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Nearly nine minutes into Busta Rhymes’ head-spinning BET Awards 2023 performance around receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, Coi Leray appeared on stage to deliver her top-1o Billboard Hot 100 hit “Players,” which she remixed with Rhymes earlier this year.

Instead of promoting her freshly released album, Coi, Leray layered a tribute within the tribute by rocking a black-and-white two-piece set boasting names of several other power women rappers such as Bia, Cardi B, Dej Loaf, Doechii, Doja Cat, Gangsta Boo, GloRilla, Ice Spice, Latto, Lola Brooke, Missy Elliott, Saweetie, and more still.

In addition to Leray, Busta’s tribute performance included accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award from Swizz Beatz and running through verses from “MOP’s ‘Ante Up’ and A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘Scenario’ remixes, his verse from Chris Brown’s ‘Look At Me Now,’ and his hits ‘Break Ya Neck,’ ‘Give It To Me,’ ‘New York Sh*t,’ ‘Touch It,’ and ‘Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See,’ … [and] finished with his new song with BIA, ‘Beach Ball’ and a tribute to his Jamaican roots,” as recapped by Uproxx’s Aaron Williams.

Leray was nominated for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist, which Latto claimed, while “Players” was up for BET Her, which Beyoncé won with “Break My Soul.”

Watch the full tribute performance above, and Rhymes’ acceptance speech below.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Alex Jones, no stranger to nutso conspiracy theories, has come up with a doozy. It involves Donald Trump, the deep state, and an airplane getting blown up. It’s basically the plot of a mid-’90s dad thriller, except instead of Harrison Ford telling terrorists to get off his plane, it’s Alex Jones sweating into a podcast microphone.

“I think they’ll blow his airplane up,” Jones said on the PBD podcast in the scratchiest voice you’ve ever heard. “I really, at a gut level, believe they’re going to kill Trump. I mean, I believe the deep state establishment will murder him. I mean, I believe he’s going to steadfast go through all this. He’ll be 30 points ahead in the primaries. Nothing’s going to stop him. And then he dies of a heart attack, or they poison him, or they blow his airplane up.”

It isn’t the first time Jones has suggested a deep state plot. In Dec. 2017, he predicted the FBI would kill Trump in the next 30 days. They didn’t. “And Trump, by the way, has talked to Roger and others and said, I’m ready to die,” Jones said. He concluded the rant: “It’s a death battle.”

If Trump has an “incident” on an airplane, it’s more likely he’ll go the same way as Logan Roy, not because his plane was blown up.

You can listen to the rant below.

(Via Raw Story)

The 2023 BET Awards went down last night, and while there was plenty to get excited about on stage, there was some drama off of it, too, between Lil Uzi Vert and JT of City Girls.

Fan-shot videos of the event show the two in the audience. A seemingly upset JT says to Uzi, “F*cking groupie, I’m done with you.” She then throws her phone at Uzi as she calls him a “b*tch.” Another video shows JT heading towards the venue exit with Uzi urgently following her.

Before the incident, Uzi performed an unreleased song, which featured a lyric about Ice Spice: “I got a nice wife. […] Wig came off twice. She got a little afro, she looks like Ice Spice.” There has been some speculation that JT was upset over Uzi talking to Ice Spice, although the reason for the altercation has not been confirmed.

Ice Spice, meanwhile, also performed during the show, running through “Munch,” “Princess Diana,” and “In Ha Mood.” Also taking the stage were artists like GloRilla, Latto, and a number of icons coming together to celebrate hip-hop’s 50th anniversary.

Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Last month, after Taylor Swift announced Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), Taylor Lautner joked that he was “praying for” John Mayer. Mayer is of course believed to be the subject of “Dear John,” and while Lautner suspected Mayer is gonna be hearing about that online, Swift is seemingly hoping to curb a wave of revived internet harassment towards Mayer as the album approaches.

Before performing “Dear John” at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis this past weekend (as USA Today reports), Swift made note of all the positive and heartwarming interactions she has seen fans have with each other at her concerts. She then continued, “So I was hoping to ask you that, as we lead up to this album coming out, I would love for that kindness and that gentleness to extend onto our internet activities, right? So what I’m trying to say is… I’m putting this album out because I want to own my music and I believe that any artist who has the desire to own their music should be able to. That’s why I’m putting out this album. I’m 33 years old: I don’t care about anything that happened to me when I was 19 except the songs I wrote. […] So what I’m trying to tell you is I’m not putting this album out so you can go and should feel the need to defend me on the internet against someone you think I might have written a song about.”

Swift’s performance of “Dear John,” by the way, was her first in over a decade, since 2012.

Summer Walker, Latto, and Lola Brooke have all stepped up their stage presence thanks to the help of Teyana Taylor. However, rap newbie Jeleel!’s live performance doesn’t need any tweaking. The “Deliver!” rapper never fails to put his athletic background on full display whenever he’s on a lineup. During one of the entertainer’s recent shows, he added a sprinkle of humor into his set.

While limping to the stage on crutches, Jeleel! took to the stage and told the crowd, “I tore my ACL, and my doctor said I can’t perform tonight. So, I just wanted to come out here and show y’all some love. I love y’all.”

But before the group of eager fans could let the news sink in, he threw away his props, landing an epic backflip for his biggest concert prank to date. The attendees roared in excitement as the rapper showed off his years of gymnastics training.

Jeleel! spoke at great lengths about how he initially sought to be a professional athlete rather than a musician. When asked by Newsweek what changed his mind, Jeleel! told the outlet, “That wasn’t in God’s plan. So I tried doing music, and I fell in love with it. I felt like that was what my calling was.”

Busta Rhymes was given a massive tribute at the 2023 BET Awards as he received a Lifetime Achievement Award. After award presenter, Marlon Wayans roasted the Long Island MC for his boisterous demeanor, a video of Busta’s longtime collaborators and admirers like Diddy, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Missy Elliott, Pharrell, and more found him being called “hip-hop’s mayor” and being complicated for his “rambunctious and bold” approach to hip-hop music. His one-of-a-kind impact could only be celebrated in one way, though — a performance featuring all of those qualities.

And so, Busta hit the stage to accept his award from Swizz Beatz and show off his unmatched energy with an electrifying set including his verses from MOP’s “Ante Up” and A Tribe Called Quest’s “Scenario” remixes, his verse from Chris Brown’s “Look At Me Now,” and his hits “Break Ya Neck,” “Give It To Me,” “New York Sh*t,” “Touch It,” and “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See” — with a special appearance from Coi Leray, who performed her remix of “Players” that samples it. He finished with his new song with BIA, “Beach Ball” and a tribute to his Jamaican roots.

During his acceptance speech, Busta admitted, “I do wanna cry,” before doing just that, shedding a couple of tears as he acknowledged his kids (the oldest of whom appeared in his “Woo-Hah!” video) and recounted his journey through hip-hop, from making his debut with Leaders Of The New School to becoming a Grammy-nominated solo artist and game-changing MC who became ubiquitous over the next 30 years.

He also spoke out against petty beef in hip-hop (I’m gonna stare meaningfully at Jim Jones and Pusha T right now), while shouting out J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, and other hip-hop luminaries for their work in keeping hip-hop at the forefront of culture despite streamers warning that its popularity is waning. Hip-hop’s 50th birthday was also celebrated with a string of performances saluting decades of excellence.

You can watch Busta Rhymes’ performance and acceptance speech above.

Ice Spice was shell-shocked by her rise to fame. However, ever since she gained the attention of music fans, the “Barbie World” rapper hasn’t let up. Her 2023 BET Awards performance was no different. Keeping in alignment with the theme of the evening, her set was a tribute to hip-hop’s birthday, her hometown, the Bronx, New York.

To start, the musician floated above a basketball court, a setup to recreate the video for her viral song “Munch” as she spit the highly quoted line, “You thought I was feelin’ you?”

After that made her way to the bodega, a New York staple, as she performed her new big track, “Princess Diana.” Closing her performance, “In Ha Mood,” led Ice Spice back to the faux Fordham Road MTA train stop. Ice Spice being dubbed “The People’s Princess” has gone to her head in the best ways forcing her to work harder. Her 2023 BET Awards performance was a display of that quick grind.

Although she didn’t take any awards home, she was nominated in several categories, including Best New Artist, Best Collaboration (“Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2,” Pinkpantheress & Ice Spice), Best Female Hip Hop Artist, and BET Her (“Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2,” Pinkpantheress & Ice Spice).

Watch Ice Spice perform above.

Although GloRilla didn’t take home the 2023 BET Awards nominations for Best New Artist or Best Female Hip-Hop Artist, but she’s still blessed nonetheless. The “Nut Quick” rapper wasn’t discouraged by the losses. Instead, she showed that no matter what, she’s a winner in God’s eyes hence her middle name.

The rapper took to the 2023 BET Awards stage for a sexy performance of her track “Lick Or Sum” off her EP Anyways, Life’s Great. On the song, the Memphis native asserts her sexual liberation as she raps, “Lick on my clit, make this p*ssy cream / Do this motherfucker how you do the Russian Creams / Smokin’ on this pack, you know the p*ssy fat / Lookin’ like he fiendin’, got his nose all in my crack.”

Lounging on a plush set of lips as the camera pans to her from the stage, then ending on a cherry lollypop, the sex puns aren’t lost on the viewing audience. GloRilla has come a long way since she took home the award for Best Breakthrough Artist at BET’s Hip-Hop Awards.

As for the remaining nominations for the 2023 BET Awards at this point in the night, GloRilla is still in the running for Album Of The Year (Anyways, Life’s Great), Best Collaboration (“F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” with Hitkidd and “Tomorrow 2” with Cardi B), and Video Of The Year (“Tomorrow 2”).

Watch the performance below.

After touching on hip-hop’s roots in the first Hip-Hop 50 tribute of the night and taking a trip out west in the second, the third Hip-Hop 50 tribute of the 2023 BET Awards focused on the contributions of the South — namely, south Florida. Naturally, there were some pretty obvious names that needed to show up, and show up they did. Trick Daddy and Trina performed their breakout hit “Nann N****,” while Uncle Luke of 2 Live Crew popped out for a raucous rendition of the group’s unapologetic hit “I Wanna Rock (Doo Doo Brown).”

More Southern artists appeared in a separate clip, as Atlanta crunk pioneers Yin Yang Twins rocked right after Chicago drill genre-breaker Chief Keef. Trillville wasn’t part of the tribute but appeared during Doechii’s performance of “Block Boy,” nodding to her interpolation of the group’s 2004 hit “Some Cut” with Lil Scrappy. Jeezy, T.I., and Master P also represented for Atlanta and New Orleans, respectively when they performed at another Hip-Hop 50 tribute later in the ceremony. Honestly, it was pretty packed — which is impressive, considering all this had to be coordinated without the help of a host to keep things in line.

You can watch some of the performances from the 2023 BET Awards above.

Doechii’s 2023 BET Awards performance of her songs “Booty Drop” and “What It Is” showed that she was born to be a superstar. Before the Best New Artist nominee hits that road with Doja Cat as her The Scarlet Tour’s supporting act, the self-proclaimed Swamp Princess had to give rap music fans with a taste of what they’ll experience live.

To open her medley set, Doechii performed her dance-heavy track “Booty Drop.” As she rapped, “Strip club, dance, dance, do it in a handstand
Drop down, get bands, do it no command / I’ll make her drop / She actin’ up, she fuck it up, I make it pop / That booty soft, she lift it up and gets them props / That Chanel purse it’ll cost,” it was hard not to groove along.

Next, she blended into her controversial track “What It Is,” which originally featured Kodak Black. To pay tribute to the act behind the track’s sample, Southern legends Trillville joined Doechii on stage for a medley of their 2004 song “Some Cut.”

Despite the backlash from “What It Is” the song earned Doechii her first Billboard No. 1 on the Rhythmic Airplay chart. In an attempt to appease her fans, Doechii did upload a version of the track with Kodak Black on her YouTube channel.