Thursday night, Black Entertainment Television (a Viacom Inc. division) announced their nominees for the 2016 BET Awards: an annual ceremony recognizing all of the #BlackExcellence and achievements of those associated with the Black community. But this year, instead of an initial press release, they declared their nominees with a “Silent Disco” and threw in a little pop-and-lock, twist, and two step for good measure.
Rather than solely sending out a digital announcement or sharing their nominations via social media, BET collaborated with, choreographer, Will ‘WillDaBeast’ Adams to add some fresh moves to their unveiling.
WillDaBeast (pronounced like the animal, but spelled way cooler) is the kind-hearted, ambitious and ridiculously talented mind behind those viral dance videos you’ve probably seen all over your Facebook feeds. You know, the ones that show several different groups of people all of varying ages and ethnicitIes, nae-nae’ing and walking it out across the floor (generally in front of a mirror that rests below the sign saying “Unity in Diversity”).
Yup, that’s the guy.
Adams put together 16 videos with his Los Angeles dancers to represent the nominees for best male/female hip hop artist, and best collaboration at the BET Awards on June 26th.
Adams, who started training for dance eight years ago and has danced professionally for 5 years, got his first spark of inspiration from watching performers such as Chris Brown and Omarion bust a move on the BET channel and is thankful for this opportunity.
“I always said I wanted to be on the [BET Awards], so getting to introduce the nominees and have the artists see my videos- it’s better than choreographing for one artist this year,” said Adams.
As for the nominees, Queen Bey and Rih Rih represent Black Girl Magic with five nominations each while Drake dominates the field with nine nominations
BET Networks will recognize Black cultural icons and achievers across more than 20 categories whom were all nominated by industry professionals from BET’s Voting Academy. The BET Awards will air live from Los Angeles on June 26th.
Below is the complete list of BET Award nominees:
Best Female R&B/Pop Artist
ADELE
ANDRA DAY
BEYONCÉ
- MICHELLE
RIHANNA
Best Male R&B/Pop Artist
BRYSON TILLER
CHRIS BROWN
JEREMIH
THE WEEKND
TYRESE
Best Group
2 CHAINZ & LIL WAYNE
DRAKE & FUTURE
PUFF DADDY & THE FAMILY
RAE SREMMURD
THE INTERNET
Best Collaboration
BIG SEAN FT. CHRIS BROWN & TY DOLLA $IGN – PLAY NO GAMES
BIG SEAN FT. KANYE WEST & JOHN LEGEND – ONE MAN CAN CHANGE THE WORLD
FUTURE FT. DRAKE – WHERE YA AT
NICKI MINAJ FT. BEYONCÉ – FEELING MYSELF
RIHANNA FT. DRAKE – WORK
Best Male Hip Hop Artist
DRAKE
FETTY WAP
FUTURE
J. COLE
KANYE WEST
KENDRICK LAMAR
Best Female Hip Hop Artist
DEJ LOAF
LIL KIM
MISSY ELLIOTT
NICKI MINAJ
REMY MA
Video of the Year
BEYONCÉ – FORMATION
BRYSON TILLER – DON’T
DRAKE – HOTLINE BLING
KENDRICK LAMAR – ALRIGHT
RIHANNA FT. DRAKE – WORK
Video Director of the Year
BENNY BOOM
CHRIS BROWN
COLIN TILLEY & THE LITTLE HOMIES
DIRECTOR X
HYPE WILLIAMS
Best New Artist
ALESSIA CARA
ANDRA DAY
BRYSON TILLER
KEHLANI
TORY LANEZ
Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational Award
ANTHONY BROWN & GROUP THERAPY
ERICA CAMPBELL
KIRK FRANKLIN
LECRAE
TAMELA MANN
TASHA COBBS
Best Actress
GABRIELLE UNION
KERRY WASHINGTON
TARAJI P. HENSON
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS
VIOLA DAVIS
Best Actor
ANTHONY ANDERSON
COURTNEY B. VANCE
IDRIS ELBA
MICHAEL B. JORDAN
O’SHEA JACKSON JR.
YoungStars Award
AMANDLA STENBERG
QUVENZHANÉ WALLIS
SILENTÓ
WILLOW SMITH
YARA SHAHIDI
Best Movie
BEASTS OF NO NATION
CONCUSSION
CREED
DOPE
STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON
Sportswoman of the Year
CHEYENNE WOODS
GABRIELLE DOUGLAS
SERENA WILLIAMS
SKYLAR DIGGINS
VENUS WILLIAMS
Sportsman of the Year
CAM NEWTON
KOBE BRYANT
LEBRON JAMES
ODELL BECKHAM JR.
STEPHEN CURRY
Coca-Cola Viewers’ Choice Award
BEYONCÉ – FORMATION
BRYSON TILLER – DON’T
CHRIS BROWN – BACK TO SLEEP
DRAKE – HOTLINE BLING
FUTURE FT. DRAKE – WHERE YA AT
RIHANNA FT. DRAKE – WORK
Centric Award
ANDRA DAY – RISE UP
BEYONCÉ – FORMATION
K. MICHELLE – NOT A LITTLE BIT
RIHANNA – BBHMM
THE INTERNET – UNDER CONTROL
Best International Act Africa
AKA (SOUTH AFRICA)
BLACK COFFEE (SOUTH AFRICA)
CASSPER NYOVEST (SOUTH AFRICA)
DIAMOND PLATNUMZ (TANZANIA)
MZVEE (Ghana)
SERGE BEYNAUD (COTE D’IVOIRE)
WIZKID (NIGERIA)
YEMI ALADE (NIGERIA)
Best International Act UK
KANO
KREPT & KONAN
LIANNE LA HAVAS
SKEPTA
STORMZY
TINIE TEMPAH
-Nicole Phillip