Entertainment
On Sunday, June 23, the BET Awards will be back to honor the best black entertainers of the last year. The night's festivities will be hosted by Girls Trip and Shaft actor Regina Hall, and there are plenty of other celebs slated to make an appearance. Heavy-hitters like Cardi B, the Carters, Serena Williams, Childish Gambino, Michael B. Jordan, Drake, and Migos are all up for awards, while presenters include La La Anthony, Ayesha Curry, and Mike Colter, among others. But perhaps the most exciting part of Sunday night's lineup is the star-studded list of 2019 BET Awards performers.
According to the BET Awards' Twitter account, Travis Scott, Drake, and Cardi B have the most nominations this year with four, five, and seven nods, respectively. Mary J. Blige is being honored with the BET Lifetime Achievement Award, but it's unclear if she will also perform. Furthermore, the Ultimate Icon Award will be given to Tyler Perry, and the late Nipsey Hussle will posthumously receive the Humanitarian Award.
Between handing out all of those honors, several huge names are set to take the stage, which is what you came here to find out, right? Without further ado, here's who you can expect to see on Sunday night.
2
Lizzo
Lizzo's last year has been meteoric. Not only did she drop her album, Cuz I Love You, in April, but her music has been featured in films like Someone Great. Hopefully she'll bring Missy Elliot onstage to perform their single "Tempo."
4
Yung Miami of City Girls
The up-and-coming duo City Girls is nominated for both Best New Artist and Best Group. And one half of the group, Yung Miami, will hit the stage on Sunday night.
5
DJ Khaled
DJ Khaled just released his 2019 album, Father of Asahd, in May, which featured artists like SZA, Cardi B, 21 Savage, Justin Bieber, Beyoncé, and Jay-Z, to name a few. According to BET, Khaled will perform a tribute to the late Nipsey Hussle alongside John Legend and YG.
7
Cardi B
The Invasion of Privacy rapper is nominated for the most awards of anyone this year, including two in the Video of the Year category (for "Money" and "Please Me" with Bruno Mars), Album of the Year, and Best Female Hip Hop Artist, among others.
8
Lil Baby
Up for Best New Artist and Best New Group (alongside Gunna), Lil Baby is known for songs like "Yes Indeed," featuring Drake, and "Drip Too Hard" featuring Gunna.
9
Lucky Daye
This R&B singer released his debut album, Painted, in May after dropping his preview of the album — titled I — the previous year. Daye recently appeared on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert, where he performed "Roll Some Mo," "Late Night," and "Misunderstood."
10
Migos
This trap trio is nominated in the Best Group category alongside The Carters and Chloe x Halle, among others.
11
Meek Mill
In 2018, the Philadelphia-based rapper released Championships, which is now up for Album of the Year.
12
Fantasia
The American Idol Season 3 winner — who is known for songs like "Free Yourself" featuring Missy Elliot and "When I See U" — will also command the mic on Sunday night.
13
Jeremih
R&B singer Jeremih is perhaps best known for his 2009 single "Birthday Sex," but more recently he collaborated with MihTy on their eponymous 2018 album MIH-TY. He also recently featured on Meek Mill's Championships song "Dangerous" alongside PnB Rock.
14
Kirk Franklin
This gospel singer is known for his collaborations with Kanye West and Chance the Rapper.
15
H.E.R.
Nominated for the BET Her and Best Female R&B/Pop Artist awards, H.E.R. stands for "Having Everything Revealed," per the singer's Spotify bio. The R&B artist is known for songs like "Best Part" featuring Daniel Caesar and "Could've Been" featuring Bryson Tiller, among others.
16
Kelly Price
A prolific R&B and gospel singer, Kelly Price currently appears in the BET series American Soul, which follows the creation of Soul Train. Her costars include Sinqua Walls, Kelly Rowland (who portrayed Gladys Knight in two episodes), Iantha Richardson, and Jelani Winston.
17
DaBaby
This Charlotte-based rapper has been making waves with songs like "Suge" and "Baby Sitter," featuring Offset. He released his first mixtape — 2015's NonFiction — under the name Baby Jesus, and his latest album is 2019's Baby on Baby.
18
Erica Campbell
Gospel singer Erica Campbell used to be in the Christian group Mary Mary with her sister, Tina. She will also help judge the BET reality show Sunday Best, which premieres June 30 and is hosted by the aforementioned Kirk Franklin. Campbell joins fellow judges Kelly Price and Jonathan McReynolds, who will all performing at the BET Awards Sunday night.
19
Jonathan McReynolds
McReynolds is a 29-year-old from Chicago whose most popular songs include "Cycles" feat. DOE and "Not Lucky, I'm Loved."
20
James Funk of Rare Essence
Rare Essence is a Washington, D.C.-based go-go band that was founded in 1976, according to Spotify. The group is still performing, and one of their members, James Funk, will be taking the stage at the BET Awards.
No matter what music you're into — gospel, hip-hop, R&B, soul, country, or pop — there will be a little something for everyone on Sunday night.
