Spice, Dexta Daps, Skillibeng perform at 2023 BET Awards
Dancehall music was on display at the 2023 BET Awards on Sunday, as the event celebrated 50 years of hip-hop with tributes to the genre’s earliest voices, late legends, and new talent during a performance-packed show that consistently felt like a party.
Jamaican recording artistes Dexta Daps, Spice, Skillibeng, and Cutty Ranks all took the stage with Busta Rhymes—who took home the Lifetime Achievement Award—as part of his star-studded tribute performance.
From Dexta Daps' “Shabba Madda Pot” and Spice's “So Mi Like It” to Skillibeng's “Whap Whap” and CuttyRanks' “A Who Seh Me Dun (Wait Deh Man), the audience got a treat when the 12-time Grammy Award-nominated rapper, producer, and pioneering hip-hop figure Busta Rhymes shifted gears to celebrate dancehall.
Widely regarded as one of the great MCs, with seven Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits to his name, Busta Rhymes was handed the Lifetime Achievement Award by Swizz Beatz.
“Alright, imma wear it on my sleeve. I do wanna cry,” Rhymes started his speech, as his eyes started to water. He talked about his six children, being kicked out from his hip hop group Leaders of the New School, and learning how to rebuild by going into studios, sharing a cigar with whoever was in the studio, and “quickly whipping up a 16 bar verse. … By default, I pioneered the feature,” he said.
“A lot of greatness from our people in our culture is by default. Because it’s just a magic we have," he said.
An energetic tribute to Rhymes followed — the MC teamed up with Spliff Star for “Ante Up Remix”, “Scenario,” “Look At Me Now”, “I Know What You Want” before a long list of A-listers jumped in: Scar Lip with “This Is New York”, Coi Leray with “Players,” BIA with “Beach Ball,” among them.
Halfway through the performance, Rhymes shifted gears to celebrate dancehall alongside the Jamaicans.
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