Amariyah Mallory 
Last night the annual BET Soul Train Awards, hosted by comedian and actor Deon Cole, premiered on television and gave us all a lot to talk about.
This year Beyoncé and Mary J. Blige led the nominations with seven each. Beyoncé won three awards, Album of the Year for the fourth time with Renaissance, Song of the Year with “Break My Soul,” and Best Collaboration for “Make Me Say It Again, Girl,” a collab with R&B legend Ronald Isley & The Isley Brothers. Blige received one award this year: The Certified Soul Award.
Chris Brown, Lizzo, Muni Long, Silk Sonic, Tems, and Maverick City Music x Kirk Franklin were also among the winners at the BET 2022 Soul Train Awards. Chris Brown took best R&B Soul Male Artist for the second time in three years. Lizzo won best dance performance for her song “About Damn Time.” Long took home the Ashford & Simpson Songwriter’s Award for her hit single “Hrs. & Hrs.” The Video of the Year award went to Silk Sonic for the second year in a row with “Smokin Out the Window.” New upcoming artist Tems won the Best New Artist award. Maverick City Music x Kirk Franklin took the Best Gospel/iInspirational award, making this Kirk Franklin’s fourth consecutive win in that category.
Performances from last night included Tank, Muni Long, Jermaine Dupri, Coco Jones, Ari Lennox, Chante Moore, Durand Bernarr, SIR, Q, Alex Vaugn, and Tasha Cobbs Leonard. Jones and Q performed on BET’s amplified stage. Bernarr, Leonard, Vaugn, and Long participated in the Soul Cypher, a freestyle session where you can rap or sing. Dupri, Lennox, Long, Tank, SIR, and Chante Moore took their talent to the Main stage of the Soul Train Awards.
Xscape performed “Just Kickin’ It,” “Who Can I Run To?” and more at the awards show. Rapper, songwriter, and executive producer DJ Jermaine Dupri discovered Xscape, and signed the girl group to his label So So Def Recordings. Last night he presented them with the Lady of Soul Award.
Morris Day and The Time closed out the show performing some of their greatest hits like “Cool,” “Jungle Love,” and more before receiving the Legend Awards for their immense contributions to music and the culture.
Did you watch the Soul Train Awards? If so, leave your reaction down below!
By Amariyah Mallory, Freshman, Whitney Young
Instagram/ TikTok: Dancemari_
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