When Gucci Mane started the night with a gray scale on-stage music video complete with an all-white piano, futuristic silver plant sculptures (what were those things?), geometric stage furniture, and a perfectly oversized black fur coat, I thought, “This might not be bad”.
5 minutes later, after an outfit change which featured Gucci Mane using his own body as a fashion accessory and Travis Scott releasing Young Thug from a Telephone booth which rose from beneath the ground I was firmly convinced that the BET Hip-Hop Awards Show was going to be one that I remembered for a very, very long time. I must admit, I’ve had a long streak of turning my nose up at BET programming, especially awards shows. The camera work is almost never up to par (and wasn’t great last night either), I’m usually unfamiliar with whatever host they trot out and more times than not I find the performances to be understimulating - mostly due to the fact that I tend to listen to alternative artists and honestly, not that much rap (shoot me). My internal protest of BET programming also has to do with my frustration with the overall quality and diversity of images that BET portrays because it is undeniable that market influences have skewed the ways that Black people and Black life are portrayed on-screen even within the outlet that is supposed to be for us. Maybe that’s why I was so excited throughout the duration of the program. Because to be black and young oftentimes means to feel exiled from the world, even by Black people older than you who still grip tightly to the way things were done in their time. The struggle of the black millennial is the struggle of any black generation as they come of age; that is, to carve an image of yourself into a stone cold world which refuses to acknowledge your existence. Yet somehow last night BET painted an audacious portrait of the Black Millennial - a glimpse into our own imaginings of the black self which displayed a dynamic duality to young black life. On the one hand we saw Black Millennial as an agent all too capable of not only understanding his/her political reality, but also extremely competent in being able to discuss and navigate that reality through avenues provided by hip hop. Perhaps the most solid aspect of the show were the ciphers which consistently showcased a crop of young rappers who twisted their way through complex flows while also navigating equally complex themes - whether it be street knowledge, hip hop credibility, police brutality, or larger sociopolitical messages (props to NYC rappers by the way they took the cake by far). These ciphers, which are the essence of the purist Hip Hop mentality and the bread and butter of any BET Hip Hop Awards show, were augmented by other socio-political messages which were delivered by a variety of different means. It was Kendrick spitting us some game from the heart, Sway standing up and spreading a message of self-care and self-sustenance - even going so far as to declare political war - heroic spoken word performances by Big K.R.I.T. and LeCrae, and DJ Khaled’s own do-it-yourself advice paired with a sneakily brilliant jab at Donald Trump, saying to the demagogue that he is unworthy of the keys to success because “You are They,” a statement which comedically drew the line firmly in the political sand. Last night, the political identity of the Black youth was firmly chained to the BlackLivesMatter movement, a decision which was both a brilliant and obvious one. On the other hand, through its on-stage performances BET also showed us the carefree side of Black youth. A carefreeness which seeks to find its place in a world filled with persecution, violence, depression and anxiety. I thought that Snoop Dogg winning the lifetime achievement award was perfectly fitting in constructing this imagination. One of Hip-Hop’s great storytellers, Snoop Dogg made a career of making music about “Who I [was] not necessarily who I want to be.” His music explored themes of violence, sex, drugs, materialism, partying, and self-interrogation; all themes which (SURPRISE) young black people deal with today. Snoop even blessed young artists and their fans with some words of encouragement, advising them not to worry about criticism and essentially to explore yourself without bounds because as people that’s what we deserve to do. This brings me back to the likes of Gucci. Fresh out of jail and not a care in the world he ends his performance by leaving the stage to join the crowd topless which is how he enjoys the rest of the show; happy just to be naked and exposed to the world again. He gave me life early on in the show and in my opinion set the tone for a night full of carefree self-exploration as artists performed songs about navigating (and coping with) life through music, drugs, sex, violence, and fashion. I must say I found the performances to be A1. Whether it was the background dancers and performers alike dancing to trap music - doing dances I find myself doing on a daily - D.R.A.M. performing on stage while walking around with a poodle on a leash, Young M.A. turning the stage into her stomping ground along with her hilariously entertaining hype-woman (the mighty ducks themed outfit was raw af btw), Lil Uzi Vert turning street imagery (barbed wire fences and streetlights) into his own rainbow fantasy, or Isaiah Rashad being completely comfortable while presenting his alternative hip-hop self through dress, dance, and sound; the performances had shots of life for any young black person who considers themself a fan or follower of hip-hop. If we are to thrive in this world we must first understand our place in it. This is why the project of identity formation is so essential to our own liberation, and is why even through the bad (TIP and 21 Savage were pretty bad) we must continue to - dare I say it - follow in BET’s footsteps when we are constructing ourselves in our everyday lives. This is not the be all end all of constructions of black youth in the Black Lives Matter movement, which is perhaps why this moment is so important. We are just now beginning to see ourselves actualized everywhere we turn. This project is not a magnum opus, rather it is a prototype, a rubric for how we can create ourselves as a collective through imaginative and courageous programming. If there’s anything to be gained from last night, perhaps that is it. In many ways Hip-Hop is all we’ve got, as Kendrick said best, this is the way we cope with our world and we can’t let anyone - lest ourselves - take that away.
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October 2018
Matt BruceViva DSM!! |