But I'm not even sure how Paramount plans to spell BET — let alone program for it — without DEI. I still remember attending the first BET Hip Hop Awards back in 2006. The Source Awards had a legendary crack at that in the '90s; the Vibe Awards also gave it a respectable go. But he also laments how digital accessibility has reduced our music to "the ambient background of the continued exploitation and commodification of Black culture." At a time like this, when the record of America's sordid history is actively being deleted by folk in power, losing the BET Hip Hop Awards feels trite in comparison.