After receiving no nominations for the upcoming 2022 BET Awards, queer rapper Lil Was X teased a new song on June 8 featuring a pointed diss toward the network—although he claims the issue is “bigger” than awards, according to Yahoo! Entertainment.
Shirtless and sitting in a car, Lil Nas X, 23, lip-synced along to the track—titled “Late To Da Party” and featuring rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again—in a one-minute clip shared to social media. The bit begins with “F*** BET” said four times.
The Grammy winner also tweeted, “this not over no BET award. this is about the bigger problem of homophobia in the black community, y’all can sit and pretend all u want but imma risk it all for us.”
In a statement, BET said, “We love Lil Nas X. He was nominated for a Best New Artist BET Award in 2020, and we proudly showcased his extraordinary talent and creativity on the show twice: he performed ‘Old Town Road’ with Billy Ray Cyrus at BET Awards 2019 and his BET Awards 2021 performance was a highlight of our show. No one cheered louder that night than BET.
“Unfortunately, this year, he was not nominated by BET’s Voting Academy, which is comprised of an esteemed group of nearly 500 entertainment professionals in the fields of music, television, film, digital marketing, sports journalism, public relations, influencers, and creative arts. No one from BET serves as a member of the Voting Academy.”