‘Love each other’: Busta Rhymes addresses rappers in emotional speech at BET Awards

During Sunday's 2023 BET Awards, Busta Rhymes was presented with the lifetime achievement award, and in his emotional acceptance speech, the rap icon reflected on his career and encouraged fellow rappers to cease their feuds and instead concentrate on producing outstanding music that will secure their legacies. 

Towards the end of the ceremony, Busta became teary-eyed as he received the prestigious award.

"So, I'm gonna wear it on my sleeve. I do wanna cry," began the I Know What You Want rapper, as he got chocked up. 

Busta Rhymes expressed his gratitude to several people who have been supportive of him throughout his career, and then went on to urge his fellow rappers to "stop these little petty beefs that we be doing."

"Y’all messing up the bag. Y'all messing up the energy. I don't like when I talk to these dudes that run these streaming platforms and they talking about, ‘You know, we turning the consumer off because there's so much little this and little that going on with you rappers.’”

“We’re gonna stop that. We're gonna love each other, and we gonna get to this money."

"We're gonna stop this narrative like we don't love each other, this divide thing. It's corny. It's tired. It's whack," he added.

BET Awards were broadcasted live from Los Angeles at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Sunday, June 25th on BET.