Kendrick Lamar beats out Big Sean, Chance The Rapper, Drake, Future and J. Cole for Best Male Hip-Hop Artist at the 2017 BET Awards. In his acceptance speech, K. Dot paid tribute to the late, great Prodigy who passed away last week at 42 years old. "Prodigy, he inspired my first mixtape at 16 years old. Y.H.N.I.C.," he said. Earlier in the evening, Kendrick performed "Mask Off (Remix)" alongside Future. Watch his acceptance speech below.

The TDE artist is having a fantastic year. His first verse from his song “Lust” inspired a film about the life of one Black man who’s found himself caught up in the monotony of day-to-day life. He's also scheduled to perform at Rihanna‘s 2017 Diamond Ball. The ball is a black tie fundraiser designed to benefit Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF) and it will also be hosted by Dave Chappelle. If you've been living under a rock and haven't yet, listen to Kendrick's platinum-selling DAMN. album ASAP.

The annual BET Awards airs live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Earlier this week a slew of performers were added to the bill, including A$AP Rocky, Swae Lee and French Montana. Other rappers who are due to hit the stage later on are Future, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne and XXL‘s spring cover feature, DJ Khaled.

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