(intense upbeat music)
- [Narrator] The 2022 BET Awards returns
on Sunday, June 26th
with host Taraji P. Henson.
And ahead of culture's biggest night,
we're giving you the ultimate behind the scenes look
at two career defining performances,
courtesy of the BET original and fan favorite
"Rehearsal 360".
Find out how a live performance goes from an idea
to what you see on TV.
Plus, who are the artist's creative collaborators
who help them bring it all to life.
Find out that and a whole lot more.
This is "Rehearsal 360 Rewind".
(intense upbeat music)
♪ In the soap ♪
♪ Have the faucets runnin' ♪
♪ And I keep lookin' at you ♪
In 2018, H.E.R. lit up the stage
performing her breakout singles "Focus"
and "Best Part" featuring Daniel Caesar.
♪ But I don't wanna give up ♪
We pulled up to rehearsal on the eve of her big moment
where she expressed her long held vision
of performing with a strings orchestra
and explained the "Best Part" of Black love.
- [H.E.R.] I've always wanted
to do a performance with live strings.
And to have a harp player on stage was so ideal for me.
(soft instrumental music)
(R&B music) (singers vocalizing)
♪ Oh ♪
♪ You're the best part ♪
♪ Oh ♪
"Best Part" is the song that people play at their weddings.
I've seen promposals.
So "Best Part" is just like every level of love.
"Best Part" is the song to represent that.
And Black love is so important.
- [Narrator] After hair and makeup was complete,
it was time for a choir circle
with the songstress and her team.
As a call on the most high before such a high stakes moment
is always the move.
- [Male Team Member] We thank you for life itself today.
We thank you for just this opportunity
to celebrate the grind, the hustle.
We ask that you be with her on stage and help her to perform
like she is equipped and gifted to perform.
Calm all nerves, remove all anxiety in the name of Jesus.
We love you, Lord.
We thank you for this day.
In Jesus name, victory is yours.
- [Woman] Victory, yes!
- [Narrator] With the crowd roaring,
it was time to hit the stage.
(soft harp music)
(soft string music)
♪ Me ♪
♪ Can you focus on me ♪
♪ Baby, can you focus on me ♪
♪ Babe ♪
♪ Can you look me in my eyes ♪
(H.E.R. vocalizing)
(crowd cheering)
(instrumental music builds)
(electric guitar music)
(crowd cheering)
(soft instrumental music) (crowd cheering)
(H.E.R. vocalizing)
♪ Oh if life is a movie ♪
♪ then you're the best part ♪
♪ Oh ♪
♪ You're the best part ♪
♪ Oh ♪
♪ Best part ♪
On collaborating with Daniel Caesar,
she shared this.
♪ And those brown eyes ♪
- [H.E.R.] Daniel has a very nostalgic voice
and I think that we just have that chemistry,
musically and sonically.
And he's one of my great friends.
And being on stage,
it feels like the first time, every time.
But it's so special because to the audience
it seems like we do this all the time.
(soft R&B music)
♪ You're my water and I'm stuck in the desert ♪
♪ You're the Tylenol I take when my head hurts, yes ♪
♪ You're the sunshine on my life ♪
- [Narrator] Since it's airing,
this performance has gone on to amass over 10 million views
and counting.
I think we can all agree, H.E.R. is a legend in the making.
(crowd applauding and cheering)
(H.E.R. vocalizing)
(crowd applauding and cheering)
♪ Why a man great ♪
Lizzo proved that she was 100% that bitch
at the 2019 BET Awards.
During her offsite rehearsal
we witnessed the blood, sweat, tears and love
as she prepared to blaze the stage
with her mega hit "Truth Hurts".
- [Lizzo] We have this beautiful Black wedding
with all these beautiful curvaceous women
celebrating themselves
and celebrating their love for themselves
with a wedding ceremony.
We have this amazing three-tiered cake,
and we were really thinking about iconic performances
and how we were gonna just make this our own.
- [Narrator] A show-stopping performance
requires a choreographer who knows the exact moves
people wanna see.
Here's Lizzo
on working with creative director Jemel McWilliams.
- [Jemel] Now that I added those claps.
- [Lizzo] working with Jemel has been really exciting.
I was like, "Yo, I gotta have more dancers.
We gotta step our game up."
So bringing him in has been awesome.
I remember I saw Janelle Monae perform last year
and I was like, "Who's doin' that?
Whoever's doin' that choreography, I want that person."
- And then it was time to bring
the offsite rehearsal lessons to the main stage
at the Microsoft Theater.
- [Lizzo] It was very surreal
walking into the Microsoft Theater.
Seeing the cake and the screens
and all the dancers on the cake,
and all of the things that we looked at in an email,
like a map of the stage, was actually there.
- [Narrator] 3, 2, 1.
It's Showtime.
(flute music)
- [Lizzo] I'm makin' this music as a big Black woman
and I would love for all my Black girls
to be able to get some of this musical medicine,
so it's an honor to be able to play the BET awards.
It's just exciting that I get the opportunity
to I have my own iconic moment.
(group chanting)
- [Announcer] Give it up for Lizzo!
- [Lizzo] BET, do you want some cake?
♪ Why men great till they gotta be great ♪
Woo!
♪ I just took a DNA test ♪
♪ Turns out I'm a hundred percent that bitch ♪
♪ Even when I'm crying crazy ♪
♪ Yeah, I got boy problems, that's the human in me ♪
♪ Bling, bling ♪
♪ Then I solve 'em, that's the goddess in me ♪
♪ You coulda had a bad bitch ♪
- [Narrator] Since airing,
this performance has garnered over 45 million views
while Lizzo's star is shining brighter
and ascending to new Heights.
♪ Of me not calling' you back ♪
(transition whooshes)
- [H.E.R.] I was a little bit nervous
but the confidence came when everybody started cheering.
- [Narrator] H.E.R. and Lizzo represent a new generation
of young women who are studied in their musicianship.
- [Lizzo] This is our story that we're sharing
and we just feel so victorious and so triumphant.
And that picture of us marrying ourselves in true love,
that's the energy all 2019 to the future.
Oh, I'm so proud.
- [Narrator] When it comes to their artistic expression
on the stage,
they're original, rehearsed and captivating.
Queens who know how to own the stage and seize the moment.
We love to see it.
(singer vocalizing) (crowd cheering)
(cheering fading)