BET Awards: Garbage always smells worse in the summer

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Forgive me if I’m late to the party. Frankly, I didn’t even want to go. Literally.

Allow me to explain.

You see, I recruited our publicist in early June. Falisha and I had several events in mind to start promoting the blog after it launches this Friday but we considered attending a couple of events before July 1 since we already had a speaking engagement at Cal State San Bernardino the week of the BET Awards. Our publicist pitched the idea of going to the BET Awards and I was hesitant because I didn’t think it would be a good fit; what substantive dialogue would these “artists” have to offer? What content would we obtain that fits our mission? I was skeptical. Falisha and I tossed the idea around and shelved it for a few days. By the time we circled back to the publicist it was already too late to secure media approval anyhow. Thank the Lord!

It’s been 3 days since the BET Awards ended but the stench is still lodged in my nostrils. I got another whiff cruising through YouTube, no thanks to the algorithm. I couldn’t ignore the devastating clips of Sunday’s award show.

I don’t intend to go nuclear on the attention seekers as much as I do about what they are doing. I, like a lot of Black people, was appalled by the degeneration of this awards show. (Check out the dialogue on YouTube and Twitter.)

The gratuitous sex, empty lyrics, explicit degrading content, stripper dances and self-exploitation. Why Black folks???

There is a double standard as it relates to harmful entertainment in the Black community and everywhere else. None of this passes in mainstream media. None of it! There are a couple of White “artists” that have tried — like the one who decided she wanted to “twerk” her boney butt at the MTV Music Awards to sell some albums only to return to her roots… and publicly lament that period of her career. It was White privilege at its finest; we can’t put on and take off our Blackness like an out-of-style T-shirt.

This is certainly not a conservative-versus-liberal argument, which Black people have to start wrapping their minds around. We used to speak up. This is not a generational issue either — I’m still a Millennial who can remember when the trash started piling up.

My mother was flabbergasted by the show. I shared the same sentiment, not just because of the clothes (or lack thereof) and self-exploiting performances but because we were on the same page.

It’s not acceptable in any culture (other than Black culture) to glorify killing people for “a bag” and using people for sex. I’m raging against not just the content these “artists” peddle, but the influence these people have over young minds. Too many Black kids are killing each other for a improbable chance to walk in these people’s gaudy shoes and don’t understand that once they start taking steps to get into that industry, you start saying yes to a lot of bad ideas just to “make it.” It’s highly competitive. It’s a mad world where you have to up the ante — be more outrageous, more lyrically crude than the next person to gain attention. And if you’re really maniacal, you say and do anything to protect your spotlight. 

It’s not just the current state of mainstream rap. I recall stopping at a convenience store last year only to overhear a young woman I parked next to blasting a faux R&B song being sung by a guy. His voice was pleasant… until he started crooning his heart out about how much he wanted to “fuck.”

Among the abysmal aspects is not only are the lyrics mindlessly produced, these are the only “genres” many young minorities listen to; their diversity in music is nonexistent.

Ask Black men of any age who are currently locked up for violent offenses what music they listen to and there will be a common thread.

I can’t imagine any objective psychologist asserting violent and misogynistic content on repeat doesn’t shape a young mind. Any race! We know commercials, for example, have to be constantly repeated to appeal to consumers. And I’d bet a dollar to a donut record labels know this as well. But the music and images have to match in the visual society we are. It’s a combo deal.

I lament there were no Lauryn Hill’s or Q-Tip’s receiving attention at this awards ceremony. Those days are long gone. It was the “look at my raunchy routine” and “ignore the content, just enjoy the melody” to hype the crowd.

Black people are being used. It feels conspiratorial, and I’m not even a “Q-Anon” type of guy.

The people behind this multibillion dollar business of predominant rap are not Black. There are managers, handlers, publicists, A&Rs, ghost writers, record label executives and corporate boards that feed off of this to the detriment of the Black community. And there are plenty of talented Black musicians (people who actually play instruments and write their own music) who are disgusted but don’t speak up. Rocking the boat for one “artist” means disrupting the business for the entire teams of people that get their cut off sales and marketability. Speaking up can hurt your chances of succeeding. Sound familiar?

Mainstream news media is also complicit. Many of these people have 360 deals, and the companies are strongly affiliated on the front or back ends with media outlets. It takes no effort to get them into a major newsroom for an interview once they sign their contracts with “the right people.”

This industry fuels “artists” who live by stereotypes about Black culture that do more harm than good. And many of the purported “good ones” — the mainstays that consistently pop up on the Billboard Top 100 — are also complicit at the very least. They eat off of collaborating with them.

There is a book titled “Ghetto Nation” I would implore anyone to read. The fact that it still resonates after 15+ years is telling.

White people have their own negative stereotypes they can’t escape — racism and bigotry for example. They are not saints, but they also aren’t stuffing their ears and minds with content about who they should kill or how many bodies they should use for sexual gratification. (There is a great TedTalk about the acceptability of Black murder that I would encourage anyone to listen to as well.)

Trash smells worse in the summer — and the season is now preserved for congratulating Black “artists” ruining the image and minds of the Black community.

It’s time someone closed the lid shut because everyone is getting sick.

Corey A. Washington

Corey A. Washington is Editor of BLK News Now! His journalism experience includes Television, Newspapers, and Digital Media as a Writer, Reporter, Content Producer, and Digital Producer. Some of those media outlets include CBS Phoenix (KPHO), NBC4 Los Angeles, ABC7 Los Angeles, California Black Media, SCNG, and more. He can be reached at Corey@BLKNewsNow.com.

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