In Honor of Justin Bieber’s Nomination, BET Awards’ Best White Nominees
Maybe it’s just me.. but I was thrown off for about 5 minutes today when I read that Justin Bieber was nominated for a BET Award this year. I literally was frozen in my chair. The dude is, like, the whitest of the white you can get, which is a little odd considering the BET Awards’ charter is something along the lines of recognizing the achievements of Black and minority artists in entertainment.
But I admittedly didn’t give Justin Bieber a chance… a couple of Youtube searches later this kid ain’t bad! So for that hasty prejudgment, JB I salute you, as well as the other white artists that have broken into the BET Awards with a nomination.
Robin Thicke, nominated for 2007 Best Male R&B Artist of the Year
The son of Alan Thicke (a.k.a. Mr. Seaver of Growing Pains), Robin Thicke was relatively an unknown songwriter with a moderately successful album in his debut, A Beautiful World. I remember the lead single “When I Get You Alone”‘s music video being on heavy rotation, back when he was only known as Thicke, wondering, “who is this guy?” It was some white dude on a bicycle singing his ass off on top of a disco joint. Although his debut album was domestically slept on, he garnered enough attention to gather Pharrell Williams’ interest who in-turn signed him to a deal with Star Trak/Interscope. The Evolution of Robin Thicke was released February 2007 and with 2 strong singles in “Wanna Love U Girl” and “Lost Without U” he enjoyed a spot among the Billboard Top 10, with a number 1 spot on the Billboard R&B. Although he didn’t win the BET Award, he went on to win a Soul Train award for The Evolution of and “Breakthrough Artist of the Year” at the Vibe Awards, to go with the many nominations at various award shows that year.
He’s still touring today and still making music. I’ve seen him live.. the dude knows how to sing. If you get a chance, check him out. Oh, and I forgot to mention… his wife is smoking hot.
Justin Bieber, nominated for 2010 Best New Male Artist of the Year
I can’t hate on the kid’s hustle. While most children his age were out in playgrounds playing hopscotch (is that what these kids do these days??), lil’ J.B. was learning how to play various musical instruments and perfecting singing and writing music. His mother took note of her son’s talent and decided to share it with the world by posting him singing Ne-Yo’s “So Sick” on YouTube, and the rest is history. He got the attention of Scooter Braun who happened to be working on a joint venture with Usher, and they signed him to a deal. Millions of teenage girls, and probably a lot of adults too, can thank them. At 16, the world is his for the taking.
Eminem, nominated for 2001 Best Video of the Year “Stan”, 2003 Best Male Hip Hop Artist of the Year, 2003 Best Video of the Year “Lose Yourself”
Let’s be honest.. when you heard back in 1998 there was this new white rapper named Eminem, I bet most of you thought, “what? Vanilla Ice is back?” And when you heard the kid was signed with Dr. Dre, I bet you got a little intrigued. When I heard Enimem’s freestyle on the now defunct Friday Night Flava radio show I knew this dude was special. He was unorthodox, rhyming about things you were not used to hearing about.. so when The Slim Shady LP was released, there was a good buzz. 4 album releases and millions of albums sold later… Eminem sits among hip hop royalty… rapper, producer, actor. If that isn’t enough, he’s also managed an unknown rapper known as 50 Cent.
Justin Timberlake, nominated for 2003 Best Male R&B Artist of the Year and 2003 Best New Male Artist of the Year
From the Mickey Mouse Club to world domination, Justin Timberlake has had an awesome career. Raised in Memphis, Tennessee, this Justin got his big break singing on Star Search under the name Justin Randall (going with his first and middle name). Disney preceded to snatch him from Memphis and shipped him to Orlando to join the cast of the New Mickey Mouse Club where he would sing alongside other Mouseketeers J.C. Chasez, Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears. At the end of the show’s run, a dude named Lou Perlmann pitched the idea of creating a boy band to Justin. You might remember the name of the band… I think it was called *NSYNC, or something like that. A couple of global tours later, Justin decided to go solo. With the help of Pharrell Williams, Timbaland and Brian McKnight, J.T. smashed his boy band persona with his debut album Justified. The sophomore album “FutureSex/LoveSounds” further cemented his stardom with chart-topping singles. He also starred in a few movie roles as hosted Saturday Night Live. If anyone has broken barriers in the entertainment world, it’s this guy.
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Tags: Eminem, Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake, Robin Thicke
