The BET Awards were a family affair for Busta Rhymes. The rapper brought five of his six children to the June 25 ceremony, where he was honored with the lifetime achievement award for his prolific, decades-long hip-hop career. Rhymes posed on the pink carpet with his two daughters, Cacie and Mariah Smith; three sons, T’ziah, Trillian, and T’Khi Wood-Smith; and one of his nephews. The men of his family subtly coordinated in shiny brocade suits, while his daughters stunned in sparkly off-the-shoulder gowns.
When Rhymes took the stage to accept the lifetime achievement award from Swizz Beatz and Marlon Wayans, he teared up and gave a shout-out to his kids, who were cheering him on in the front row. “I’ma wear it on my sleeve. I do want to cry,” the 51-year-old artist began. “My oldest child was a 3-year-old in the ‘Woo-Hah!!’ video back in ’96. He’s 30. He’s right here. I went on and I had five more kids after that. I got six beautiful children. Five out of the six of them is here.” During the show, he posted a selfie-style Instagram video with his family, saying, “You see me with my beautiful young kings and queens. This is how the royalty bloodline will represent. Love y’all. I’m so damn happy.”
Rhymes later returned to the stage to perform a medley of his hits, including “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See,” “I Know What You Want,” and his verse from “Look at Me Now.” Other BET Awards performers included Coco Jones, The Sugarhill Gang, Ice Spice, MC Lyte, Doechii, and GloRilla. Offset and Quavo also teamed up to pay musical tribute to Migos bandmate Takeoff, who was fatally shot last November. “Do this sh*t for the fam cuz this sh*t bigger than me,” Offset wrote while sharing a performance video on Instagram.
Read ahead to check out all the best footage of Rhymes and his family looking like royalty at the BET Awards, and then catch up on what all the stars wore on the pink carpet for the show.
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