When host Taraji P. Henson quipped that DJ Khaled’s performance at the 2021 BET Awards would include “almost all the acts from the last 3 hours except me,” she wasn’t joking — the rapper was joined by stars like Megan Thee Stallion, DaBaby and many more on Sunday night (June 27).
At the outset of the performance, Lil Durk & Lil Baby appeared, offering up a verse off of their Travis Scott collaboration “Hats Off.” As the pair finished their track, some smoke fired up, a curtain lifted, and there was DJ Khaled, delivering yet another new mantra: “Jealousy is a disease, hate is a waste of emotion. Don’t get mad, get a bag.”
The trio then launched into “Every Chance I Get” off of Khaled’s album Khaled Khaled, with Durk and Baby flexing around the stage, while Khaled gassed them and the crowd up. Soon enough, Khaled prepped the crowd for “a whole lot of superstars,” kicking off his track “I Did It,” and bringing Megan Thee Stallion onto the stage for a guest verse. “I’m from the South, never had a handout/ ‘Fore I let my people starve, I’ll take it out your mouth.”
From there, the performance only continued to ramp up — H.E.R. appeared to offer a short guitar solo while Lil Baby jammed out to his verse, followed by DaBaby throwing a piece of paper labelled “contract” out for his bars. At the end, DJ Khaled took a look around the stage and made the apt observation: “I did it! We did it! You did it!”
DJ Khaled was not only a performer, but a nominee at Sunday night’s show, earning nods for best collaboration and viewer’s choice for his single with Drake, “Popstar.”
