Brandy has earned a new title: "Your Highness." As the singer took the stage at the BET Awards
on Sunday night for the debut live performance of her straightforward "First Class" freestyle, it
appeared that she kept her word. However, fans may notice that “First Class” is the song belonging to
another rapper of great renown, and I’m sure you know him too, so why exactly did she do it?
A month ago, she made a threat against this person on Twitter, saying that she would "definitely murk
this dude in rap at 43 on his beats and then sing his ass to sleep." "This dude" refers
to the one and only: Jack Harlow. Because of an interview the rapper gave in May on Hot 97, and
he inadvertently mentioned Brandy in the same line as another person. Harlow acknowledged that he did
not realize that Brandy and the singer Ray J were siblings when he was questioned about his music
expertise by the hosts. He also failed to name one of the most iconic tracks released by Brandy.
Fans were angered and disappointed by Harlow's ignorance of Brandy's music,
considering his prominence in Black culture. They regarded his lack of music knowledge as an
insult to the same genres that he now capitalizes on,
and they found it offensive that he did not know about Brandy's music.
Famous American singer-songwriter 'India.Arie' made her frustration regarding the interview
pretty clear in an Instagram story, saying: "Just because you make black music doesn't mean
you know black culture. If U don't know Brandy's voice when you hear it… WHO EVEN ARE YOU?"
And: "When an ACTUAL MUSICIAN WHO MAKES BLACK MUSIC deduces one of the industries'
MOST IMPORTANT VOICES! To Ray Jay's SISTER? Who is famous (primarily) for his Proximity to Kim
Kardashian? And WE HEAR [Brandy]'s influence Eh-VER-REE-WHERE! PLENTY of non-black singers
(ask them). Even MALE singers. Gospel singers. AND PEOPLE KNOW RAY J BETTER?
The s***'s STUPID. STUPID. STUPID. STUPID! As soon as Brandy learned of Harlow's gaffe
on Hot 97, she made good on her vow to criticize Harlow's song First Class
by performing a diss track in the style of freestyle rap. The following night, she and
Harlow performed the diss track at the BET Awards. Before Brandy took the stage to out-rap both
of them and finished it with some vocal gymnastic harmonies on the Fergie-sampled
"First Class" hook, the Kentucky rapper made his debut performance at the awards ceremony.
It was the live debut of the Lil Wayne-assisted "Poison" from his
sophomore record Come Home the Kids Miss You. The song was featured on Come Home the Kids Miss You.
And later, when it was her time to perform, she did more than pulling it off flawlessly.
"Black excellence at its finest/ Do not call me, "Brandy," no more, call me, "Your Highness"/ Built
up, filling my brother Ray J's glasses/ This is passion/ You woke up a beast,
now it is madness/ Singer slash rapper, rapper slash actress," she rapped with vigor.
Some people even think Brandy out-rapped Harlow on his song, which is saying something considering
how fantastic and passionate Brandy's performance was. Given that many widely regard Brandy as one
of the most accomplished musicians working in the genre of Black music, this news is no surprise to
anyone. Even though it is evident that Harlow does not know too much about Brandy, he is still able
to utilize her as a source of authority and power. He used Brandy to save himself from becoming a
punchline (Black Twitter had been making fun of him for weeks), and BET permitted him to do it.
Backstage at the award show, Brandy was overheard telling one of her sources,
"I'm appreciative to Jack because he has given me this fantastic opportunity to be a rapper."
For as long as I can remember, I've harbored a secret desire to try my hand at rapping,
but everyone I asked advised me against it, saying things like, "Mm, everybody only wants to hear you
sing, but don't do rap." But I adore rap, I love hip-hop, and I adore that entire genre.
In the interview, Brandy later revealed how she could successfully pull off the significant
surprise. She explained: "Jack didn't realize that my brother [Ray J] and I were siblings on
a radio show … And then from there, it, like, caused all this noise. And I missed the noise
until like five days later. But I was like, 'Oh my god.' So I tweeted in joking, saying,
'I could take this guy on a rap.' And I said, 'Oh my god, that is hip-hop. I kinda have to back that
up.' So, I put out a freestyle, and Jack loved it and was like, 'Let's do it on the BET Awards.'"
However, you can't ignore that even before Brandy crafted her rapid-fire freestyle, Harlow's latest
single made a debut on the Billboard at No. 1. There, it has spent three weeks in which they are
not consecutive trading off the top spot with other songs such as Harry Styles' "As It Was"
and Future's "Wait For U" featuring Drake and Tems.
Despite the accusations that he caters to his black audience, Harlow spent most of the night
allowing other black musicians to share their work on his platform. In addition to enlisting Lil
Wayne and Brandy for his performance, the rapper walked the red carpet wearing a jersey featuring
Lil Nas X, even though they embroiled the pop-rap singer in a highly publicized battle with BET.
Ahead of the event, Lil Nas X stated on Twitter, "Wow I really love this man." Although he had
two of the biggest songs of the year 2021, they didn't nominate him for any awards,
which was the root of his beef with the network. However, the 'beef' was over much
more than that. He typed these words in a tweet that he deleted since: "I just feel that black
homosexual people have to fight to be recognized in this world, and even when we make it to the top
mfs attempt to pretend that we are invisible." It is not the first time that BET has dealt with
controversy. BET once nominated Justin Timberlake for eight Awards. In 2015, Sam Smith triumphed
against several other Black performers, including Tinashe, to take home the BET "Best New Artist."
When they considered Justin Bieber for the same award in 2010, BET's President of Music
Programming and Specials, Stephen Hill, had something to say. He said: "Bieber has crossed the
color boundaries in the same way that hip-hop has crossed the boundaries the other way for several
years." Justin Bieber ultimately did not win the award. After that, he continued, saying, "He's had
rhythm in his songs." He creates the style of music that the people who listen to us enjoy.
The most recent example was when Lil Nas X gave his first performance at the previous
year's awards show. During that performance, he sang "Montero (Call Me By Your Name),"
Towards the end of his set, he shared a kiss with his backup dancer. BET took offense to
this behavior. In their rebuttal to Nas's accusations this year, the network stated
that "no one cheered louder that night than BET" about the performance they broadcasted. However,
Lil Nas X and his staff informed Rolling Stone that the contrary was, in fact, the case.
People said that 'no one cheered louder for me than them that night, but the BET Awards
team was so distraught that I kissed my dancer onstage. And they vocalized their discontent
with multiple members of my team immediately following the performance, Lil Nas X said.
Another member of his crew provided the following additional information:
"At some point after [Nas] walked offstage, one of the BET producers came up to me, and before I
could even open my mouth, he just looked at me and said, 'That was pretty f***** up.''
The performance of "Industry Baby" at the BET Awards was not going to happen, and Nas chose
not to attend the ceremony for obvious reasons, but Harlow made sure that he knew his support.
Anyways, with any luck, BET will give Brandy the deserved solo stage for her to shine next,
and not one where she has to play second fiddle. One Twitter user shared the same sentiment and
tweeted: "Let me tell y'all something, the @BETAwards still owes a lot to Brandy. They
snubbed our girl for 20 years on both the categories and performances.
This year was wonderful, but we want more cause she deserves more!"
It would be something that many people would be anticipating.
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