The 2023 BET Awards have given Drake, Beyoncé, and SZA the opportunity to expand their prize collections.
The annual awards ceremony took place on Sunday, June 25, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California. It was another memorable night as cultural giants were honored, up-and-coming superstars were crowned, and, in the case of Quavo and Offset, brotherhood was restored.
With three trophies each, Beyoncé and SZA were this year’s top winners. Queen Bey’s Renaissance was named Album of the Year, and the Viewer’s Choice and BET Her awards went to her “Break My Soul” music video.
In a rare tie, SZA’s record-breaking SOS was also named Album of the Year, while her “Kill Bill” short film was named Video of the Year.
The TDE singer also won the title of Best Female R&B/Pop Artist, defeating Beyoncé, Lizzo, Ari Lennox, Tems, H.E.R., and Coco Jones, who won the title of Best New Artist.
Drake, the 6 God, came in second place, taking home two awards: Best Group with his Her Loss bandmate 21 Savage and Best Collaboration for his contribution to Future’s number-one single “Wait For U,” which also included Tems.
Other winners included Chris Brown and Usher for Best Male R&B/Pop Artist, Kendrick Lamar for Best Male Hip Hop Artist for the second year in a row, Latto for Best Female Hip Hop Artist over Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Ice Spice, GloRilla, Megan Thee Stallion, and Coi Leray.
The “Big Energy” singer thanked her peers, the trailblazing pioneers, and the female MCs who didn’t receive a nomination in the category during her live, on-air award speech.
Latto opened her speech by saying, “I’m not gon’ cry this year,” alluding to her emotional Best New Artist win at the BET Awards the year before. “Praise God loudly. He’s pulling a fast one on me! This category is booming this year, so shout out to all the other female competitors and to all the ladies who paved the road for it to ever be feasible.
Oh, shout out to a few females who I believe ought to have been included in the category: Maiya The Don, Flo Milli, Mello Buckzz, and TiaCorine all say, “Doechii — I love you, baby.” All the women, shout out, we’re killing it. This is the female year, the year of the woman. You get the feeling that hopefully we’ll soon witness an all-female tour?
“I adore you, mom. And my man, thank you to my man,” she continued, making a sexy gesture and a sardonic smile reference to the persistent rumors about her romantic life.
Check out the full list of 2023 BET Awards winners below:
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
GloRilla — Anyways, Life’s Great
Chris Brown — Breezy
DJ Khaled — God Did
Drake & 21 Savage — Her Loss
Kendrick Lamar — Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers
Beyoncé — Renaissance — WINNER (Tie)
SZA — SOS — WINNER (Tie)
BEST FEMALE R&B/POP ARTIST
Ari Lennox
Beyoncé
Coco Jones
H.E.R.
Lizzo
SZA — WINNER
Tems
BEST MALE R&B/POP ARTIST
Blxst
Brent Faiyaz
Burna Boy
Chris Brown — WINNER (Tie)
Drake
The Weeknd
Usher — WINNER (Tie)
BEST GROUP
City Girls
Drake & 21 Savage — WINNER
Dvsn
FLO
Maverick City Music & Kirk Franklin
Quavo & TakeOff
Wanmor
BEST COLLABORATION
Latto & Mariah Carey f. DJ Khaled — “Big Energy (Remix)”
Pinkpantheress & Ice Spice — “Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2”
Chris Brown f. Wizkid — “Call Me Every Day”
King Combs f. Kodak Black — “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop”
Metro Boomin, The Weeknd & 21 Savage — “Creepin’”
Hitkidd & GloRilla — “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)”
GloRilla & Cardi B — “Tomorrow 2”
Future f. Drake & Tems — “Wait For U” — WINNER
BEST FEMALE HIP HOP ARTIST
Cardi B
Coi Leray
GloRilla
Ice Spice
Latto — WINNER
Megan Thee Stallion
Nicki Minaj
BEST MALE HIP HOP ARTIST
21 Savage
Drake
Future
J. Cole
Jack Harlow
Kendrick Lamar — WINNER
Lil Baby
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Chris Brown — “We (Warm Embrace)”
Peezy, Jeezy & Real Boston Richey f. Rob49 — “2 Million Up”
Lizzo — “About Damn Time”
Steve Lacy — “Bad Habit”
Jack Harlow — “First Class”
SZA — “Kill Bill” — WINNER
GloRilla & Cardi B — “Tomorrow 2”
VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
A$AP Rocky for AWGE
Benny Boom
Burna Boy
Cole Bennett
Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar
Director X
Teyana “Spike Tey” Taylor — WINNER
BEST NEW ARTIST
Ambré
Coco Jones — WINNER
Doechii
FLO
GloRilla
Ice Spice
Lola Brooke
DR. BOBBY JONES BEST GOSPEL/INSPIRATIONAL AWARD
Maverick City Music & Kirk Franklin — “Bless Me” — WINNER
Tamela Mann — “Finished (Live)”
CeCe Winans — “I’ve Got Joy”
Maverick City Music & Kirk Franklin f. Naomi Raine & Chandler Moore — “Kingdom”
Tye Tribbett — “New”
Yolanda Adams — “One Moment From Glory”
PJ Morton f. Lisa Knowles-Smith, Le’andria Johnson, Keke Wyatt, Kierra Sheard & Tasha Cobbs Leonard — “The Better Benediction (Pt. 2)”
VIEWER’S CHOICE AWARD
Lizzo — “About Damn Time”
Beyoncé — “Break My Soul” — WINNER
Jack Harlow — “First Class”
Drake f. 21 Savage — “Jimmy Cooks”
SZA — “Kill Bill”
Burna Boy — “Last Last”
Nicki Minaj — “Super Freaky Girl”
Future f. Drake & Tems — “Wait For U”
BEST INTERNATIONAL ACT
Aya Nakamura (France)
Ayra Starr (Nigeria)
Burna Boy (Nigeria) — WINNER
Central Cee (UK)
Ella Mai (UK)
Ko (South Africa)
L7nnon (Brazil)
Stormzy (UK)
Tiakola (France)
Uncle Waffles (Swaziland)
VIEWER’S CHOICE: BEST NEW INTERNATIONAL ACT
Asake (Nigeria)
Camidoh (Ghana)
Flo (UK)
Libianca (Cameroon) — WINNER
Maureen (France)
MC Ryan SP (Brazil)
Pabi Cooper (South Africa)
Raye (UK)
Werenoi (France)
BET HER
Lizzo — “About Damn Time”
Pinkpantheress & Ice Spice — “Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2”
Beyoncé — “Break My Soul” — WINNER
Megan Thee Stallion — “Her”
Rihanna & Ludwig Göransson — “Lift Me Up”
Coi Leray — “Players”
Lizzo — “Special”
BEST MOVIE
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — WINNER
Creed III
Emancipation
Nope
The Woman King
Till
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody
BEST ACTOR
Amin Joseph
Brian Tyree Henry
Damson Idris — WINNER
Daniel Kaluuya
Demetrius “Lil Meech” Flenory Jr.
Donald Glover
Michael B. Jordan
BEST ACTRESS
Angela Bassett — WINNER
Coco Jones
Janelle James
Janelle Monáe
Keke Palmer
Viola Davis
Zendaya
YOUNGSTARS AWARD
Akira Akbar
Alaya High
Demi Singleton
Genesis Denise
Marsai Martin — WINNER
Thaddeus J. Mixson
Young Dylan
SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
Alexis Morris
Allyson Felix
Angel Reese — WINNER
Candace Parker
Naomi Osaka
Serena Williams
Sha’Carri Richardson
SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
Aaron Judge
Bubba Wallace
Gervonta Davis
Jalen Hurts — WINNER
LeBron James
Patrick Mahomes
Steph Curry