The 2021 BET Hip Hop Awards nominations are in and there is one category of nominees that is causing a bit of a conversation. “Best Hip-Hop Platform” recognizes media staples in the hip hop community that have made impact, which is awesome considering that there aren’t many award shows that acknowledge these platforms. This year’s nominees include Complex, Genius, Hip Hop DX, Hot New Hiphop, The Breakfast Club, The Shade Room, Worldstar Hip Hop, and XXL.
While the list of nominees are highly recognizable brands in the industry, there were a few impactful entities left off that certainly have paid their dues for quite some time.
The Breakfast Club, who received a well-deserved nomination, mentioned that DJ Akademiks should’ve been nominated. The sole proprietor and consistent social media poster agrees. He went onto Twitter to repost the morning show’s statements.
“It’s only so long they can keep us out,” the caption stated on DJ Akademik’s tweet. “@BET y’all will know my platform name soon. I’ll just keep out working everyone 100.”
DJ Akademiks has established a hip hop platform that has informed and entertained since the heyday of this social media era. He has broke the most controversial of hip hop news, while introducing fans to up-and-coming rappers, such as XXXTentacion, Trippie Redd, 6ixNine, and more.
He wasn’t the only one who was left out to dry. Revolt TV was nowhere to be found on the list of nominees. In addition to its television presence, the Sean Combs backed entity known for being “unapologetically hip hop” also has an online hip hop website that reports news and more. Revolt has definitely become a recognizable brand name, so it’s odd that the company was left off. Perhaps, it’s because the hip hop platform is gunning for BET’s place?
White-owned hip hop platforms No Jumper and Vlad TV also missed the mark this year. Owned by social media personality Adam22, born Adam Grandmaison, No Jumper has continuously released some of the most introspective of hip hop interviews with newer, buzz-worthy artists, while also dropping music reviews and a weekly show. Currently, the YouTube platform has 3.93 million subscribers. A pretty good feat for someone who is not backed by a major media company or doesn’t come with all the bells and whistles.
Although Vlad TV owner DJ Vlad has a reputation for being the “feds” because of his intrusively informative interviews, a person would have to live under a rock to not notice the man’s presence in the hip hop space. If his work is not enough to convince people that he’s authentically committed to the hip hop game, then maybe one should consider the several hundreds of rappers and Black entertainers that have made a way onto his platform, such as The Lox, Pusha T, Memphis Bleek, Boosie, and even his competitors, Charlamagne, Lord Jamar, and Shawn Cotton.
Speaking of Shawn Cotton, the owner of Say Cheese TV is another self-made hip hop titan that created his own platform serving the hip hop community. Based out of Dallas, Texas, Say Cheese followed the blueprint to Vlad TV and started doing interviews with up-and-coming rappers, as well as those who made a name for themselves. The Black-owned media platform is solely on social media, so maybe that’s one of the reasons it was excluded from nominations.
It would be awesome to know what measures are being used to pick these nominees. Is it the total number of followers, cultural impact, industry politics, or the personal biases of BET executives?
In a statement from Connie Orlando, EVP Specials, Music Programming & Music Strategy for BET, she mentioned that the nominees are those that “elevate hip hop culture.”
“Our 2021 ‘BET Hip Hop Awards’ nominees span generations and are a representation of the talented individuals who elevate hip hop culture in creative and diverse ways,” said Orlando in a statement. “We congratulate each of them on these sought-after accolades.”
That’s interesting.
