I’ve covered many awards shows, but on Saturday night I was finally able to sit down and enjoy a show in person — since it was pre-taped, I didn’t have to work live — and the 2014 Bet Hip Hop Awards was a pretty good place to start. It felt more like a family affair, than a stiff black tie event. The show airs October 14, at 8 p.m. ET. on BET, but here’s a preview of what went down on Saturday, at the Civic Center in Atlanta.
Shurmda Stole The Show
Atlanta was very present on stage Saturday — with performances from T.I., Young Thug, Rich Homie Quan, Migos and Rae Sremmurd — but somehow it was Bobby Shmurda who really had the crowd going nuts. Shmurda was the only performer of the night who had everyone on their feet before he even started rapping. It was a mob scene when he launched into “Hot N—a,” with his GS9 creqw joining him, and Lil TeRio dancing his a$$ off in up front. The Brooklyn rapper was so excited, that he even flipped the mic and dropped it for a second. No big deal though, Snoop was on the other side of the stage distracting everyone else with his own Shmoney Dance.
The Moving Mike Brown Tribute
Common performed his Nobody’s Smiling single “Kingdom” with the backing of a full choir and an assist from Vince Staples. Then Jay Electronica surprised us by joining them both ...