The BET Awards are taking place June 9th, 2025 in Los Angeles with host Kevin Hart. Beginning with the Album of the Year, Chris Brown, Doechii, Beyoncé, GloRilla, Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Drake & PartyNextDoor, and Future & Metro Boomin. With the year Kendrick Lamar has had, I think he is going to be an hard out, but he is going up against some of music’s biggest titans. The Video of the Year nominees feature Key Glock, Shaboozey, Kehlani, Doechii, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd & Playboi Carti, and Future, Metro Boomin featuring Travis Scott and Playboi Carti. Again, with Kendrick’s dominance, I predict it will be him, but Shaboozey is a sleeper with how long ‘A Bar Song’ run was.
Now, the Viewer’s Choice Award has ‘Residuals’, ‘Denial is a River’, ‘Nokia’, ‘Like That’, ‘TGIF’, ‘Not Like Us’, ‘Luther’ and ‘Brokey’. This one I predict Residuals or Nokia with how big of internet hits they were. The Best Collaboration category has ‘30 for 30’, ‘Alter Ego’, ‘Are You Even Real’, ‘Beckham’, ‘Bless’, ‘Like That’, ‘Luther’, ‘Sticky’, and ‘Timeless’. I believe Like That is a slim favorite, but Sticky and Luther definitely have chances to take it.
The Best Male R&B/Pop Artist category nominees are Bruno Mars, Chris Brown, Drake, Fridayy, Leon Thomas III, Teddy Swims, The Weeknd, and Usher. This category could go multiple ways in my opinion, Fridayy, Leon Thomas III, and Teddy Swims have all been fresh faces to the Male R&B scene, but it is hard to ignore the magnitude of the other artists in the categories. The Best Female R&B/Pop Artist nominees are Ari Lennox, Ayra Starr, Coco Jones, Kehlani, Muni Long, Summer Walker, SZA, and Victoria Monét. This is one of the closest categories, any of these women can win, but I’ll cop out with SZA. The Best Female Hip Hop Artist category has Cardi B, Doechii, Doja Cat, GloRilla, Latto, Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj, Rapsody, and Sexyy Red. Because of the amount of music they’ve released in recent years, and the effect of their music, my guess here is Latto or GloRilla. The Best Male Hip Hop Artist nominees are BigXthaPlug, BossMan Dlow, Burna Boy, Drake, Future, Kendrick Lamar, Key Glock, Lil Wayne and Tyler, the Creator. This is a runaway Kendrick Lamar award.
The Best New Artist category features 41, Ayra Starr, BigXThaPlug, BossMan Dlow, Dee Billz, Leon Thomas, October London, Shaboozey, and Teddy Swims. Another category is a toss up. Shaboozey has had the biggest hit. BossMan, Big X, Leon Thomas III, and Teddy Swims have all had waves that they have been building for awhile. The Best Group nominees are 41, Common & Pete Rock, Drake & PartyNextDoor, Flo, Future & Metro Boomin, Jacquees & Dej Loaf, Larry June & 2 Chainz & The Alchemist, and Maverick City Music. Maverick City Music is an interesting selection, but I think with the hits and multiple albums, Future & Metro Boomin will take it. $$$4U longevity will have a great impact on it though. The BET Awards is one of the biggest celebrations of not just music, but the culture of the year. It is always great to see the artists all together for a common goal, to bring the culture forward.
