This year’s event celebrated 50 years of Hip Hop, with Busta Rhymes receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Kendrick Lamar + Latto (Instagram)
Kendrick Lamar has taken out the win for Best Male Hip Hop, while up-and-comer Latto has nabbed the win for Best Female Hip Hop Artist at the 2023 BET Awards in Los Angeles.
The annual awards show showcases the best performances in music, TV, film and sports, with this year’s event celebrating 50 years of Hip Hop, with Busta Rhymes receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Up against K.Dot for the prestigious award of Best Male Hip Hop Artist included 21 Savage, Drake, Lil Baby, Future, J. Cole and Jack Harlow, while Latto's was up against some major names like Cardi B, Coi Leray, GloRilla, Ice Spice, Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj.
While presented the award for Best Female Hip Hop Artist by the cast of Sistas, Latto said the "category is going crazy this year."
"Shout-out to some of the women I think should've been nominated," Latto said. "Doechii, I love you, baby. Maya The Don, Flo Milli. Oh my god, I can't think. Mello Buckzz, TiaCorine. Shout-out to all the women. We killin' it. This is the year of the female, the year of women. Hopefully we gon' see an all-female tour, you feel me? Very soon. Keep killin' it."
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Compton-born rapper Kendrick is certainly no stranger to taking the crown at the BET Awards. In fact, in 2022 he dominated the awards show and went home with a whopping six trophies, including for Artist Of The Year and Album Of The Year for Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.
He also took the win for Lyricist Of The Year and Best Live Performer and shared two other awards Best Hip Hop video for Family Ties with Baby Keem and Video Director Of The Year with Dave Free.
The 2023 event as a whole was a star-studded affair, with a number of the music world's biggest names taking to the stage, including Migos rappers Offset and Quavo, who reunited to honour their late bandmate Takeoff with a bittersweet performance of Bad And Boujee - their first joint performance since the rapper died in 2021.
Other performances featured a slew of both new and old generation hip hop stars, including Lil Uzi Vert, Ice Spice, Redman, Big Daddy Kane, Warren G, and more.
Elsewhere at the 2023 awards, SZA and Beyoncé each won three times and also tied for the Album of the Year Award. Meanwhile, Drake was the most nominated artist of the night, taking the win for the Best Group and Best Collaboration categories.
Check out the rest of the winners for the 2023 BET Awards below.
2023 BET Awards Winners List
ALBUM OF THE YEAR (TIE)
SOS – SZA
RENAISSANCE – Beyoncé
BEST COLLABORATION
WAIT FOR U – Future feat. Drake & Tems
BEST FEMALE R&B/POP ARTIST
SZA
BEST MALE R&B/POP ARTIST (TIE)
Chris Brown
Usher
BEST NEW ARTIST
Coco Jones
BEST GROUP
Drake x 21 Savage
BEST FEMALE HIP HOP ARTIST
Latto
BEST MALE HIP HOP ARTIST
Kendrick Lamar
DR. BOBBY JONES BEST GOSPEL/INSPIRATIONAL AWARD
Bless Me – Maverick City Music & Kirk Franklin
BET HER AWARD
Break My Soul – Beyoncé
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Kill Bill – SZA
VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Teyana “Spike Tey” Taylor
BEST MOVIE
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
BEST ACTRESS
Angela Bassett
BEST ACTOR
Damson Idris
YOUNGSTARS AWARD
Marsai Martin
SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR
Angel Reese
SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR
Jalen Hurts
VIEWER’S CHOICE AWARD
Break My Soul – Beyoncé
BEST INTERNATIONAL ACT
Burna Boy