The 2022 BET Award Winners: Music Categories
Jul. 7, 2022
Founded by the Black Entertainment Television network 21 years ago, the BET Awards is an annual ceremony that recognizes Black excellence and achievement in sports, acting, music, and other realms of entertainment. This year's awards were held on Sunday, June 26 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles with Taraji P. Henson as the host and saw a performance lineup featuring Lizzo, Bryson Tiller, and Chance the Rapper. While the nominations span multiple entertainment fields, music categories constitute the bulk of them, and this article reveals which artists took home the honors in each.
Best Female R&B/Pop Artist
Winner: Jazmine Sullivan
"Jazmine Sullivan has authored the kind of songbook that could form the basis of a jukebox musical. Given the versatility the R&B artist has displayed as a gospel-reared and stage-trained powerhouse vocalist, the production would require a large and exceptionally talented ensemble to do right by the source material." (Full Artist Biography)
Best Male R&B/Pop Artist
Winner: The Weeknd
"The Weeknd is the alias of alternative R&B enigma-turned-pop star Abel Tesfaye, whose aching accounts of emotionally and physically toxic indulgences have translated to multi-platinum sales and Grammy recognition. The singer and songwriter arrived in 2011 with three mixtapes offering morose ballads that seemed to have no designs on mainstream appeal. Within only a few years, however, Tesfaye had scored a variety of Top Ten pop hits." (Full Artist Biography)
Best Group
Winner: Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak)
"Silk Sonic is a nostalgic soul outlet for born entertainers Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak. The pair made their collaborative debut as a singing duo in 2021 with the number one pop hit 'Leave the Door Open,' scored a Top 20 single with the follow-up 'Skate,' and offered the full-length An Evening with Silk Sonic that November." (Full Artist Biography)
Best Collaboration
Winner: "Essence" – Wizkid Feat. Justin Bieber & Tems
Nigerian singer-songwriter Wizkid teamed up with fellow countrywoman Tems to write and perform "Essence," a sensual Afrobeats piece on yearning and desire serving as the fourth single on the former's 2020 LP Made in Lagos. A remix with Justin Bieber came out the following year, peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart.
Best Female Hip Hop Artist
Winner: Megan Thee Stallion
"Houston rapper Megan Thee Stallion's sexually charged lyrics and nonstop confidence meet with a pop sheen that consistently delivers commercial hits. The rapper found local success shortly after she began performing in 2016, and the rest of the world caught on shortly thereafter." (Full Artist Biography)
Best Male Hip Hop Artist
Winner: Kendrick Lamar
"Indisputably the most acclaimed rap artist of his generation, Kendrick Lamar is one of those rare MCs who has achieved critical and commercial success while earning the respect and support of those who inspired him. After several years of development, Lamar hit his creative and chart-topping stride in the 2010s. Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012), the Grammy-winning To Pimp a Butterfly (2015), and the Grammy- and Pulitzer Prize-winning DAMN. (2017), his three proper major-label albums, have displayed an unmatched mix of inventive wordplay and compelling conceptual narratives, examining internal conflict, flaunting success, and uplifting his community." (Full Artist Biography)
Video of the Year
Winners: "Family Ties" – Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar
"Smokin Out The Window" – Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak)
This year's ceremony saw two winners for Video of the Year. "Family Ties" is the debut official joint effort between cousins Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar (hence its title) and appears on the former's first studio album The Melodic Blue. The music video, which premiered alongside the single, contains two "scenes," one for each rapper's segment, and features a guest appearance by Normani.
"Smokin Out The Window" was released as the third single from Silk Sonic's debut album An Evening with Silk Sonic. The accompanying music video shows Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak dressed in classy suits and doing a smooth performance on a fluorescent stage.
Video Director of the Year
Winner: Anderson .Paak
"Anderson .Paak's career was already trending upward when the exuberant singer, rapper, songwriter, producer, and drummer was showcased more than any other vocalist on Dr. Dre's Compton. The fledgling artist had releases under the descriptive alias Breezy Lovejoy, plus Venice (2014), the first in a series of prismatic albums with hybrids of contemporary soul, funk, hip-hop, and left-field pop underpinning fantastical escapades and personal reflections related with a cutting sense of humor." (Full Artist Biography)
Best New Artist
Winner: Latto
"After winning a TV competition as a teenager, this Atlanta rapper quickly signed a deal and started gaining attention for her witty lyrics and effortless style. Following the release of several mixtapes, Latto broke through to a wider audience with her 2019 anthem 'B*tch from Da Souf' and her first proper studio album, 2020's Queen of Da Souf. That record cracked the Top 50 of the Billboard 200 and paved the way for her sophomore full-length, 2022's 777." (Full Artist Biography)
Album of the Year
Winner: An Evening with Silk Sonic – Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak)
"[Silk Sonic] was named by another favorite, funk legend Bootsy Collins, who hosts An Evening with Silk Sonic in expected cordial fashion on a handful of intros and featured appearances. The set would have to be left on repeat for at least six rotations to truly fill an evening -- it's only half an hour in length -- but none of the time is wasted…The duo's playfulness here verges on hammy at times -- more often than on their solo recordings. The trade-off is that they push each other into new levels of showmanship without pandering to the audience." (Full Album Review)
Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational Award
Winner: "We Win" – Lil Baby x Kirk Franklin
Rapper Lil Baby and gospel artist Kirk Franklin's "We Win" leads the 16-song soundtrack for the 2021 film Space Jam: A New Legacy, the follow-up to the 1996 cult classic. The pair had performed the motivational number at the previous year's BET Awards, where Franklin notched a win in the same category for "Strong God." "We Win" stood atop Billboard's Hot Gospel Songs chart for two weeks and charted for 14 weeks, marking Lil Baby's gospel chart debut and Franklin's eighth appearance.
BET Her Award
Winner: "Good Morning Gorgeous" – Mary J. Blige
The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul took home the BET Her award, which spotlights music that supports and uplifts women, for her song "Good Morning Gorgeous." Lucky Daye, D'Mile, H.E.R, and Tiara Thomas helped write the single, which is featured on Blige's 2022 album of the same name.
Best International Act
Winner: Tems (Nigeria)
"Tems is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and producer whose thoughtful blend of alternative R&B and Afrobeat earned her international attention at the tail end of the 2010s. After notching the 2019 hit 'Try Me,' she began to appear on high-profile tracks like WizKid's 'Essence' and Drake's 'Fountains.' Her first two EPs, 2020's For Broken Ears and 2021's If Orange Was a Place, yielded her own hits like 'Damages' and 'Found.' (Full Artist Biography)
Find the full list of winners and nominees here.
Credit: Adedayo Kosoko
Winner: Jazmine Sullivan
"Jazmine Sullivan has authored the kind of songbook that could form the basis of a jukebox musical. Given the versatility the R&B artist has displayed as a gospel-reared and stage-trained powerhouse vocalist, the production would require a large and exceptionally talented ensemble to do right by the source material." (Full Artist Biography)
Credit: Brian Ziff
Winner: The Weeknd
"The Weeknd is the alias of alternative R&B enigma-turned-pop star Abel Tesfaye, whose aching accounts of emotionally and physically toxic indulgences have translated to multi-platinum sales and Grammy recognition. The singer and songwriter arrived in 2011 with three mixtapes offering morose ballads that seemed to have no designs on mainstream appeal. Within only a few years, however, Tesfaye had scored a variety of Top Ten pop hits." (Full Artist Biography)
Credit: Harper Smith
Winner: Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak)
"Silk Sonic is a nostalgic soul outlet for born entertainers Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak. The pair made their collaborative debut as a singing duo in 2021 with the number one pop hit 'Leave the Door Open,' scored a Top 20 single with the follow-up 'Skate,' and offered the full-length An Evening with Silk Sonic that November." (Full Artist Biography)
Best Collaboration
Winner: "Essence" – Wizkid Feat. Justin Bieber & Tems
Nigerian singer-songwriter Wizkid teamed up with fellow countrywoman Tems to write and perform "Essence," a sensual Afrobeats piece on yearning and desire serving as the fourth single on the former's 2020 LP Made in Lagos. A remix with Justin Bieber came out the following year, peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart.
Winner: Megan Thee Stallion
"Houston rapper Megan Thee Stallion's sexually charged lyrics and nonstop confidence meet with a pop sheen that consistently delivers commercial hits. The rapper found local success shortly after she began performing in 2016, and the rest of the world caught on shortly thereafter." (Full Artist Biography)
Winner: Kendrick Lamar
"Indisputably the most acclaimed rap artist of his generation, Kendrick Lamar is one of those rare MCs who has achieved critical and commercial success while earning the respect and support of those who inspired him. After several years of development, Lamar hit his creative and chart-topping stride in the 2010s. Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012), the Grammy-winning To Pimp a Butterfly (2015), and the Grammy- and Pulitzer Prize-winning DAMN. (2017), his three proper major-label albums, have displayed an unmatched mix of inventive wordplay and compelling conceptual narratives, examining internal conflict, flaunting success, and uplifting his community." (Full Artist Biography)
Video of the Year
Winners: "Family Ties" – Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar
"Smokin Out The Window" – Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak)
This year's ceremony saw two winners for Video of the Year. "Family Ties" is the debut official joint effort between cousins Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar (hence its title) and appears on the former's first studio album The Melodic Blue. The music video, which premiered alongside the single, contains two "scenes," one for each rapper's segment, and features a guest appearance by Normani.
"Smokin Out The Window" was released as the third single from Silk Sonic's debut album An Evening with Silk Sonic. The accompanying music video shows Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak dressed in classy suits and doing a smooth performance on a fluorescent stage.
Winner: Anderson .Paak
"Anderson .Paak's career was already trending upward when the exuberant singer, rapper, songwriter, producer, and drummer was showcased more than any other vocalist on Dr. Dre's Compton. The fledgling artist had releases under the descriptive alias Breezy Lovejoy, plus Venice (2014), the first in a series of prismatic albums with hybrids of contemporary soul, funk, hip-hop, and left-field pop underpinning fantastical escapades and personal reflections related with a cutting sense of humor." (Full Artist Biography)
Credit: Raphael The Cam Killa Simien
Winner: Latto
"After winning a TV competition as a teenager, this Atlanta rapper quickly signed a deal and started gaining attention for her witty lyrics and effortless style. Following the release of several mixtapes, Latto broke through to a wider audience with her 2019 anthem 'B*tch from Da Souf' and her first proper studio album, 2020's Queen of Da Souf. That record cracked the Top 50 of the Billboard 200 and paved the way for her sophomore full-length, 2022's 777." (Full Artist Biography)
Album of the Year
Winner: An Evening with Silk Sonic – Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak)
"[Silk Sonic] was named by another favorite, funk legend Bootsy Collins, who hosts An Evening with Silk Sonic in expected cordial fashion on a handful of intros and featured appearances. The set would have to be left on repeat for at least six rotations to truly fill an evening -- it's only half an hour in length -- but none of the time is wasted…The duo's playfulness here verges on hammy at times -- more often than on their solo recordings. The trade-off is that they push each other into new levels of showmanship without pandering to the audience." (Full Album Review)
Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational Award
Winner: "We Win" – Lil Baby x Kirk Franklin
Rapper Lil Baby and gospel artist Kirk Franklin's "We Win" leads the 16-song soundtrack for the 2021 film Space Jam: A New Legacy, the follow-up to the 1996 cult classic. The pair had performed the motivational number at the previous year's BET Awards, where Franklin notched a win in the same category for "Strong God." "We Win" stood atop Billboard's Hot Gospel Songs chart for two weeks and charted for 14 weeks, marking Lil Baby's gospel chart debut and Franklin's eighth appearance.
BET Her Award
Winner: "Good Morning Gorgeous" – Mary J. Blige
The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul took home the BET Her award, which spotlights music that supports and uplifts women, for her song "Good Morning Gorgeous." Lucky Daye, D'Mile, H.E.R, and Tiara Thomas helped write the single, which is featured on Blige's 2022 album of the same name.
Winner: Tems (Nigeria)
"Tems is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and producer whose thoughtful blend of alternative R&B and Afrobeat earned her international attention at the tail end of the 2010s. After notching the 2019 hit 'Try Me,' she began to appear on high-profile tracks like WizKid's 'Essence' and Drake's 'Fountains.' Her first two EPs, 2020's For Broken Ears and 2021's If Orange Was a Place, yielded her own hits like 'Damages' and 'Found.' (Full Artist Biography)
Find the full list of winners and nominees here.