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In 2019, Lizzo played the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Now, she would be one of the bold-name headliners, but she was booked before her positivity anthems like “Truth Hurts” and “Juice” made her famous enough to eventually get mocked on South Park, so she was scheduled for an early evening set on one of the festival’s mid-sized stages. This proved to be a miscalculation of her popularity. By the time her set neared, Lizzo’s crowd was big enough that it swelled into the small-by-comparison camp (including me) waiting for iconoclast Robyn’s headlining performance at an adjoining stage. The mass of people was so large, there were genuine safety concerns.

Something similar is happening with Chappell Roan.

The “Red Wine Supernova” singer and burgeoning queer-pop icon reportedly pulled in larger crowds than headliner Ed Sheeran at last month’s Boston Calling. She was also the biggest story at New York’s Governors Ball, where she came out dressed as the Statue of Liberty. To prevent a Lizzo-like incident, Bonnaroo — arguably the second most influential music festival in the country, after Coachella — moved Roan from a tent to the much-larger Which stage. She’s gotten so big, so fast, that she’s turning down invitations to perform at the White House (although that was also an act of protest against the Biden administration for failing women, trans folks, and “all oppressed people in occupied territories”) and publicly expressing her struggles with her fame.

“I guess I just want to be honest with the crowd,” she said at a recent concert in Raleigh, North Carolina. “I just feel a little off today ‘cause I think that my career is going really fast and it’s really hard to keep up. So I’m just being honest that I’m just having a hard time today. So sorry that — I’m not trying to give you, like, a lesser show. It’s just, there’s a lot… Thank you for understanding. This is all I’ve ever wanted. It’s just heavy sometimes, I think.”

It’s not the kind of thing that you would expect to hear from someone in a profession that demands constant ascension, but little about Roan’s charting-in-dozens-of-countries rise has been predictable.

Born in 1998 in Willard, Missouri, Roan (real name Kayleigh Rose Amstutz) grew up in a strict Christian household, but, as she explained in a 2023 interview with Variety, “I had this part of me that wanted to escape so bad. I just wanted to scream. I snuck out a lot, but I still went to church three times a week, you know what I mean? So it was just this dichotomy of trying to be a good girl, but also wanting to freaking light things on fire.”

Roan found her creative outlet on YouTube, where she caught the attention of Atlantic Records. She was signed at 17 years old, and made her stage name Chappell Roan in honor of her late grandfather (Dennis K. Chappell) and his favorite song (“The Strawberry Roan” by singing cowboy Curley Fletcher). In 2017, Roan released the folk-tinged EP School Nights, but “I just wasn’t ready,” she admits now. “It’s so cliché, but one weekend I was playing coffee shops and the next weekend I was signed to Atlantic Records. It was very, very unhinged… I just genuinely didn’t know what I was doing, and I didn’t feel like I had a lot of help.” Roan felt disconnected from the music she was making, but there was enough momentum that she moved to Los Angeles in 2018. “That changed everything,” she told Rolling Stone. As did a visit to a gay bar.

“Pink Pony Club,” the first song of Roan’s that sounds like it was made by Chappell Roan, not Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, was inspired by a night at Los Angeles institution The Abbey. “I grew up thinking being gay was bad and a sin. I went to the gay club once, and it was so impactful, like magic. It was the opposite of everything I was taught,” she said. The dreamy single — produced by Dan Nigro, who also worked on Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour, Sky Ferreira’s Night Time, My Time, and Carly Rae Jepsen’s best-pop-album-of-the-2010s E•MO•TION — made some noise, especially in gay clubs, but it didn’t catch on enough for her label. Roan was soon dropped by Atlantic. This was during the pandemic, and she ended up moving back home to Missouri to save money by working at a coffee shop, among other odd jobs. She was also going through a break-up with a long-term partner. It must have been miserable at the time, but it proved to be a fruitful experience for her songwriting.

Fast forward to 2022. Roan is out of the Midwest and back in Los Angeles, where she lands a publishing deal. She starts transforming herself into “a thrift store pop star,” which allows her to crack her naturally introverted shell and sing about getting freaky and kinky and making the bed get squeaky. The viral Tiny Desk Concert and support from the queer community and The Tonight Show appearances would soon follow. “I think Chappell’s a drag-queen version of me because it’s very larger-than-life,” she explained about finding herself to Vanity Fair. “Kind of tacky, not afraid to say really lewd things. The songs are kind of the fairytale version of what happened in real life.”

Whether real or not, the songs on Roan’s funny, vulgar, and honest debut album, The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess, are undeniable. Opener “Femininomenon” begins with lovely strings before a self-aware Roan asks “um, can you play a song with a fucking beat?” and the bubbly energy jumps from a ! to !!!; the bratty “Red White Supernova” keeps the enthusiasm going with an ode to drinking and smoking and f*cking. Later, on the throbbing “Casual,” Roan asks, “Knee deep in the passenger seat and you’re eating me out / Is it casual now?” She even has her own calling-card dance with “Hot To Go!” The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess sounds like the work of a pop-star lifer, not someone who was making coffee in Missouri two years ago.

Roan is one the biggest success stories of 2024. In June 2023, she was getting 130,000 daily streams on Spotify; a year later, she’s up to 16 million. “Good Luck, Babe!” is expected to hit No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 200 next week, which would give Roan her first top-10 hit, and her social media accounts (Roan’s TikTok is full of gems like this) are showing “explosive growth.”

There are a lot of factors to explain Roan’s rise to the pop star major leagues: her obvious talent, her opening slot for Olivia Rodrigo on the Guts tour, her work ethic, her Lady Gaga-like theatricality, her decision to “stop trying to impress the music industry and start trying to impress gay people.” But the biggest reason is also the simplest: her songs are fun! With big hooks! And melodies you can hum! People want to dance and sing and dress up in pink (Chappell Roan is Barbie for people who watch RuPaul’s Drag Race), and she provides an outlet for a good time. Hopefully for a long time.

Swerve Strickland retained his AEW heavyweight championship against Will Ospreay at Forbidden Door in New York.

While Ospreay paid tribute to the legendary Hayabusa during his entrance, Strickland continued his entertainment meets pro wrestling crossover by bringing out Dipset founding member and New York native Jim Jones to introduce him.

Jones hit the top of the entrance ramp holding the AEW championship and said he swerves when he drives before the champ’s music hit. Strickland greeted Jones at the top of the ramp, put the belt over his shoulder and made his way to the ring.

Once the bell rang, Strickland and Ospreay set a rapid pace right from the beginning. While the challenger had the early advantage, Strickland found his opening and gained some momentum. Strickland looked to be in momentum after hitting a Swerve Stomp onto the announce table.

After the referee took an errant hit from Ospreay, Don Callis arrived at the ring and handed Ospreay a screwdriver. Prince Nana took out Callis and Ospreay decided against using the screwdriver. Strickland took out Ospreay when he climbed into the ring, then hit the Swerve Stomp for two. He hit the House Call for two again.

Strickland hit a House Call again before hitting Big Pressure for the pinfall victory.

After a week of trades, the Draft, and teams signing current players to extensions and new deals, NBA free agency finally got started at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday. Typically there is flurry of action as soon as the moratorium period opened up, as teams don’t want to wait long to lock up top targets and players don’t want to wait too long to miss out on cap/exception space that often dries up quickly around the NBA.

However, this year it took longer than usual for things to get warmed up. For one, teams could agree to deals with their own free agents as soon as the Finals ended, which meant a lot of the deals that used to get held for 6:01 p.m. (or 12:01 a.m.) could just get locked in over the past two weeks. We saw that with guys like Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Immanuel Quickley, and others, taking away some of those handshake deals to re-sign guys we usually get the first night. Along with that, teams at least pretended to be better about playing along with the league’s rules about not contacting other players outside their rosters. There were a handful of deals that teams got done on Sunday prior to free agency opening to keep their own players in town, and then about an hour after free agency finally started to open up and deals began rolling in.

Still, it was a pretty quiet night, largely due to Paul George still not being officially locked in — even though the Clippers publicly announced he wouldn’t be back in Los Angeles. With the biggest name taking his time in meeting with the Sixers, things were held up a bit, while the newly increased salary cap apron penalties put a real damper on teams enthusiasm for being aggressive early on.

Here are the 15 deals that got agreed to on Sunday, including those that re-signed with their current team prior to free agency opening.

Patrick Williams (Bulls)

Sunday’s action started with the Bulls and Patrick Williams agreeing to a 5-year, $90 million deal just after midnight to keep the young forward in Chicago.

Obi Toppin (Pacers)

Elsewhere in the Central, the Pacers beat the clock to lock up Obi Toppin on a long-term deal for 4 years, $60 million to keep him from hitting the open market, giving him just above the mid-level to stay a couple hours prior to free agency.

Max Christie (Lakers)

An hour before the market opened up, the Lakers got a deal done with Max Christie to keep him in L.A. for the next four years (including a player option) and $8 million per year.

James Harden (Clippers)

From there, James Harden got a new 2-year, $70 million deal done to stay with the Clippers just before free agency started and let L.A. focus their efforts on Paul George’s free agency once the clock hit 6 p.m. ET.

Luke Kornet (Celtics)

As free agency began, Luke Kornet re-signing with the Celtics was the first deal on the board, as Boston looks to run it back in their title defense.

Kevin Love (Heat)

The deals to re-sign guys continued with Kevin Love returning to the Heat on a 2-year, $8 million deal.

Andre Drummond (Sixers)

Finally, an hour after free agency opened, we got our first signing that saw a player change teams, with Andre Drummond inking a two-year deal with the Sixers to backup Joel Embiid.

Kevin Porter Jr. (Clippers)

The Clippers signed Kevin Porter Jr. to a two-year deal (with a player option) after he missed all of the 2023-24 season after getting charged with harassment and third-degree reckless assault of his then-girlfriend at a New York City hotel, reaching a plea agreement in January.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Magic)

The first truly big signing of the day came when the Orlando Magic struck a new three-year, $66 million deal with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Orlando fills their need for a veteran presence and three-point shooting with the move, while Denver loses a key contributor for a second straight year (but this time could’ve matched the offer and chose not to).

Eric Gordon (Sixers)

The Sixers continued making moves around the periphery, signing Eric Gordon to a vet minimum deal.

Chris Paul (Spurs)

The Spurs made their first move of free agency by bringing in a needed veteran point guard presence with Chris Paul on a 1-year, $11 million deal to provide some stability on offense and create a very fun pick-and-roll pairing with Victor Wembanyama.

Jonas Valanciunas (Wizards)

The Wizards got in on the action by signing Jonas Valanciunas to a 3-year, $30 million deal to bolster their frontcourt alongside No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr.

Mason Plumlee (Suns)

The Suns made their first signing outside their roster last year adding some frontcourt depth in the form of Mason Plumlee.

Naji Marshall (Mavericks)

The reigning West champs made their first move of free agency by signing Pelicans wing Naji Marshall to add another much-needed 3-and-D wing to their rotation.

Derrick Jones Jr. (Clippers)

With the Mavs going in a different direction with their mid-level, Derrick Jones Jr. was left to find a new team and landed a 3-year, $30 million deal with the Clippers as they pivot away from Paul George.

Tonight (June 30), the 2024 BET Awards was about giving entertainers their flowers. The most notable honorary of the evening was Usher. As the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, several other musicians joined in on the celebration.

Uproxx cover star Chlöe, Childish Gambino, Keke Palmer, Coco Jones, Tinashe, Teyana Taylor, and more paid tribute to Usher with special performances of his greatest hits. Despite the jammed-packed lineup, following the set, users online shared their mixed reviews of what they witnessed.

The biggest gripe folks had on Twitter was the actual acts selected to take the stage. Continue below to read a few of their responses.

“Hopefully Usher gets a better tribute at the #GRAMMYs cause this wasn’t it. #BETAwards,” wrote one user.

https://twitter.com/HoeAssMrB/status/1807611328137175546

“Usher deserved BETTER. Teyana Taylor was the only good one,” penned one user.

“I just don’t understand who dropped the ball for the KING OF RNB LIKE THIS?!?!?! SHOW YOURSELVES,” wrote another.

“Soooo Luke James, Tank, Vedo, Eric Bellinger, Trevor Jackson, Baby Face, Tevin Campbell, Miguel, etc weren’t available for this Usher tribute?,” added another.

View the full Usher Lifetime Achievement Award tribute performance below.

Usher has had one hell of a 2024. He’s got a new album, he’s headed on tour, he performed at the Super Bowl, and now, he’s been honored with a BET Lifetime Achievement Award. However, we aren’t sure how he feels about it, because BET’s infamously touchy censor weighed in pretty heavily during Usher’s acceptance speech after he let some colorful language fly in reference to his absentee father. The speech ended up sounding a bit like the radio edit of Snoop Dogg’s “Ain’t No Fun (If the Homies Can’t Have None),” only without the fly instrumental. Fans were quick to let their own commentary off the chain on Twitter.

Despite this, the mics were indeed on during the tribute performance honoring Usher, which featured an all-star roster of nearly all women singers covering hits from across Usher’s near-30-year run of hits. Included in the performance were Childish Gambino (“U Don’t Have To Call”), Keke Palmer (“You Make Me Wanna”), Summer Walker (“Good Good”), Coco Jones (“There Goes My Baby”), Marsha Ambrosius (“Confessions Pt.2”), Chlöe (“Good Kisser”), Tinashe (“Nice & Slow”), Teyana Taylor & Victoria Monét (“Bad Girl”), and Latto (“Yeah!”).

This isn’t the first time the BET Awards have had censor issues — it’s a tradition going back decades at this point. Nor is this the first time this month Usher has had technical difficulties on the mic, after Latto had to help save his performance at her Birthday Bash in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. Check out his speech… in all its censored glory… above.

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It was a big year for Usher, who completed his Vegas residency, then released his new album Coming Home just as he performed in the Super Bowl Halftime Show. It was as good a year as any to give him the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented by none other than legendary producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

With his new multimedia project Bando Stone And The New World on the way, and his album Atavista already out, Donald Glover — aka Childish Gambino — was the first to hit the stage at the 2024 BET Awards to pay homage to Usher with a fluttering falsetto performance of Usher’s 8701 hit, “U Don’t Have To Call,” with Keke Palmer. Palmer picked up the torch to perform his breakout “You Make Me Wanna,” then his “Good Good” collaborator Summer Walker hit the stage to perform their collab.

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Coco Jones was the next star to emerge — from the crowd, no less — to sing “There Goes My Baby” with some audience participation that would make Usher himself proud. “Confessions Pt.2” was performed by Marsha Ambrosius — and yes, she did hit that run — as she was encircled by laser beams. Chlöe popped out next to perform “Good Kisser” in a glittering bodysuit, followed by Tinashe, who performed Usher’s first No. 1, “Nice & Slow.”

Next up was Teyana Taylor and Victoria Monét, who performed a sexy duet dance routine to “Bad Girl.” Latto then joined a fleet of dancers to remake the “Yeah!” video onstage, with her performing Ludacris’ iconic verse ahead of the finale, during which all the other women returned to the stage.

You can watch the performance above and find the full list of 2024 BET Awards nominees and winners here.

Tyla’s self-titled debut album has received raved reviews, from fans and Uproxx alike. Unfortunately, supporters weren’t album to enjoy any of the songs from the project after she was forced to cancel her supporting tour.

But tonight (June 30), supporters from around the world were able to witness what could’ve been. Alongside her collaborators, Gunna and Skillibeng, Tyla performed her single, “Jump.” To pay homage to her South African heritage (as shown in the track’s official video), the set was filled with nods to the motherland.

There was no water to be found, but there was plenty of nature element. Surrounded by a mock safari display, Tyla’s background dancers even assumed the role of lioness trapped in a cage with NSFW body art. But even the box couldn’t hold Tyla’s slithery dance moves.

Tyla found viral success thanks to her liquid and booty jump combination seen in the official video for “Water.” But she has much more than one-legged twerking in her choreography bag. She can wine, twerk, but most importantly sing live. As the budding amapiano pop crossover princess, Tyla’s vocal ability can’t be ignored. Earlier in the evening, Tyla took home the awards for Best New Artist and Best International Act, so it certainly didn’t go unnoticed.

Watch clips Tyla’s 2024 BET Awards performance above.

Ice Spice has undoubtedly been one of hip-hop’s biggest rising stars of the past couple years. The whole time, along with her undeniable bars, she has made use of her sex appeal. A combination of both factors fueled her 2024 BET Awards performance.

The performance opened up with “Phat Butt” and Ice made the moment all about the song’s namesake on a gas station set. She then kept things in backside territory by moving onto “Think U The Sh*t (Fart)” to wrap up her two-song medley.

Ice is about a month away from the release of her upcoming album, Y2K, the cover art of which saw a bit of criticism. Starting in a few days, she’ll also be heading out on tour in support of the album, alongside Cash Cobain. This is all going down as she gears up to star alongside Denzel Washington in an upcoming movie.

Ice Spice has three nominations at this year’s awards. Her and Nicki Minaj’s “Barbie World” is up for Best Collaboration, Ice herself is up for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist, and “Barbie World” is also up for Video Of The Year.

Check out the performance above and find the full list of 2024 BET Awards nominees and winners here.

(Spoilers for House of the Dragon, both TV show and book, will be found below.)

In House of the Dragon’s third episode, sin begets sin and old transgressions never stay buried for long.

The show’s been teasing war for a few weeks now but finally, there’s movement on that front as Daemon makes his way to Harrenhal and quickly encounters the ghosts of failed assasination attempts past. While he struggles to define what’s real and what might be the work of the castle’s resident witch, Rhaenyra wrangles an unruly council and Aegon sends Criston Cole on the road. The episode ends with some truly unserious hijinks that prove prophecies have no place in this game for the throne.

Here’s a breakdown of the biggest moments from episode three and what they mean for the show going forward.

The Blackwoods Vs. The Brackens

The show’s third episode opens with a glimpse of the chaos a war between Targaryens might cause across the realm. We meet Benjicot Blackwood, Westeros’ number one shit stirrer, as he confront members of House Bracken over a heap of moved stones and grazing cows. Settling the question of boundary lines isn’t really his priority though, it’s drawing blood, something he’s quick to do when a knight for Team Green throws around the term “babe killer” in relation to his queen. It’s a jarring reset when the screen fades from two boys with barely-dropped balls arguing over cattle to a field littered with dead bodies and slain soldiers, but it’s an effective one, reminding us how easily the fight among dragons can be used as fodder to fuel centuries-long feuds.

The good news? Benjicot – or Bloody Ben as book readers may know him – seems to have survived this bout and become a Lord. RIP to his dad, though.

Preparing For War

Criston Cole’s got those first-day work jitters and for good reason. He’s replaced Otto Hightower as Aegon’s right hand man and now, he’s tasked with appeasing a bloodthirsty child who’s simply playing at being king. His grand scheme to pit brother against brother in the hopes Rhaenyra might get caught in the crosshairs failed embarrassingly, so he’s tasked with a new battle plan. Out of his depth amongst a council that’s filled with vultures who’ve spent years scheming their way to a seat of power, Cole plays the only hand he has: his ability to pick up a sword and whack the sh*t out of people. The idea of violence – and a march on Harrenhal to secure the Riverlands – satisfies Aegon’s craving for revenge, which should be enough to mark it as a truly terrible decision. We honestly can’t wait to see it blow up in his punch-able little face.

While we wait, Rhaenyra is at Dragonstone sans her husband, burying a member of her Kingsguard and his traitorous brother together because she is a kind and just ruler like that. (For some people, it just comes natural.) As much as House of the Dragon teased the idea of female rage and Rhaenyra’s desire for vengeance this season, the show has placed her as the voice of reason amongst the bunch of squabbling men surrounding her throne. It helps that she has Rhaenys, a woman who’s already suffered a humiliating rejection in the line of succession, to whisper words of wisdom in her ear. She suggests a treaty with Alicent, believing the two women desire peace more than the men currently behaving so impulsively at the Red Keep. Lucky for Rhaenyra, Mysaria has stuck around, hoping for a spot in her court in exchange for making the Hightowers pay for their crimes. Alicent may be playing babysitter to a table full of men jockeying for position with their idiotic war games, but it’s Rhaenyra, Mysaria, and Rhaenys who are actually plotting – ensuring that, should war come, dragons won’t die out and entire houses won’t be left without heirs. The tiny princes of Dragonstone are sent with a reluctant Rhaena to Pentos (along with some dragon eggs that should be familiar to Game of Thrones fans) and the question of a Driftmark heir is posed so blatantly, you’d have to be blind to miss how the Hull brothers factor in.

Team Green might be out for blood, but it’s Team Black that feels better positioned early on in this war. At least, for now.

Boys Night Out

Aegon, desperate to prove he actually knows how to ride a dragon, is swayed from donning some Valyrian steel and taking a road trip with Criston Cole by his new Master of Whispers, Larys Strong. Sure, what’s a boner over your mom’s feet pics to a sniveling tyrant in need of a court ally with some actual brains? Aegon drinks away his disappointment over not getting to show off his shiny new fit with a night on the town, buying drinks for the smallfolk and helping to pop his squire’s cherry – not personally of course, but if there’s one thing Aegon is, it’s a brothel expert. While there, he stumbles upon his brother doing that weird thing he likes to do, i.e. pretending to be a baby while the madame cradles his oversized naked body and sings him a lullaby or some sh*t. It’s all still too weird to investigate further, but Aegon’s not afraid to make a spectacle of his brother’s kink, revealing the prostitute is the same who took his virginity and possibly the only woman he’s ever been with. (Why does he even know that?) The layers of dysfunction continue to pile up between these two, but it’s fairly stupid on Aegon’s part to anger his best weapon – a man with the realm’s biggest dragon and loosest moral code. The odds that Aemond won’t betray him before the end are getting slimmer and slimmer.

The Witch Of Harrenhal

Daemon’s self-imposed exile brings him to Harrenhal, a crumbling castle – the largest in Westeros – that’s seen better days. The roof is leaking, the bones of Rhaenyra’s last lover still litter the floor, and the halls are literally haunted by those burned to death, courtesy of Daemon’s Targaryen ancestors. Claiming the dump is pretty anticlimactic considering it’s a gaudy trash heap run by an aging lord (Simon Strong) who hates his nephew – and having his venison supper interrupted. While Daemon worries over his potentially poisoned peas, Strong offers some helpful background on the situation in the Riverlands – a place showrunner Ryan Condal hinted we’d be spending plenty of time this season. It’s a grimy old swamp, sure, and it’s run by wrinkled husks with chronic diarrhea, but if Daemon can persuade these walking dustbins to bend the knee, he’ll control the largest undeclared host in the realm – and Harrenhal will be the garrison where it’s housed.

Hopefully that thought keeps the prickly little prince warm at night because nothing about Harrenhal is comforting. I once stayed at a motel with a bathroom so small, the door could only be opened one way lest it get stuck between the rusty toilet and the stained wall. I’d prefer that to this place, with its howling winds and burnt ceilings and whatever biohazard is responsible for the hallucinations Daemon begins to suffer from. His waking nightmare gives us the season’s first surprise cameo – Milly Alcock is back to play the younger Rhaenyra, left sewing up that poor kid’s throat as she scolds Matt Smith for the messes his character seems to constantly make. When Daemon comes to, he’s in front of a weirwood with a strange woman predicting he’ll die in this place. Is this Alys Rivers, the mystical blueprint for Melisandre who eventually aligns herself with Aemond to take down the Rogue Prince? Probably, but something about her face has me convinced she’s filmed a Tik Tok video before so I really can’t take her too seriously at this point. Birth a shadow baby and then we’ll talk, Al.

The Hand Marches On

If his personality didn’t do the trick, Criston Cole’s new haircut is enough to make the nethers of every woman in Westeros drier than the Red Waste. Before he can take off for the Riverlands with a shockingly small contingent, Alicent bursts his bubble by inviting her brother, Gwayne Hightower (Freddie Fox) to crash his boys’ trip. The guy’s not too pleased about his dad’s dismissal from court, or that he’s going to be expected to sleep outdoors, making him a real thorn in Cole’s side. Their argument on the King’s Road makes them easy prey for Baela, who’s doing a bit of patrolling in the skies, but before she can toast him, Cole manages to find cover. If cockroaches exist in Westeros, Cole needs to be classified as one.

A Prophecy Retold

We’ll probably never make it through a season of George R.R. Martin’s universe without hearing that damn Prince Who Was Promised prophecy but House of the Dragon manages to give it more purpose in the waning minutes of episode three. It’s been a red herring and a let-down for Game of Thrones fans but here, it’s simply a story a paranoid and dying man clung to that, when misheard, caused the downfall of a great house and signaled the end of dragons. It’s ridiculous and insignificant and so stupid, it reminds us that yes, these characters are kings and queens and dragon-riders but they’re also just human. Rhaenyra pulls a Sister Act move, disguising herself as a nun in order to intercept Alicent in the hope she can convince her to have a talk with her son, but their chat doesn’t go as planned. Instead, she learns Alicent heard her father’s prophecy and, not understanding its true meaning, believed he’d changed his mind about the line of succession. It’s a flimsy excuse considering Alicent knows what a waste of space Aegon is and lived all her life knowing her husband not only loved his daughter, but believed in her ability to rule. Still, the way Emma D’Arcy sells this breakdown of a friendship, the yearning in Rhaenyra’s eyes, the tremble in her voice as she pleads with her former ally to let go of her pride and admit her mistake before thousands die, it’s pretty damn powerful.

Latto started the year with a few sour words for her foes on tracks like “Sunday Service.” But Latto leaving the bitterness behind to enjoy her recent successes, which includes making history at Birthday Bash ATL 2024 as the event’s first woman headliner.

During the 2024 BET Awards, Latto took another victory lap. With the “Big Mama” rapper’s Sugar Honey Iced Tea album on the way, she used the stage to delivery a sweet offering of what to come.

Tonight (June 30), Latto performed a medley of an unreleased song, “Sunday Service,” and “Big Mama” with her sister Brooklyn Nikole cheering her on in the front row.

Last year, Latto took home the Best Female Hip-Hop Artist award and put it all on the floor with a showing of her then viral hit. So, today, it was only right to outdo herself.

Dripped in diamonds and fur, Latto that she’s come a long way since her time on the music competition show, The Rap Game. Latto referenced the series in the opening snippet. But that wasn’t the only throwback deep cut she spotlighted. Dressed in a silk leopard set, Latto thumbed her nose at jokes about her only owning animal print undergarments with a savage twerk session.

Watch Latto’s performance at the 2024 BET Awards above.