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Lil Nas X teases diss track against BET over awards show snub
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Rapper Lil Nas X teased a diss track against BET over his exclusion from the channel's awards nominations in 2022.
The Grammy award winner first expressed his frustration on Twitter the day the nominations were announced in a now-deleted tweet saying, "thank you bet awards. an outstanding zero nominations again. black excellence!"
On Tuesday, Lil Nas X shared a snippet with the caption "F*** BET! F*** BET!"
In 2021, Lil Nas X released his debut album, Montero, to widespread critical acclaim. The record spawned singles "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" and "Industry Baby" both reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
For this body of work, Lil Nas X has also been recognized by the MTV Video Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, GLAAD Media Awards, American Music Awards and People's Choice Awards.
One award Lil Nas X will not be able to add to his roster this year will be a BET Award. Someone who did receive a nomination however was white rapper Jack Harlow, who is featured in a Lil Nas X song.
BET has maintained there is no agenda against Lil Nas X. In 2020, he was nominated for the best new artist award. BET also invited him to perform at 2019 and 2021 shows.
BET clarified its voting process, saying no one from the organization serves on the 500-person voting committee.
"Unfortunately, this year, he was not nominated by BET's Voting Academy, which is comprised of an esteemed group of nearly 500 entertainment professionals in the fields of music, television, film, digital marketing, sports journalism, public relations, influencers, and creative arts," the company said in a statement.
The company also spoke about its commitment to visibility and inclusion in the Black community.
"At BET, we are passionate advocates for the wonderful diversity that exists within our community. We are committed to using all of our platforms to provide visibility and inclusion for all of the many intersections of the Black community."
Lil Nas X, who publicly came out in 2019 following the success of his single "Old Town Road," said his sexuality was a reason for his lack of BET Awards nominations this year.
BET was founded in 1980 as Black Entertainment Television by media entrepreneur Robert Johnson to fill the void of Black representation in cable TV. By the 1990s, the channel became a cultural staple leading to a $2.3 billion purchase by Viacom in 2001.
The BET Awards are separate from the BET Hip Hop Awards which occur in the fall. Lil Nas X did receive nominations from the latter in 2021 for Montero. The 2022 BET Awards will take place on June 26 in Los Angeles.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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