Cardi B Secures Six Bet Awards Nods, Leading a Field Packed With Legacy Acts

Cardi B appears on the cover art for her second studio album, "Am I the Drama?" The platinum-selling project helped the rapper secure an industry-leading six nominations at the 2026 BET Awards, including a nod for Album of the Year. (Atlantic Records)

Cardi B leads the 2026 BET Awards nominations with six nods, giving this year’s ceremony its cleanest headline and one of its most current stars. Kendrick Lamar and Mariah the Scientist follow with five nominations each, while Clipse, Doja Cat, Doechii, Teyana Taylor, Olivia Dean and Latto each earned four.

But beneath the numbers, this year’s BET field has a long memory.

The 2026 nominations are not simply a roll call of streaming-era momentum. They also make room for artists, directors and cultural architects whose work helped build the modern language of hip-hop, R&B and Black popular culture. Clipse, De La Soul, Nas and DJ Premier, Hype Williams, Benny Boom, Director X, Jill Scott, T.I. and Usher all appear across major categories, giving the show a deeper historical charge than a standard awards-season announcement.

Pusha T and No Malice did not reunite for nostalgia points.

Clipse earned four nominations, including Album of the Year for “Let God Sort Em Out,” Best Group and two nods for “Chains & Whips,” their Kendrick Lamar-assisted single. The duo’s presence gives the BET Awards one of its clearest links between early-2000s rap austerity and the current appetite for sharp, grown, high-stakes hip-hop.

The Best Group category carries that tension even further. Clipse will compete in a field that also includes De La Soul, French Montana and Max B, Nas and DJ Premier, Metro Boomin and DJ Spinz, Terrace Martin and Kenyon Dixon, Wizkid and Asake, FLO and 41. It is one of the year’s most interesting categories because it refuses to live in one era, one sound or one definition of group power.

The same generational conversation is happening behind the camera. Video Director of the Year includes Hype Williams, Benny Boom and Director X, three filmmakers whose work helped turn hip-hop and R&B videos into cultural events before social media became the main stage. They are nominated alongside Anderson .Paak, Cole Bennett, Cactus Jack, A$AP Rocky and Dan Streit, Cardi B and Patientce Foster, and Teyana “Spike-Tey” Taylor.

That category is more than a technical race. It is a reminder that the visual grammar of Black music — the lens flares, fish-eye swagger, luxury surrealism, street-level gloss and cinematic ambition — did not appear from nowhere. It was built, copied, stretched and reinterpreted across generations.

T.I. also appears across three categories. The Atlanta rapper is up for Best Male Hip Hop Artist, Video of the Year for “Let ’Em Know” and the Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational Award as part of “Headphones” with Lecrae and Killer Mike.

In the R&B lanes, Jill Scott continues to move like an artist outside the churn. She is nominated for Best Female R&B/Pop Artist and has two entries in the BET Her category: “Be Great” featuring Trombone Shorty and “Beautiful People.” Usher is nominated for Best Male R&B/Pop Artist.

BET also expanded the ceremony with two new categories. The Fashion Vanguard Award recognizes cultural impact through fashion, with nominees including A$AP Rocky, Bad Bunny, Beyoncé, Cardi B, Colman Domingo, Doechii, Rihanna, Teyana Taylor and Zendaya. The new Pulse Award honors digital media and cultural influence, with nominees including “85 South Show,” “Baby, This Is Keke Palmer,” Charlamagne Tha God, Don Lemon, Druski, “It Is What It Is,” “Joe and Jada,” “On the Radar” and “R&B Money Podcast.”

Those additions matter because they acknowledge what the culture already knows: influence no longer moves through one lane. It moves through songs, videos, podcasts, fashion, clips, interviews, memes and moments that can change the conversation before traditional media catches up.

That is what gives this year’s nominations more weight than a simple leaderboard. Cardi B’s six nominations make her the obvious headline. Kendrick Lamar and Mariah the Scientist give the show heavyweight momentum. But the presence of Clipse, De La Soul, Hype Williams, Nas and DJ Premier, Jill Scott, T.I. and Usher gives the 2026 BET Awards something else: memory.

The new school may be leading the count, but the architects are still in the building.

2026 BET Awards

The Complete Nominations Board

The Leaderboard

• 6 Nominations: Cardi B
• 5 Nominations: Kendrick Lamar, Mariah the Scientist
• 4 Nominations: Clipse, Doechii, Doja Cat, Latto, Olivia Dean, Teyana Taylor
• 3 Nominations: T.I., Jill Scott, Tems, A$AP Rocky, Bruno Mars, Bryson Tiller, Chris Brown, Kehlani, Metro Boomin, SZA, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, YK Niece

The Complete List

Album of the Year

Cardi B ("Am I the Drama?"), Tyler, the Creator ("Don't Tap the Glass"), Wale ("Everything Is a Lot"), Mariah the Scientist ("Hearts Sold Separately"), Clipse ("Let God Sort Em Out"), Leon Thomas ("Mutt Deluxe: Heel"), J. Cole ("The Fall-Off"), Bruno Mars ("The Romantic")

Best Male Hip Hop Artist

A$AP Rocky, Baby Keem, BigXthaPlug, DaBaby, Don Toliver, Drake, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, T.I.

Best Female Hip Hop Artist

Cardi B, Coi Leray, Doechii, Doja Cat, GloRilla, Latto, Megan Thee Stallion, Monaleo, YK Niece

Best Male R&B/Pop Artist

Brent Faiyaz, Bruno Mars, Bryson Tiller, Chris Brown, Durand Bernarr, GIVĒON, Leon Thomas, October London, Usher

Best Female R&B/Pop Artist

Ari Lennox, Coco Jones, Ella Mai, Jill Scott, Kehlani, Mariah the Scientist, Olivia Dean, SZA, Tems

Best Group

41, Clipse, De La Soul, FLO, French Montana & Max B, Metro Boomin & DJ Spinz, Nas & DJ Premier, Terrace Martin & Kenyon Dixon, Wizkid & Asake

Best Collaboration

Clipse & Kendrick Lamar ("Chains & Whips"), Cardi B feat. Jeezy & Latto ("Errtime Remix"), Summer Walker feat. Latto & Doja Cat ("Go Girl"), Baby Keem feat. Kendrick Lamar & Momo Boyd ("Good Flirts"), Mariah the Scientist & Kali Uchis ("Is It a Crime"), Chris Brown feat. Bryson Tiller & Usher ("It Depends - The Remix"), Metro Boomin feat. Quavo, Breskii, YK Niece & DJ Spinz ("Take Me Thru Dere"), Gunna feat. Burna Boy ("wgft")

Video of the Year

Ella Mai ("100"), Doechii ("Anxiety"), Mariah the Scientist ("Burning Blue"), Tyla ("Chanel"), Teyana Taylor ("Escape Room"), Kehlani ("Folded"), T.I. ("Let 'Em Know"), Kendrick Lamar & SZA ("luther")

Video Director of the Year

A$AP Rocky & Dan Streit, Anderson .Paak, Benny Boom, Cactus Jack, Cardi B & Patientce Foster, Cole Bennett, Director X, Hype Williams, Teyana "Spike-Tey" Taylor

Best New Artist

Belly Gang Kushington, DESTIN CONRAD, JayDon, kwn, Miles Minnick, Monaleo, Olivia Dean, RAYE, Trap Dickey

BET Her Award

Tasha Cobbs Leonard ("Already Good"), Jill Scott feat. Trombone Shorty ("Be Great"), Jill Scott ("Beautiful People"), Tems ("First"), Doechii feat. SZA ("girl, get up."), Summer Walker feat. Latto & Doja Cat ("Go Girl"), Doja Cat ("Gorgeous"), Olivia Dean ("Lady Lady")

The Fashion Vanguard Award (NEW)

A$AP Rocky, Bad Bunny, Beyoncé, Cardi B, Colman Domingo, Doechii, Rihanna, Teyana Taylor, Zendaya

The Pulse Award (NEW)

85 South Show, Baby, This Is Keke Palmer, Charlamagne Tha God, Don Lemon, Druski, It Is What It Is, Joe and Jada, On the Radar, R&B Money Podcast

Viewers’ Choice

Mariah the Scientist ("Burning Blue"), Clipse feat. Kendrick Lamar (“Chains & Whips”), Tyla (“Chanel”), Kehlani (“Folded”), Bruno Mars (“I Just Might”), Chris Brown feat. Bryson Tiller (“It Depends”), Olivia Dean (“Man I Need”), Cardi B (“Outside”), Dave & Tems (“Raindance”), Metro Boomin feat. Quavo, Breskii, YK Niece & DJ Spinz (“Take Me Thru Dere”)

Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational Award

Kirk Franklin ("Able"), Darrel Walls, PJ Morton & Kim Burrell ("Able - Remix"), BeBe Winans ("All to Thee"), Tasha Cobbs Leonard ("Already Good"), CeCe Winans ("At the Cross"), Tasha Cobbs Leonard & John Legend ("Church"), Kirk Franklin ("Do It Again"), Lecrae, Killer Mike & T.I. ("Headphones")

Best Actress

Angela Bassett, Ayo Edebiri, Chase Infiniti, Coco Jones, Cynthia Erivo, Keke Palmer, Quinta Brunson, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor

Best Actor

Aaron Pierre, Aldis Hodge, Anthony Mackie, Colman Domingo, Damson Idris, Delroy Lindo, Denzel Washington, Michael B. Jordan, Sterling K. Brown

Best Movie

Highest 2 Lowest, Him, Number One on the Call Sheet, One Battle After Another, Relationship Goals, Ruth & Boaz, Sinners, Wicked: For Good

YoungStars Award

Daria Johns, Graceyn "Gracie" Hollingsworth, Heiress Harris, Jazzy's World TV, Lela Hoffmeister, North West, Thaddeus J. Mixson, VanVan

Sportswoman of the Year Award

A'ja Wilson, Angel Reese, Claressa Shields, Coco Gauff, Flau'jae Johnson, Gabby Thomas, Jordan Chiles, Naomi Osaka, Sha'Carri Richardson

Sportsman of the Year Award

Aaron Judge, Anthony Edwards, Caleb Williams, Jalen Brunson, Jalen Hurts, LeBron James, Shedeur Sanders, Stephen Curry

Clarence Carter, Southern Soul Pioneer Who Sang ‘Strokin’,’ Dies at 90

Southern soul legend Clarence Carter performs on stage in Baltimore in 1995. Carter, the blind singer and guitarist known for 1960s R&B hits and the enduring party anthem "Strokin'," died Wednesday, May 13, 2026, near Atlanta at the age of 90. (Photo by John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com)

Clarence Carter, the blind Southern soul pioneer who scored deep-feeling R&B hits in the 1960s before securing a permanent, multi-generational legacy with the bawdy cookout anthem "Strokin'," has died. He was 90.

Carter died Wednesday. Bill Carpenter, a spokesman for his former wife and fellow soul singer Candi Staton, confirmed the passing on Thursday. According to reports, Carter had recently been diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer and died from complications including sepsis and pneumonia. Rodney Hall, president of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where Carter recorded many of his biggest hits, also confirmed the news to Rolling Stone.

Born in Montgomery, Alabama, Carter lost his sight to glaucoma as an infant. He attended the Alabama School for the Blind and later earned a music degree from Alabama State College, using his formal education to develop a signature, blues-soaked baritone and a hard-driving rhythm guitar style.

Signing with FAME Records, Carter became a formidable force on the R&B charts in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He delivered a string of emotionally complex, brass-heavy hits, most notably the 1968 cheating ballad "Slip Away" and the 1970 Grammy-nominated tearjerker "Patches," a spoken-word hybrid about rural poverty that crossed over to the top of the pop charts.

But for the hip-hop and 90s/00s throwback generation, Carter’s cultural footprint extends far beyond traditional soul radio.

His raw, unfiltered 1968 holiday track "Back Door Santa" famously provided the foundational, blaring horn sample for Run-D.M.C.’s 1987 classic "Christmas in Hollis".

More prominently, Carter achieved a rare feat of cultural permanence in 1986 with the release of "Strokin'." Driven by a relentless synthesizer and Carter's unapologetic, spoken-word sexual humor, the track was deemed too explicit for mainstream radio play. Instead, it bypassed the industry entirely, thriving in nightclub jukeboxes and on mixtape cassettes to become an undisputed standard at cookouts, family reunions, and block parties for the next four decades.

Carter's ability to seamlessly pivot from heart-wrenching soul to working-class, juke-joint humor allowed him to survive changing musical eras that left many of his peers behind. He continued to tour and release music deep into his later years, keeping the Southern soul circuit alive while leaning heavily into his status as a cult-classic icon.

From Gladys Knight to Beyoncé: Library of Congress Names 2026 Audio Treasures

Sometime in the distant future, historians digging through the United States' most sacred cultural archives will find the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and Beyoncé telling them to put a ring on it.

On Thursday, the Library of Congress announced the 2026 class of the National Recording Registry, naming 25 audio treasures deemed so culturally, historically, or aesthetically important that they must be preserved for all of time. While the selections span 70 years of American history, this year’s list reads like a masterclass in the foundational sounds of hip-hop, R&B, and 90s alternative culture.

Beyoncé’s 2008 blockbuster "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" was inducted into the permanent archives alongside Taylor Swift’s transformative 2014 pop pivot, "1989." The Library noted that Beyoncé didn't just release a song; she generated a cultural phenomenon that spawned millions of plays, a new catchphrase, and an epochal dance craze simultaneously.

But for fans of golden-era hip-hop and R&B, the 2026 registry goes much deeper than modern pop.

The U.S. government officially cemented the foundation of hip-hop production by inducting The Winstons' 1969 single "Amen, Brother." The B-side track features a six-second drum loop performed by Gregory Coleman — now universally known as the "Amen Break." That explosive rhythm became the most sampled musical riff in history, serving as the rhythmic backbone for acts ranging from N.W.A. to Salt-N-Pepa.

The Throwback Archives

The Library of Congress preserves audio deemed culturally or historically vital. Key 2026 throwback additions include:

• The Hip-Hop Blueprint: "Amen, Brother" – The Winstons (1969)
• The R&B Standard: "Midnight Train to Georgia" – Gladys Knight and the Pips (1973)
• The Crossover: "I Feel For You" – Chaka Khan (1984)
• The House Pioneer: "Your Love" – Jamie Principle/Frankie Knuckles (1986/1987)
• The Alt-Rock Anthem: "Weezer (The Blue Album)" – Weezer (1994)
• The Pop Phenomenon: "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" – Beyoncé (2008)

The registry also honored the moment R&B, pop, and hip-hop vocabulary fully converged: Chaka Khan's 1984 smash "I Feel for You."

Originally written by Prince, Khan’s reimagined cover brought rap to the global mainstream with a legendary guest verse from Grandmaster Melle Mel and harmonica work from Stevie Wonder.

"'I Feel for You’ was a moment where everything converged: Prince’s genius, Stevie’s harmonica, Grandmaster Melle Mel’s rap, and whatever God put in me that day,” Khan said regarding the induction. “For the Library of Congress to say this recording belongs in the permanent collection of American sound heritage, that means it wasn’t just a hit, it was history. And I am so very grateful to have been part of it.”

The history of club culture was also preserved this year with the induction of "Your Love," the inescapable 1986 dance track by Chicago's Jamie Principle, which was later famously reworked by Frankie Knuckles. The Library recognized the track as a groundbreaking artifact in the history of house music and electronica.

Other massive legacy inductions include Gladys Knight and the Pips’ 1973 storytelling masterpiece "Midnight Train to Georgia," The Go-Go’s trailblazing 1981 debut "Beauty and the Beat," and Weezer’s 1994 self-titled grunge-era breakthrough, "Weezer (The Blue Album)."

In a nod to the 90s digital revolution, the Library even preserved the heavy metal-fueled soundtrack to the 1993 MS-DOS video game "Doom."

“Music and recorded sound are essential, wonderful parts of our daily lives and our national heritage," Acting Librarian of Congress Robert R. Newlen said Thursday. "The National Recording Registry works to preserve our national playlist for generations to come.”

The 2026 selections bring the registry to exactly 700 titles, a highly exclusive fraction of the Library’s massive collection of nearly 4 million audio items.

The Complete 2026 National Recording Registry

(Chronological Order)

• "Cocktails for Two" – Spike Jones and His City Slickers (1944)
• "Mambo No. 5" – Pérez Prado and His Orchestra (1950)
• "Teardrops from My Eyes" – Ruth Brown (1950)
• "Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)" – Kaye Ballard (1954)
• "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" – Paul Anka (1959)
• "The Blues and the Abstract Truth" – Oliver Nelson (1961)
• "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music" – Ray Charles (1962)
• "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)" – The Byrds (1965)
• "Amen, Brother" – The Winstons (1969)
• "Feliz Navidad" – José Feliciano (1970)
• "The Fight of the Century: Ali vs. Frazier" (March 8, 1971)
• "Midnight Train to Georgia" – Gladys Knight and the Pips (1973)
• "Chicago" Original Cast Album (1975)
• "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" – The Charlie Daniels Band (1979)
• "Beauty and the Beat" – The Go-Go’s (1981)
• "Texas Flood" – Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (1983)
• "I Feel For You" – Chaka Khan (1984)
• "Your Love" – Jamie Principle (1986) / Jamie Principle/Frankie Knuckles (1987)
• "Rumor Has It" – Reba McEntire (1990)
• "The Wheel" – Rosanne Cash (1993)
• "Doom" Soundtrack – Bobby Prince, composer (1993)
• "Go Rest High On That Mountain" – Vince Gill (1994)
• "Weezer (The Blue Album)" – Weezer (1994)
• "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" – Beyoncé (2008)
• "1989" – Taylor Swift (2014)