Ahead of the BET Awards, a glance again at how the work helped hip-hop develop and thrive

By Associated Press

LOS ANGELES: “Rap City.” “106 & Park.” And even, “Uncut.”

From progressive to provocative, BET has performed a vital function in creating a number of influential applications that helped unfold hip-hop to tens of millions of houses throughout the globe. Other than its rival present “Yo! MTV Raps,” the community referred to as Black Entertainment Television took up the mantle — regardless of some reluctance — to showcase a misunderstood rap tradition many years earlier than it turned immediately’s hottest music style.

For many, BET turned a secure place for these inside hip-hop to specific their artistry, though not with out criticism. Through all of it, the community has been a mainstay for established and rising rap artists.

It will all come collectively throughout the BET Awards on Sunday. Show officers plan to have a good time the style’s fiftieth anniversary throughout the telecast dubbed as a “non-stop Hip-Hop Party.” It additionally comes at a pivotal time for the community, which will likely be quickly be bought. Several Black entrepreneurs and celebrities, together with Tyler Perry, media govt Byron Allen and rapper-entrepreneur Diddy, are fascinated by buying the community.

The new proprietor will purchase an vital cultural fixture, one whose success was partially constructed on the way it elevated hip-hop.

“BET was a big platform for hip-hop and urban music overall,” stated E-40. His music “Tired of Being Stepped On” with the rap group The Click appeared on BET’s “Video Soul,” which was created in 1981 at a time when MTV refused to play movies by most African Americans. The rapper recalled how visitor host Jamie Foxx dissed The Click’s music however the comic’s important phrases didn’t faze him. He felt his group gained vital publicity to advertise their “unorthodox” West Coast rap fashion.

“The network really stepped up. We needed that,” stated E-40, who additionally made a couple of appearances on one other BET present referred to as “Rap City,” which featured hip-hop music movies, interviews and freestyles sales space classes with large names together with Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and MC Lyte. The present, which highlighted in style and up-and-coming rappers, turned the longest-running hip-hop TV present in historical past.

E-40 credited BET founder Robert Johnson for giving hip-hop an opportunity. Johnson constructed the model into the main TV community for Black Americans in hopes of making content material geared towards jazz, comedy and gospel. But on the time, he and different founders have been not sure about that includes a rap present, believing the style could be brief lived.

Rival MTV’s “Yo! MTV Raps,” nonetheless, confirmed that hip-hop had endurance.

“After kind of a brief initial hesitancy, the founders of BET really understood how hip-hop was transforming culture overall and specifically Black entertainment,” stated Scott M. Mills, BET’s president and CEO.

“They rapidly embraced hip-hop as part of the mission of BET,” he stated. “You went from BET having shows with no hip-hop artists or music to artists and music starting to trickle through shows to this full evolution of creating dedicated shows, celebrating hip-hop music, artists and culture.”

BET’s determination to embrace hip-hop actually paid off: Johnson and his then-wife, Sheila, bought the community to Viacom in 2000 for $3 billion — which made them the nation’s first Black billionaires. He remained CEO till 2006.

After the sale, BET continued to beef up its content material with actuality reveals and the community’s flagship program “106 & Park,” a weekday present that began in 2000 and lasted for greater than a decade. The present thrived with a video countdown, interviews and performances. A 12 months later, the community began the BET Awards then the BET Hip-Hop Awards.

For Lil Jon, he definitely benefitted from showing on “106 & Park.” One day, the rapper-producer joined the present’s viewers throughout the time when he had a tough time getting music on BET.

Lil Jon had no clue “106 & Park” co-host A.J. Calloway would discover him sitting within the crowd earlier than he shouted out his identify. The publicity helped him grow to be extra recognizable, significantly to the BET brass — who he says initially struggled to understand the idea of his crunk music, which finally gained mainstream enchantment.

“We strived to be on ‘Rap City.’ We strived to be on ‘106 & Park,’” Lil Jon stated. “A.J. knew who I was, because he would go to the South and host things. He knew the power of my music. … They would show me in the audience throughout the whole show. It was what they call an impression in the advertising world. It was a way for me to be around people at BET. They started to see and get familiar with me, and they wanted to look out for me. BET was just a place where we would get support from our community.”

Like Lil Jon, different hip-hop artists took benefit of the publicity from BET — which regularly highlighted constructive pictures of Black individuals via reveals resembling “Teen Summit” and “106 & Park.” But within the early-2000s, the community began to take an odd flip as a number of in style figures — from filmmaker Spike Lee to Public Enemy’s Chuck D — closely criticized the channel’s content material for depicting African Americans in a detrimental gentle.

Many took intention on the now-defunct “BET: Uncut,” a late-night mature program that contained extremely sexual content material resembling Ludacris’ “Booty Poppin” music video. The tipping level got here after Nelly’s “Tip Drill” video featured ladies simulating intercourse acts with themselves whereas males grabbed their our bodies.

“Uncut” usually completed airing early Sunday simply hours earlier than the community’s faith-based applications started.

At the time, Big Boi of Outkast was stunned by a number of the raunchy content material, calling it “distasteful” and “soft porn.” Other political figures and activists confirmed their displeasure. Co-founder Sheila Johnson even stated in a 2010 interview that she was ashamed of BET, suggesting that nobody, together with her personal kids, ought to watch the channel.

After the backlash, BET took a brand new strategy. The firm researched what their viewers wished to see and created a lineup of extra family-oriented reveals resembling “Reed Between the Lines” and “Let’s Stay Together.”

“If you look at it, hip-hop is like a huge family,” stated Roxanne Shante. “You’re going to have family members that do things that’s necessarily not my thing.”

“But who am I to criticize what they go through? It’s a form of expression,” stated the “Roxanne’s Revenge” rapper. “I think BET has shown its ability to go with that form of expression. Now, people are expressing themselves in a different way. And now, they cater to a different audience and started to show different programming.”

Despite controversy, Mills stated a symbolic relationship was saved between BET and the hip-hop neighborhood. He stated the community has an opportunity to interrupt new artists via the BET Hip-Hop Awards whereas showcasing the extra in style ones on the BET Awards. He shouted out veteran rapper and Oscar-nominated actor Queen Latifah, who just lately hosted the NAACP Image Awards this 12 months.

“When you look at artists today, they’re profoundly talented,” he stated. “The evolution of people deciding how they want to show up to the world is something that ultimately, I think we have to embrace. One thing about hip-hop, it’s always changing. We’re in the moment today, and that moment will evolve to whatever comes next.”

Mills stated BET is exploring methods to deliver again “106 & Park” as a attainable residency reside present.

With a brand new purchaser seeking to buy BET quickly, the community’s future focus and the way a lot it emphasizes hip-hop will likely be carefully watched.

Rapper Too Short stated BET ought to proceed to serve the Black neighborhood’s wants.

“’Teen Summit’ was the best show ever,” he stated. “Just for youths to sit down there and have an mental dialog each Saturday morning. That was superb to see Black children considering intelligently and debating with one another and an viewers tapping in.

“I don’t know why anybody doesn’t think that kind of programming is needed right now. I think BET just needs to be the community. Don’t show me an aspect. The whole thing. Be Black entertainment.”
 

LOS ANGELES: “Rap City.” “106 & Park.” And even, “Uncut.”

From progressive to provocative, BET has performed a vital function in creating a number of influential applications that helped unfold hip-hop to tens of millions of houses throughout the globe. Other than its rival present “Yo! MTV Raps,” the community referred to as Black Entertainment Television took up the mantle — regardless of some reluctance — to showcase a misunderstood rap tradition many years earlier than it turned immediately’s hottest music style.

For many, BET turned a secure place for these inside hip-hop to specific their artistry, though not with out criticism. Through all of it, the community has been a mainstay for established and rising rap artists.googletag.cmd.push(operate() googletag.show(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );

It will all come collectively throughout the BET Awards on Sunday. Show officers plan to have a good time the style’s fiftieth anniversary throughout the telecast dubbed as a “non-stop Hip-Hop Party.” It additionally comes at a pivotal time for the community, which will likely be quickly be bought. Several Black entrepreneurs and celebrities, together with Tyler Perry, media govt Byron Allen and rapper-entrepreneur Diddy, are fascinated by buying the community.

The new proprietor will purchase an vital cultural fixture, one whose success was partially constructed on the way it elevated hip-hop.

“BET was a big platform for hip-hop and urban music overall,” stated E-40. His music “Tired of Being Stepped On” with the rap group The Click appeared on BET’s “Video Soul,” which was created in 1981 at a time when MTV refused to play movies by most African Americans. The rapper recalled how visitor host Jamie Foxx dissed The Click’s music however the comic’s important phrases didn’t faze him. He felt his group gained vital publicity to advertise their “unorthodox” West Coast rap fashion.

“The network really stepped up. We needed that,” stated E-40, who additionally made a couple of appearances on one other BET present referred to as “Rap City,” which featured hip-hop music movies, interviews and freestyles sales space classes with large names together with Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and MC Lyte. The present, which highlighted in style and up-and-coming rappers, turned the longest-running hip-hop TV present in historical past.

E-40 credited BET founder Robert Johnson for giving hip-hop an opportunity. Johnson constructed the model into the main TV community for Black Americans in hopes of making content material geared towards jazz, comedy and gospel. But on the time, he and different founders have been not sure about that includes a rap present, believing the style could be brief lived.

Rival MTV’s “Yo! MTV Raps,” nonetheless, confirmed that hip-hop had endurance.

“After kind of a brief initial hesitancy, the founders of BET really understood how hip-hop was transforming culture overall and specifically Black entertainment,” stated Scott M. Mills, BET’s president and CEO.

“They rapidly embraced hip-hop as part of the mission of BET,” he stated. “You went from BET having shows with no hip-hop artists or music to artists and music starting to trickle through shows to this full evolution of creating dedicated shows, celebrating hip-hop music, artists and culture.”

BET’s determination to embrace hip-hop actually paid off: Johnson and his then-wife, Sheila, bought the community to Viacom in 2000 for $3 billion — which made them the nation’s first Black billionaires. He remained CEO till 2006.

After the sale, BET continued to beef up its content material with actuality reveals and the community’s flagship program “106 & Park,” a weekday present that began in 2000 and lasted for greater than a decade. The present thrived with a video countdown, interviews and performances. A 12 months later, the community began the BET Awards then the BET Hip-Hop Awards.

For Lil Jon, he definitely benefitted from showing on “106 & Park.” One day, the rapper-producer joined the present’s viewers throughout the time when he had a tough time getting music on BET.

Lil Jon had no clue “106 & Park” co-host A.J. Calloway would discover him sitting within the crowd earlier than he shouted out his identify. The publicity helped him grow to be extra recognizable, significantly to the BET brass — who he says initially struggled to understand the idea of his crunk music, which finally gained mainstream enchantment.

“We strived to be on ‘Rap City.’ We strived to be on ‘106 & Park,’” Lil Jon stated. “A.J. knew who I was, because he would go to the South and host things. He knew the power of my music. … They would show me in the audience throughout the whole show. It was what they call an impression in the advertising world. It was a way for me to be around people at BET. They started to see and get familiar with me, and they wanted to look out for me. BET was just a place where we would get support from our community.”

Like Lil Jon, different hip-hop artists took benefit of the publicity from BET — which regularly highlighted constructive pictures of Black individuals via reveals resembling “Teen Summit” and “106 & Park.” But within the early-2000s, the community began to take an odd flip as a number of in style figures — from filmmaker Spike Lee to Public Enemy’s Chuck D — closely criticized the channel’s content material for depicting African Americans in a detrimental gentle.

Many took intention on the now-defunct “BET: Uncut,” a late-night mature program that contained extremely sexual content material resembling Ludacris’ “Booty Poppin” music video. The tipping level got here after Nelly’s “Tip Drill” video featured ladies simulating intercourse acts with themselves whereas males grabbed their our bodies.

“Uncut” usually completed airing early Sunday simply hours earlier than the community’s faith-based applications started.

At the time, Big Boi of Outkast was stunned by a number of the raunchy content material, calling it “distasteful” and “soft porn.” Other political figures and activists confirmed their displeasure. Co-founder Sheila Johnson even stated in a 2010 interview that she was ashamed of BET, suggesting that nobody, together with her personal kids, ought to watch the channel.

After the backlash, BET took a brand new strategy. The firm researched what their viewers wished to see and created a lineup of extra family-oriented reveals resembling “Reed Between the Lines” and “Let’s Stay Together.”

“If you look at it, hip-hop is like a huge family,” stated Roxanne Shante. “You’re going to have family members that do things that’s necessarily not my thing.”

“But who am I to criticize what they go through? It’s a form of expression,” stated the “Roxanne’s Revenge” rapper. “I think BET has shown its ability to go with that form of expression. Now, people are expressing themselves in a different way. And now, they cater to a different audience and started to show different programming.”

Despite controversy, Mills stated a symbolic relationship was saved between BET and the hip-hop neighborhood. He stated the community has an opportunity to interrupt new artists via the BET Hip-Hop Awards whereas showcasing the extra in style ones on the BET Awards. He shouted out veteran rapper and Oscar-nominated actor Queen Latifah, who just lately hosted the NAACP Image Awards this 12 months.

“When you look at artists today, they’re profoundly talented,” he stated. “The evolution of people deciding how they want to show up to the world is something that ultimately, I think we have to embrace. One thing about hip-hop, it’s always changing. We’re in the moment today, and that moment will evolve to whatever comes next.”

Mills stated BET is exploring methods to deliver again “106 & Park” as a attainable residency reside present.

With a brand new purchaser seeking to buy BET quickly, the community’s future focus and the way a lot it emphasizes hip-hop will likely be carefully watched.

Rapper Too Short stated BET ought to proceed to serve the Black neighborhood’s wants.

“’Teen Summit’ was the best show ever,” he stated. “Just for youths to sit down there and have an mental dialog each Saturday morning. That was superb to see Black children considering intelligently and debating with one another and an viewers tapping in.

“I don’t know why anybody doesn’t think that kind of programming is needed right now. I think BET just needs to be the community. Don’t show me an aspect. The whole thing. Be Black entertainment.”