Skillibeng, YG Marley Perform, Bob Marley Biopic Wins Big At BET Awards 2024
Dancehall artist Skillibeng and Reggae star YG Marley both performed at the 2024 BET Awards on Sunday at the Peacock Theater in Downtown Los Angeles.
The Bob Marley: One Love biopic has also picked up its first major award of the season.
Skillibeng joined South African singer Tyla and American rapper Gunna for a high-energy performance of their hit song Jump. The song, which appeared on Tyla’s self-titled debut album, has soared on the charts, peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart, No. 3 on the US Afrobeats Songs chart and No. 38 on the UK Singles chart.
Tyla took home two awards that night – Best International Act and Best New Artist.
This was Skillibeng’s second performance at the BET Awards in as many years. At the 2023 staging, he participated in a tribute to Busta Rhymes, who had received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
On Sunday, YG Marley performed during his mother Lauryn Hill’s set, delivering his new song Survival and the viral hit Praise Jah in the Moonlight. Hill also revisited the iconic The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and Lost Ones, before Wyclef Jean, her fellow Fugees member, joined them to close out the performance with Fu-Gee-La.
Cole Bennett, who directed YG Marley’s music video for Praise Jah In The Moonlight, won the 2024 BET Award for Video Director Of The Year.
The song continues to prove its global popularity, peaking at No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 20 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100, and No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart and recently achieving Gold certification in the US, (500,000 units), Silver in the UK (200,000 units) and Platinum in Canada (80,000 units).
The night wasn’t just about music.
The Paramount Pictures and Tuff Gong biopic Bob Marley: One Love, released in February this year, took home the “Best Movie” award at the 2024 BET Awards.
The film, directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, details a period of the legendary reggae musician’s life and stars Kingsley Ben-Adir as Marley, Lashana Lynch as his wife Rita Marley, and James Norton as Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records. According to IMDB’s BoxOfficeMojo, it has grossed 96.8 million in the US and 179 million internationally.
The other nominees in the category were American Fiction, Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, The Book of Clarence, The Color Purple, The Equalizer 3 and The Little Mermaid.
The BET Awards, which bills itself Culture’s Biggest Night, were established in 2001 to celebrate black entertainers and other minorities in music, film, sports and philanthropy.
Usher, honored with the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award, continued his winning streak by nabbing the Best Male R&B/Pop Artist award. SZA took home Best Female R&B/Pop Artist, while Kendrick Lamar and Nicki Minaj were crowned Best Male Hip-Hop Artist and Best Female Hip-Hop Artist, respectively.
Killer Mike won Album of the Year for Michael.
Victoria Monét won the BET Her Award and Video of the Year for On My Mama.