BET Awards 2009

The 2009 BET Awards made sure to honor the man who they owe much to, Michael Jackson. Learning of his death only days before the show, Debra Lee made sure we knew how feverishly the staff worked to rearrange the show according to the tragic and untimely death. So bravo BET for that! When Janet came out I'm sure everyone got the same feeling of heaviness on their heart like I did, because we all know how close these two were. I also applaud her for speaking for the family.

Ok, but honestly the BET Awards would've been nothing without all my funny folks on twitter (make sure you follow us @livluxmag, and @christophernic...shameless plug). The most memorable tweets of the night:

"Somebody tell Monica to pull her pants up in the middle"
"Yeah Beyonce did call them some hoodrats" (referring to Keisha and Monica)
"Ne-yo head look like a fat fat elbow"
"...so Amber Rose is giving all the strippers across the world HOPE. See - MJ touched everything including poles."

I didn't tweet them! I just laughed ok people, lol.



Some parts of the show were really good, like when Travis Barker came out and rocked it (literally), when Maxwell performed (and won my heart) and when Alicia accepted her Humanitarian Award with such grace and elegance (despite the blemish meanies).



Other parts were average. A lot of people thought Beyonce could've came a little harder, but I think she sang beautifully, and she performed like a legend in her own right. (Hated the boa lined dress though). And Ciara gave a mediocre performance seeing that she can dance much better than Ne-yo or Jamie, she should've played a bigger role in the MJ tribute.



Other parts were not so good...AT ALL! Like when Drake and Wayne performed every girl with LITTLE GIRLS on the stage! Come on now, no one in their entourage had the nerve to say..."Maybe you shouldn't bring your kids out this time Wayne". It was very pedophile creepy-ish. Or when Keri (sorry girl I still love you!) stopped singing in the middle of her performance because she was winded. And the abundance of Jamie and Ne-yo performances were just uncalled for, where was Usher? Who died and made Jay-z ruler of the universe to where he could ban Chris Brown from showing up? And could Justin not perform because he's white???

Other than the obvious but excusable messiness because of time constraints, The BET Awards were pretty entertaining for a Sunday night. But as a whole, the network still has some work to do.

"They was dancing and sh#+" ...(lol don't act like you didn't die laughing at that slip up)

-Doni W.

Hip Hop Damaging America? Don't Believe the Hype

The propaganda surrounding the Hip-Hop community is unbelievable. This once underground genre has come to the forefront and has since been scrutinized by politicians, churches and social activists. Not to mention television networks such as the ever-so right winged Fox News. I believe that politicians, are blaming the Hip-Hop culture, for issues concerning the communities that they made promises to. Where the household failed in raising their children, they would like to blame Hip-Hop. And for the churches that seem to be losing congregations because people are hurting and looking for something to ease the pain rather than scripture, they all blame Hip Hop. I find this to be quite disturbing and I would like to try and dispel some of the negativity surrounding this culture, because believe it or not, it is not all bad, it has its positive and negative qualities as any other entity on the planet. The real problem here is not just BET or Hip Hop. The real problem is broader than any one TV network or one cultural phenomenon. Over time Hip Hop has evolved more than those DJ’s back in the Bronx could have ever imagined. This cultural phenomenon has turned ghetto-bred children, once thought of as a lost statistic into multimillionaires. This genre has evolved from political angst, fun-filled themes associated with the ‘hood, gangsta rap, intellectual rap, crunk music and all the way into mainstream. This genre once looked upon as one dimensional music for the child of the ghetto can no longer be looked at in that way. Hip Hop encompasses several attributes, however government and politicians, television personalities and communities alike are looking for someone, or something to blame for their plight and hip hop has become a major target. Hip Hop has become the scapegoat of things gone wrong in this society.


Rapper T.I. said it best on BET’s special forum called: Hip Hop vs. America, when he stated, “America uses Hip-hop as an easy target to blame all of society’s problems on”. Hip hop did not invent sexism, violence, homophobia or materialism. If you listen to the language used by Former President Bush and people in our everyday lives, one would realize that all those things are as much a part of America’s fabric as baseball and apple pie. Still, that should not let hip hop off the hook. Hip hop may not have started violence, sexism, misogyny or homophobia, but it has amplified, and in many cases, glorified theses images. Some people pick on hip hop just because they do not like it. But many pick on hip hop because we want it to do better. We remember when the music of hip hop was connected to the streets, powerful and political and entertaining at the same time. And we worry that much of today's hip hop and rap has descended into something meaningless.

Guest Writer,
Tynee Sims