIONAL FLOW
LITTLE SIMZ (UK)
VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
MISSY ELLIOTT
DJ OF THE YEAR
DJ SCHEME
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
HIT-BOY
HUSTLER OF THE YEAR
SAWEETIE
BEST HIP HOP PLATFORM
GENIUS
SWEET 16: BEST FEATURED VERSE
JAY-Z - "WHAT IT FEELS LIKE" (NIPSEY HUSSLE FEAT. JAY-Z)
IMPACT TRACK
NIPSEY HUSSLE FEAT. JAY-Z - "WHAT IT FEELS LIKE"