Announcements of the BET Awards’Prince tributes made it seems as if it would be a single performance involving D’Angelo, The Roots and others. But as the show began, it became clear that there would be a series of tributes throughout the night.
The first one came just 35 minutes into the show, as Dave Chappelle, wearing shades and a purple pocket square in his jacket, took the stage and spoke in a surprisingly husky voice. “On April 21, we got that news, and literally our hearts were broken,” he said as the camera flashed to Spike Lee (wearing a knit purple hat and a gold Prince symbol on his lapel) and Samuel L. Jackson in the audience. “I was 11 years old whenPurple Rain came out, and by the time I was 20, Prince had changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol. … We miss him dearly. And tonight we celebrate the rich legacy of this remarkable genius, who we are all so proud of.”
The then introduced his “old friends” the Roots and their longtime friends and collaborators Erykah Badu and Bilal.
First up was Badu -- wearing a black beret, a white fake fur stole, leather pants and what seemed to be a giant purple paper arm corsage -- doing a flawless version of “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker” from 1987’s classic Sign O’ the Times LP. Her sultry voice was perfectly suited to the song’s jazzy melody and the band -- who have played the song before at Prince tributes -- matched the arrangement perfectly, even throwing in his vintage 808 electronic drum sound. What was most surprising was the number of celebrities in the audience (Taraji P. Henson, Jackson, BET’s Stephen Hill) who knew the words to this relatively deep cut.
Bilal -- who goes so far back with the Roots and Prince tributes that he performed with them at one at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1999 – was next with Purple Rain’s “The Beautiful Ones,” which he nailed in a near-flawless falsetto. However -- not to be cruel -- the cameras flashed on Maxwell as the song began, which did make one wonder how he would have handled the song (especially in light of his gorgeous falsetto version of Kate Bush’s “This Woman’s Work”).
But one thing Maxwell almost certainly would not have done was the sprawling, floor-humping and shrieking Bilal did at the end of the song, mimicking Prince’s moves from the film comically but respectfully. Bilal did not miss his moment.
The next tribute saw Stevie Wonder and Tori Kelly teaming up for the Prince/Apollonia duet from Purple Rain, “Take Me With U.” The pair played the song fairly straight, with Wonder (wearing a checkered purple and silver jacket) taking the lead while Kelly -- clad in a pair of semi-transparent glittery high-waisted purple pants that were a Prince tribute on their own -- brought a welcome heft to the high notes.
At the song’s end, Wonder -- who had been playing a keyboard so small it looked like a court stenographer’s machine -- moved over to a conventional synthesizer, Kelly picked up a guitar, and Jennifer Hudson soberly entered from stage right as the opening chords of “Purple Rain” rang out.
Hudson took the song to church from the jump, stretching the verse’s melody while remaining respectful of it, and played it safe on the chorus. But on the second verse she tore the roof off, belting her heart out and hitting stratospheric notes. For the “whoo-oo-oo” coda, Roots guitarist Kirk Douglas -- yes, the guy whose guitar Prince borrowed and broke on Jimmy Fallon in 2013 -- joined her at the front of the stage and shredded the solo as Hudson led the crowd through a singalong, pushing her formidable voice to its limit -- even when the mic was a foot from her face, it was loud -- still vamping as she walked offstage, with the music fading vaguely, as it does on the album.
With two hours to go, it was unclear how the show would equal that moment.
The answer came within half an hour, when Maxwell, after performing "Lake by the Ocean," the single from his forthcoming album BlackSUMMERS'Night, segued suddenly into Prince's "Nothing Compares 2U," updating the lyrics to address Prince: "It's been 7 hours and 66 days since you took your music away," "I went to the record store, Apple, Spotify too, and they told me 'Boy you'd better try to make some music, which you can't do --'cause Prince is the truth!"
He finished the song with a sustained note, on his knees, with his head bowed as the crowd rose for a standing ovation.
Next up was Janelle Monae, whose classic style lent itself well to a medley that started with "Delirious," from 1999, before segueing into "Kiss." Keeping the funky vibe alive, a quick tour through "Pop Life" bled into an up-tempo "I Would Die 4 U" with a dance sequence that recalled Prince's famous rendition from the film Purple Rain. "I love you Prince," she said at the song's conclusion, falling to her knees before strutting purposefully off stage.
source from : billboard.com
