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B2K's 'Bump Bump Bump' performance at BET Awards has Diddy, R. Kelly connections
B2K's 'Bump Bump Bump' performance at BET Awards has Diddy, R. Kelly connections
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Sunday night's BET Awards hit heavy on the nostalgia, bringing back hip-hop and R&B stars from the early aughts to revive a sound not quite like any other.
To honor the "TRL"-style music video countdown show "106 & Park," a slate of big-name performers took the stage for a 20-minute beat-pounding medley.
Amid mini-sets from Ashanti and Keyshia Cole, boy band B2K treated the audience to a rendition of their 2002 club anthem "Bump Bump Bump." Complete with synchronized dance moves and all white 'fits, the four-man music group leaned heavily into their classic boy band appeal.
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Eagle-eyed fans were quick to tease out a more sordid history of the track. "Bump Bump Bump" was originally released with a feature from Sean "Diddy" Combs, who is currently on trial for federal sex crimes. Combs' influence on hip-hop, especially in the early 2000s, was so far-reaching that it's hard to hit shuffle without running into one of his projects.
The group is composed of J-Boog, Raz-B, Omarion and Lil' Fizz, who, rather than play an audio recording of Combs' part, rapped it in his place.
The story goes deeper, though. The track was also originally written by R. Kelly, who, like Combs, faced sex trafficking and racketeering charges, and is now serving time in prison after being convicted on all counts. Several high-profile rappers also remixed the song, including 50 Cent and Jay-Z.
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50 Cent is a longtime rival of Combs and has been making an internet mockery of his ongoing legal challenges. Jay-Z was looped in with Combs in a recent lawsuit that accused both rappers for rape, though the case has since been dropped, with Jay-Z denying all wrongdoing and filing a countersuit against his former accuser.
As Combs, once a kingmaker in the genre, faces a reputation forever sullied, B2K's performance is a preview of how difficult it may be to avoid his art.
