From a phone call with Vice President Kamala Harris to jokes about “black jobs,” Sunday’s BET Awards, one of black culture’s biggest stages, didn’t shy away from politics – or the volatile November election.
During the show, Harris appeared via video chat with host Taraji P. Henson and stressed the importance of voting rights, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights and voting to combat gun violence.
“There’s so much at stake in this moment. Most of us believe in freedom and equality, but these extremists, as they say, ‘they hate us,'” Harris said, referring to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
Henson then referenced hip hop, saying, “They’re trying to take away Pride, they’re trying to take away Plan B, they’re trying to take away Planned Parenthood, but they’re sticking to their guns. In my opinion, they’re pushing the wrong P,” nodding to Gunna, Young Thug and Future’s 2022 hit “Pushin P.”
This follows months of political activism by hip-hop and R&B artists like Sexy Redd, Kehlani and Otto7 Quonnie, as both Donald Trump and Joe Biden use hip-hop and its artists to garner support among young black voters. Candidates often work with artists to appeal to voters, and black musicians have long been involved in politics. But now, with some black voters shifting their support from Biden to Trump, hip-hop’s potential impact on the election can’t be ignored, said Corey Miles, an associate professor of sociology and African-American studies at Tulane University.
“I think we need those political moments because we’ve always done political things in the cultural sphere,” Miles said.
But he acknowledged that overtly political messages on a stage like the BET Awards can sometimes be less effective: “I think wordplay artists, comedians and show hosts can use their talents to make very nuanced critiques.”
Trump has garnered endorsements from Sexy Red, Lil Wayne, Kodak Black, and Ye in recent years. Last month, he continued his campaign strategy of using rappers as surrogates in the presidential race. In June, he invited rapper Sada Baby to a black voter outreach event in Detroit. That same month, Trump was spotted with local rapper Otto 7 Quanie in Philadelphia. The artists praised him for granting presidential pardons to rappers and for signing stimulus checks distributed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump’s welcome for rappers and their apparent support for him seems to be growing, as polls show young black voters are becoming more tolerant of Trump.
Meanwhile, Biden capitalized on the frenzy surrounding the rap controversy between Lamar and Drake in May, releasing a diss video of Trump set to Lamar’s “Euphoria.”
“There has always been love and hate, but let me say I am now the biggest hater,” reads the first slide in a photo sequence of Trump, Biden and Harris. “I hate the way you ignore women’s rights. I hate the way you talk about immigration. I hate the way you dress. I hate the way you smack talk on Truth Social.”
A few months ago, in March, Biden appeared in a smiling photo at the White House with rapper Glorilla.
“I think there are some rappers who are very clear about their politics and their positions,” said A.D. Carson, a professor of hip hop and the Global South at the University of Virginia, “and then there are some who are playing the pop culture game. One way to measure popularity is a viral moment, and these politicians understand that very well. It’s mutually beneficial.”
A recent NBC News poll found that two-thirds of black voters ages 18 to 49 support Biden, as do a majority of black voters over 50. One-in-four younger black voters and just 6% of older black voters support Trump.
It’s no surprise that politics made its way into the BET Awards, with comedian B. Simone poking fun at Trump’s “black jobs” comments during the presidential debate, and rapper Vic Mensa working with influencers Renee Vanney and Speedy Moman on a PSA encouraging people to vote. Later in the show, Henson urged viewers to vote, referencing a Grants Pass, Oregon, law recently upheld by the Supreme Court that penalizes homeless people for sleeping on public property. Henson also denounced Project 2025, a right-wing blueprint for Trump’s second term that would give the president more power over the federal government.
“I’m not trying to scare us,” Henson said Sunday night. “I’m trying to let us know. There are three Supreme Court seats open, folks. We need those seats, or we won’t be protected. I’m talking to all the crazy people who don’t want to vote. If you don’t vote, you’re going to get upset about a lot of things.”
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