This past weekend, sunny Los Angeles was filled with some of the most talented and prestigious people in film, music and entertainment. The BET Awards is one of the world’s largest awards shows televised and I got an opportunity to be a part of it. The BET Awards are geared towards mainstream artists like Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Jay Z, Drake, Lil Wayne, Pharrell Williams and so many more to showcase their hard work towards their musical craft. During this season, not only do these artists get to shine, but new and up- and-coming artists do too.
This writer had an opportunity to partake in some of the festivities for the weekend. The BET Awards weekend has an itinerary composed of numerous events leading up to the grand finale, The BET Awards 2014. BET did an excellent job including people’s favorite artists and actors by providing The BET Experience Fan Fest. What people might not know is that BET allows artists’ fans to still experience top notch performances and events without paying hundreds of dollars for tickets to go to the awards. These events are where the fans still get a chance to experience this major event at no cost to them. That’s right, these events were free for the fans to be able to thoroughly enjoy themselves during the weekend.
The BET Experience Fan Fest included multiple concerts and appearances from Elle Varner, OutKast, Maxwell, Mack Wilds, Rico Love, Sevyn Streeter and so many more. The festivities were held Friday, June 27, to Sunday, June 29. On Friday, the events included BET’s very own 106 and Park Live event with Sevyn Streeter and Mack Wilds. 106 and Park is a live interactive broadcast geared to all age groups consisting of celebrity interviews and exclusive music videos. It’s hosted by Bow Wow and Keshia Chante.
Saturday, June 28, was full of delightful surprises and guest appearances. The day started with a celebrity basketball game, sponsored by Sprite, which included well renowned athletes: Terrell Owens, actor Christian Keyes, actor-comedian J.B. Smoove, singer, Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, Tank and so many more. There was also an event called, Acoustically Speaking, that included intimate performances from singer Tank of TGT and an exclusive interview with Faith Evans, hosted by Big Tigga.
Next up, was Music Matters, giving up-and-coming artists a platform to showcase their new music for a current and potential fan base. This exclusive and intimate event included artists Mack Wilds, Rico Love, Tiara Thomas and Elle Varner just to name a few to perform some of their current music. I got the opportunity to interview Mack Wilds and Rico Love, about their music, upcoming projects and how they want their fans to interpret their music. Check out the interview on the next page:
