As the opening act, the rapper set a sexy tone for the night.
Cardi B got the party started at the 2019 BET Awards Sunday night with her husband, Offset.
Cardi and Offset performed “Clout” and her new single “Press” in the opening number. During their performance, she even gave her husband a lap dance, stunning the audience at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, as well as viewers at home.
The Bronx rapper snagged “Album of the Year” for her 2018 debut, “Invasion of Privacy,” and the award for “Best Female Hip-Hop Artist.”
The night also honored late rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was killed earlier this year. He was posthumously honored with The Humanitarian Award.
His grandmother was escorted onstage by his girlfriend, Lauren London. His own mother gave an emotional speech about her son.
“I looked at his car. I saw a crescent shape of his personal belongings with a space between his vehicle, and it was peaceful," Angelique Smith said of her son’s shooting. “So even though our bodies die, as they call it on this side of eternity, our spirits live.'"
John Legend was among the performers who paid tribute to Nipsey.
The five men wrongfully convicted in the "Central Park Five" case were also there, and they got a rousing standing ovation when they appeared on the stage. The men were imprisoned for the rape of a jogger 30 years ago, and they were later exonerated in 2002.
Their story recently made headlines in the Netflix documentary "When They See Us,” and the men have now been dubbed “The Exonerated Five.”
“But I know that in telling our truth, our lives have been changed forever,” said Yusef Salaam told the crowd.
“Your truth is the foundation your legacy will be built on,” Raymond Santana Jr. added.
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