The 2017 BET Soul Train Awards aired last night and was the talk of social media. The show was hosted by the legendary Erykah Badu for the the third straight year and was packed with tons of nostalgic performances from Toni Braxton to 112, SWV and even a Method Man cameo. We’ll talk about all that and more here in the Kontrol Recap of the 2017 BET Soul Train Awards.
Host |
Erykah Badu hosted for the third straight year and at this point its become a tradition almost. Ms. Badu has been nothing short of amazing as the Soul Train Awards host. You can also start to feel her presence on the production side as well as they continue to add acts and segments geared towards her personality. She starts the show with a Colin Kaepernick salute as she takes a knee and immediately follows that with a shot at Harvey Weinstein. Then there’s a short segment where she goes back and forth with international comedian Micheal Blackson, where she plays the role of Urma, a renowned vocal coach.
Performances |
SWV |
The show starts with a dope performance from SWV as they perform a few of there classic hits. They come on with no warning or introduction and it’ll have you running to your seats so you don’t miss it. There performance included, quick snippets of “Rain,” “Right Here,” and “Weak,” while also bringing out members of Wu-Tang, Method Man & U-God, to perform “Anything.”
Tamar Braxton |
Tamar Braxton took the stage to perform her hit single “Blind” which was released earlier this year with her album ‘Bluebird of Happiness.’ She put on a great performance and it was a great way to start off the show especially since her sister was being honored with the Don Cornelius Legendary Award after that night.
DVSN |
Having a brief performance on the Coca-Cola Music Stage, DVSN (pronounced division), performed for the first time on live tv. An Alternative R&B group out of Toronto, signed to Drakes OVO. DVSN dropped there first album ‘Morning After’ earlier this year and had the opportunity to debut there unique sound last night performing there hit single “Mood” which is available for streaming on all services.
112 |
Legendary R&B group 112 took the stage with all its members providing the feeling of nostalgia. Performing hit songs “Cupid,” “It’s Over Now,” and “Peaches and Cream.”
Keyshia Cole |
Keyshia Cole had one of the best performances of the night with “Incapable.” The set design and wardrobe to match really made you feel like you were watching a musical. “Incapable” is one of her standout singles off her latest album ‘11:11 Reset.’
Tank |
Tank hit the stage in typical tank fashion to perform classics such as “Please Don’t Go” while also performing more recently released tracks as well.
Demetria McKinney |
Demetria McKinney put on an amazing show. The actress and singer performed her hit song “Easy” on the Coca-Cola Stage. “Easy” is featured on her album ‘Officially Yours’ streaming now.
Toni Braxton | Tribute
Before Toni Braxton hit the stage they took a moment to honor her, not just with the Don Cornelius Legendary Award, but with a tribute performance as well. With Ro James performing, “Seven Whole Days,” Jessie J performing “You Mean The World To Me,” and Luke James stealing the show vocally with his rendition of “Unbreak My Heart.” Later Toni took the stage to do what she does best and performed some of her classics, “Love Shoulda Brought You Home,” “You’re Making Me High,” and “He Wasn’t Man Enough For Me.”
Wake Up Everybody |
Kirk Franklin, Ledisi, Major, Daniel Caesar and Le’andria Johnson joined together for a montage rendition of the inspirational classic, “Wake Up Everybody,” by Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes.
The Soul Cypher |
So very similar to the BET Hip-Hop Awards, the Bet Soul Train Awards has a cypher, the Soul Cypher. Where R&B artist come together and freestyle over a beat just like the rappers would do. This year’s Cypher featured Fantasia, Mali Music, Bilal and Faith Evans. Freestyling over the Ice Cube, “Today Was A Good Day” instrumentals and Erykah Badu on the turntables.
Awards |
Now you would think more awards would be televised since I️ mean this is an awards show. But due to time restraint and squeezing in tons of performances a lot of the awards weren’t aired. Video of the Year was aired and went to Bruno Mars for “24K” and Bruno also took home five other awards. Best New Artist went to SZA and the Soul Train Certified Award finished with a tie, allowing two artists to take home the award, Ledisi, and Bell Biv Devoe. The awards and winners are listed below.
Awards & Winners |
Best New Artist | SZA
Best R&B/Soul Male Artist | Bruno Mars
Soul Train Certified Award | Bell Biv Devoe and Ledisi
Video of the Year | Bruno Mars – “24K Magic”
Best Gospel/Inspirational Award | Lecrae
Album/Mixtape of the Year | Bruno Mars — “24K Magic”
Rhythm & Bars Award (Formerly Best Hip-Hop Song of the Year) | Cardi B -“Bodak Yellow”
Best R&B/Soul Female Artist | SZA
Song of the Year | Bruno Mars – “That’s What I Like”
The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter’s Award | “Cranes in the Sky” – Troy L. John, Solange Knowles, Raphael Saadiq
Best Dance Performance | Bruno Mars – “24K Magic”
Best Collaboration | DJ Khaled ft. Rihanna and Bryson Tiller — “Wild Thoughts”
Show Wrap |
This was an entertaining and nostalgic award show. Erykah Badu kept us into the show without doing too much and the performances were good as well. The only knock I’d have would be with the artist and fans. When it comes to the Grammy’s or any Euro-Centric awards shows we always show up. Not only do we show up, we will be the first ones to complain if we don’t win an award we feel we deserve. When our own people decide to award and honor us for our hard work in the entertainment business we always blow it off and make other awards seem more prestigious than our own. As black entertainers, we value European Awards and validation more than our own. Let’s value the BET awards as much as we do the Grammys or every makes our own prestigious award shows that we’ll value as much as there’s.
