BET Awards honor Busta Rhymes, while celebrating hip-hop’s 50th anniversary.
Busta Rhymes receive his flowers at the 2023 BET Awards
Busta Rhymes earned a standing ovation as he received the lifetime achievement award.
On Sunday (June 25), The 2023 BET Awards honored the 50th anniversary of hip-hop with dozens of performances that played like a musical family reunion as pioneers of the genre blazed the stage during a hostless but party-filled show held during the writers strike.
The multi-platinum rapper, songwriter and record producer tears up in BET Awards lifetime achievement speech and urges rappers not to fight: ‘love each other’
“So, I'm gonna wear it on my sleeve. I do wanna cry,” began the “I Know What You Want” the Brooklyn native, as he became emotional and wiped tears from his eyes.
Busta spoke about getting his start in Leaders of the New School and shouted out his six children: “My oldest child was a 3 year old in the ‘Woo-Hah!!’ video back in ’96. He's 30. He's right here. I went on, and I had five more kids after that. So, I got six beautiful children. Five out of the six of them is here, T’ziah, Mariah, Cacie, T’khi, Trillian and the young boss who's home.”
Watch the full speech below.
Rhymes also thanked his peers in the hip-hop community and poked fun at his over-affectionate demeanor.
“I'm a real giver of love,” Busta said. “Sometimes, I know I might overwhelm y’all. I want to hug you, and I won’t let you go. I’ll shake your hand tight. I speak to you from a place (that) I really want you to know I mean what I’m saying.”