The 2016 BET Awards were full of Prince tributes, packed with people who loved, adored, and worked with Prince. It was an artistic feast for the eyes, heart, and soul. Where the Billboards failed us, BET threw some shady shade, and THEN delivered. This, dear reader is how you put on a tribute show. THIS, friends, is how you honor a musical genius who crossed every line, broke every rule, and created his own everythang in the process. THIS is how you honor the one we call Prince.
From Erykah Badu breaking out Dorothy Parker in her SOTT-era white fur jacket, to Bilal making panties moist with The Beautiful Ones, and Janelle Monae doing ALL that people said she would not and could not--the entire set of tributes were classy, lit, and the gravy we needed. There was NO dry turkey meat nor inflated egos on rotating thrones in THAT place. The tribute was a movement of love, and I was very pleased. I think the only things that threw me off had to be JHud just doing her own little twist to Purple Rain, and Maxwell ad-libbing a bit.
NOTICE SOMETHING, please.
They were different to me, not bad. Sound it out with me: dif-fer-ent. I get that JHud "took it to church" as Prince requested, and Maxwell changed the 7 hours and 13 days to suit the time since Prince died. I KNOW he ad-libbed to talk about everything from Spotify to doing right. I ALSO know a lot of people think us Prince Army folks are a hive mind of purple silk and lavender glitter, but trust me--there have been arguments SINCE the performance with snappy comebacks about deafness, not understanding his music, and being a "hater". It's really a difference of/in opinion, and even my first lady aunt wasn't having JHud's warbles. It wasn't that she was bad, it's just that she was....different.
Sigh.
Listen, anytime she comes through, you better make sure you are READY. She puts on an amazing show, and has a track record so long that you need to put on your running shoes JUST to look at it. She blazes like a percussion BEAST on the drums, baby. She lays it down and you can feel it right in your guts! Sunday the 26th was no different, and I felt like not only did sista put her FOOT in it, she put her heart, her soul, and her entire body into the act. The love in her heart for Prince shone and blazed like white-hot fire in a moment to behold. Sheila, ma'am, you were in rare form last Sunday night. This, readers, is what we like to call "cookin'". Sheila cooked, I ate. Not only did she bring all that noise, but she had funk, and all that sooooul.
My lady slid across that stage, she whooped on that percussion, she sang her heart out, and she did some bomb-diddly-omb medleys that had the crowd jumpin'. You KNOW I'm already here for the jam better known as Housequake, but when Erotic City hit? Baby. This is the jam that got away with saying f*ck on the radio, because it sounds like "We can funk until the dawn....."! She chose the hits, so I knew every single dig-darn word! She mixed herself in with some Prince, and her timeless flare kept me dancing along. At the end, when a few of his proteges, bandmates, and fellow artists came out, it became real. When they held up the Blue Cloud Guitar (It's dark blue...so...looks like it's from the Rave era...could be wrong!), I was so touched.
Then, Mayte held on to Sister Sheila, because she could see that love about to cascade down her face. That was a defining moment. Sheila gave us a show and was on fiyah the entire time, but she is just as vulnerable as the rest of us who are fans, and who love Prince. It was such a beautiful moment. When all was said and done, I felt like BET stood behind their promise to do better. They chose the right people, for the most part. A lot of people weren't ready to hear Prince's voice, but I was just fine. It was refreshing. Just like a few still didn't like what they saw. I mean...you can't please everyone, and we all heal in different ways. You can't ignore the power on that stage, though. You can't ignore the deep feelings.
And of course.....
She opens her heart one more time to show us what Prince meant to her with Girl Meets Boy.
Sheila E. is a class act all the way, and the best person to help with the tributes. Not only did we have her, we got to see Mayte dance with The Twinz from the Planet Earth era. We got to see Shelby J and Tamar. We got to see Jerome, and a LOT of familiar faces who've been a part of Prince's magical world for quite some time. What Sheila did was amazing. What the others did--from Maye dancing to Jerome hittin' that Jungle Love shuffle (that's what I call it, and I'm sure it has a name but leave Roni alone, nitpicky people), and the backing vocals of Shelby and Tamar w/Sheila's band--was adding flavor to the tribute. They all came together, and it was all about His Royal Purple Badness.
(Get that song, people. Support Ms. Escovedo. Get all her stuff. Listen to Belle of St. Mark 900 times.)
