Beyoncé
Mary J. Blige
Melanie Fiona
Alicia Keys
Rihanna
Who Should Win: Alicia Keys
Who Will Win: Alicia Keys
My Take: Rihanna is still considered a R&B artist??
Anyway, Beyonce is always great, but over the past year all she's done with make 2 videos with Lady Gaga. Mary J. Blige had a decent year sales wise, but no real hit singles. Melanie Fiona is great, but lets be serious. Rihanna does mainly pop and alternative music, and Rude Boy alone isn't enough to win her this award. That leaves Alicia Keys. She had several hits over past year, stayed relevant the entire time, and her album went platinum fairly quickly. She's GOT to win this award.
(Side note: How in the hell did Melanie Fiona beat out Monica for a spot here?? Not only has Monica outsold her, BUT SHE HAS A TV SHOW ON BET!)
Best Male R&B Artist
Chris Brown
Raheem DeVaughn
Maxwell
Trey Songz
Usher
Who Should Win: Usher
Who Will Win: Trey Songz
My Take: Let the records show now that if Trey Songz does indeed win, he deserved it. This was his breakout year, and you'd be hard pressed to find a female who doesn't want to help their neighbors know his name as well. I would give it to Usher though because I can't go anywhere without hearing OMG, Lil Freak, or There Goes My Baby! Whether I'm watching TV, driving in the car, or getting my haircut, you just can't escape them. And that's not to mention he's already outsold Trey, even though his album dropped 7 months later. Yeah he's Usher, but Trey is on fiyah right now with the ladies, he should have sold MUCH more than he has at the moment.
Also, Don't sleep on Maxwell. Ladies love him just as much, if not more, than Trey Songz and Usher. That's evidence by him coming from out of nowhere last year and selling 316,000 of his BLACKsummers'night in its first week. Here's the dark horse that could actually steal this one from the front-runners.
Best Female Hip-Hop Artist
Ester Dean
Lil’ Kim
Nicki Minaj
Rasheeda
Trina
Who Should Win: Nicki Minaj
Who Will Win: Nicki Minaj
My Take: Even though Nicki hasn't really done much over the past year outside of a few cameos here and there, she's got to win this one because her competition is basically non-existent. The nominees were essentially thrown together just to say they gave out this award. Seriously, Ester Dean, Lil Kim, Rasheeda, and Trina?? Ester Dean had a minor hit, then disappeared, Lil Kim is only in the news because of a feud with Nicki and Drake, Rasheeda is still an underground artist, and Trina's Amazin' album dropped with so little fanfare than I'm not even sure Slip-N-Slide knows it's out yet. They might as well had thrown Foxy Brown and Missy Elliott in there too. If anything, Nicki wins by default.
Best Male Hip-Hop Artist
B.o.B
Drake
Fabolous
Jay-Z
Ludacris
Who Should Win: Jay-Z
Who Will Win: Drake
My Take: Jay-Z dominated the competition again over the past year notching another #1 album, a platinum plaque, and 3 top 10 singles. Even so, this award will be given to Drake to reward him on his big first week numbers. Oh well, I doubt Jay will be trippin' off of this loss.
Best New Artist
Justin Bieber
Melanie Fiona
Nicki Minaj
Wale
Young Money
Who Should Win: Nicki Minaj
Who Will Win: Nicki Minaj
My Take: Justin Bieber?? Really?? Has BET even aired any of his videos?? Like the last award Nicki won, this one was seemingly thrown. I mean, Young Money is literally nominated for "Best New ARTIST," even though they're a group.
Oh well, it's not her fault there haven't been many hot new artists over the past year.
(Side note: Why isn't B.o.B nominated here?? I mean, yeah, he's been out for awhile, but so has Nicki, Wale, Melanie Fiona, and pretty much everybody in Young Money. B.o.B having two #1 singles to his credit cancels out the fact that he just dropped his debut album this past March?? If Melanie Fiona can be nominated for "Best Female R&B Artist" and "Best New Artist," why can't B.o.B be nominated here and "Best Male Hip-Hop Artist" too?? If he were nominated, he'd surely win.)
Best Gospel
The Anointed Pace Sisters
Kirk Franklin Presents Artists United For Haiti
Tamela Mann
Marvin Sapp
Vickie Winans
Who Should Win: Marvin Sapp
Who Will Win: Marvin Sapp
My Take: I won't claim to know all there is about Gospel music, but I do know Marvin Sapp has been the most commercially successful over the past year. It's his award.
Best Group
Black Eyed Peas
Clipse
Diddy-Dirty Money
New Boyz
Young Money
Who Should Win: Young Money
Who Will Win: Black Eyed Peas
My Take: The Black Eyed Peas sold more records than all these acts combined over the past year so they will win, but if you ask me, they shouldn't even be nominated. 1) They aren't a Hip-Hop or R&B act (anymore), and 2) I'm not even sure they get any play on BET. I don't watch 106 & Park or The Deal, but I'm almost positive Boom Boom Pow or I Got A Feeling were getting much play.
Best Collaboration
Beyoncé f/ Lady Gaga – “Video Phone”
B.o.B f/ Bruno Mars – “Nothin’ on You”
Drake & Trey Songz – “Successful”
Drake f/ Lil Wayne, Kanye West & Eminem – “Forever”
Jay-Z & Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”
Trey Songz f/ Fabolous – “Say Aah”
Who Should Win: Jay-Z & Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”
Who Will Win: Drake f/ Lil Wayne, Kanye West & Eminem – “Forever”
My Take: Drake is the hottest artist out right now, so they have to get him more camera time than just one award and one performance. Plus, the strength of the featured artists makes it easier to explain why it will beat out 2 #1 records in Nothin' On You and Empire State Of Mind.
(Side note: Why isn't Run This Town nominated?? It charted higher than 4 of the 6 songs that were.)
Video Director of the Year
Benny Boom
Gil Green
Anthony Mandler
Chris Robinson
Hype Williams
Who Should Win: I don't know.
Who Will Win: I don't know.
My Take: I'm not gonna lie, I hardly ever pay attention to who directed the videos I watch, so I don't know who did what. BET is banking on you not knowing either so they'll give it to either Benny Boom or Chris Robinson because we know who they are. We know Hype Williams too, but I doubt he actually directed many videos over the past year.
Video of the Year
Beyoncé f/ Lady Gaga – “Video Phone”
B.o.B f/ Bruno Mars – “Nothin’ on You”
Melanie Fiona – “It Kills Me”
Jay-Z & Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”
Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West – “Run This Town”
Who Should Win: Jay-Z & Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”
Who Will Win: Jay-Z & Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”
My Take: Since Empire State Of Mind will get snubbed in Best Collaboration, BET will make it up by giving this one to Hov and A. Keys.
Viewer’s Choice
Beyoncé – “Sweet Dreams”
Jay-Z & Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”
Monica – “Everything to Me”
Rihanna f/ Young Jeezy – “Hard”
Trey Songz f/ Fabolous – “Say Aah”
Young Money (Lil Wayne, Gudda Gudda, Nicki Minaj, Jae Millz, Drake, Tyga) f/ Lloyd – “Bedrock”
Who Should Win: Jay-Z & Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”
Who Will Win: Young Money (Lil Wayne, Gudda Gudda, Nicki Minaj, Jae Millz, Drake, Tyga) f/ Lloyd – “Bedrock”
My Take: This award will be interesting seeing the viewers select the winner, and not BET. I know it's out of BedRock and Say Ahh, but I'm leaning towards BedRock because of Drake, Nicki, and Lil Wayne.
Best International Act
Kojo Antwi (Ghana)
Chipmunk (UK)
Dizzee Rascal (UK)
Estelle (UK)
Hip Hop Pantsula (HHP) (South Africa)
K’NAAN (Somalia)
M.I. (Nigeria)
P-Square (Nigeria)
Corinne Bailey Rae (UK)
Sade (UK)
Who Should Win: Sade
Who Will Win: Sade
My Take: This award is stupid, but I'm be totally shocked if Sade didn't win.
Centric Award
Melanie Fiona
Maxwell
Chrisette Michele
Monica
Sade
Who Should Win: Maxwell
Who Will Win: Maxwell
My Take: This award is really a slap in the face to Chrisette Michele, Monica, and Sade. BET is basically saying, "you weren't good enough to get nominated in any of the real R&B categories, so we'll give you this one."
Nevertheless, if Maxwell doesn't steal the "Best Male R&B Artist" award, they'll throw him a bone and give him this.
