On a night where there was plenty of catering to the 2000s, Playboi Carti brought the BET Awards back to 2025 and to the future of rap.
Carti hit the stage for his BET Awards performance debut on Monday night (June 9), which saw him flanked by a pair of black SUV trucks and his right-hand DJ Swamp Izzo as he laid his throaty flow over MUSIC hits “Like Weezy” and “Rather Lie.”
Rocking dark jeans with a colorful Bape zip-up jacket and a YVL fitted cap, Carti bounced around the stage as white smoke filled the Peacock Theater, while Gen Z fans of King Vamp finally felt seen.
Without an assist from his tourmate The Weeknd on the hook, Carti put a choir twist on “Rather Lie,” which felt as if it had undergone a gospel chorus makeover, giving the top five Billboard Hot 100 hit a renewed texture.
“I love y’all. Appreciate y’all,” the influential Atlanta rapper told the crowd before leaving the stage.
Carti was up for three BET Awards on Monday evening: collaboration of the year (“Timeless” with The Weeknd) and video of the year (“Timeless” and “Type Sh–” with Future, Metro Boomin and Travis Scott).
2025 has already been a busy campaign for Playboi Carti, who delivered his long-awaited chart-topping MUSIC album in March.
King Vamp is currently trekking across the stadiums of North America while opening for The Weeknd’s After Hours Til Dawn Tour, which just wrapped up three nights in New Jersey before heading to Massachusetts and Minnesota later this week.
