After a knockout, all-star opener from Public Enemy, Nas, Rapsody and more performing PE’s iconic “Fight the Power,” DaBaby and Roddy Ricch continued the theme of speaking out against racist police brutality during the 2020 BET Awards with their performance of the Black Lives Matter remix of “Rockstar.”
Opening with a close-up of DaBaby, his face against the pavement, rapping the new BLM intro to “Rockstar,” the camera slowly pulled back to reveal a police officer with his knee on DaBaby’s neck. The stark, heartbreaking image was a call-out to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis this May after a police officer knelt on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds despite his repeated pleas.
After that, it cut to the clouds, and then to DaBaby and Roddy Ricch back on earth, delivering their Hot 100 No. 1 next to a smashed cop car, surrounded by protesters wearing masks and shirts reading “I am George Floyd,” “I am Trayvon Martin” and “I am Breonna Taylor.”
“In loving memory to all the lives lost to racism and police brutality,” read the end card. Watch below.
