Take that, take that.
It was a historic night for hip hop and R&B at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday (May 15). The live event was taped and aired from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and hosted by Sean “Diddy” Combs”.
Coming off the announcement of his R&B label Love Records and new album, Diddy pulled a double-duty and opened up the ceremony with a live debut of his upcoming single “Gotta Move On” with Bryson Tiller. Puff also brought out Jack Harlow for a performance of “First Class”, before performing his classic “Mo Money Mo Problems” alongside his son King Combs and Teyana Taylor.
Travis Scott made his epic return and took the audience to the snowy Alps for an icy performance of “Mafia” for his first televised performance since the AstroWorld tragedy. Megan Thee Stallion turned up the heat with a medley of “Plan B” and “Sweetest Pie”, while Latto later turned up the venue with a zestful performance of her hit “Big Energy”. Burna Boy electrified the stage with a medley that included “Kilometre” and his new single “Last Last“.
It was a blast from the past as a few old school classics were covered including Silk Sonic’s performing their Con Funk Shun remake of “Love’s Train” and Maxwell who returned to the Billboard stage for his rendition of Michael Jackson’s “The Lady In My Life”.
For this year’s Icon Award, Mary J. Blige was given the honor by surprise presenter Janet Jackson, who was given the award back in 2018. MJB received a tribute with a video montage featuring commentary by H.E.R., Kiana Ledé, Ella Mai, Taraji P. Henson, Queen Latifah, and Missy Elliott. MJB took the stage for her emotional acceptance speech where she reflected on her journey and thanked her supporters including Diddy, the late Andre Harrell, and more.
Some of the evening’s big wins including Drake who won the awards for Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Rap Artist, Top Male Rap Artist, and Top Rap Album (Certified Lover Boy). Kanye West swept both the Top Christian and Top Gospel awards including both the Top Artist categories, as well as each of each of the Top Album (Donda) and Top Song (“Hurricane”) categories.
The ladies continued to rock with Doja Cat racking in quite a few categories including Top R&B Artist, Top Female R&B Artist, Top R&B Album (Planet Her), and Top Viral Song for her collaboration with SZA “Kiss Me More”. Meanwhile, Megan Thee Stallion accepted her award for Top Female Rap Artist.
Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow won Best Rap Song for their collaboration “Industry Baby” and The Weeknd was named this year’s Top R&B Male Artist. In addition, Bruno Mars won Top R&B Tour (Bruno Mars at Park MGM) and Omarion and Bow Won Top Rap Tour (The Millennium Tour 2021).
