Vanessa Bryant has saluted Lil Wayne’s heartfelt tribute to her late husband Kobe Bryant at the BET Awards this weekend.
During the virtual awards on Sunday (28 June), Lil Wayne remotely performed his 2009 song named after NBA legend Kobe, who tragically died aged 41 in a helicopter crash in January alongside his daughter Gianna Bryant and seven others.
Reacting to Lil Wayne’s performance, Vanessa watched from home and shared a clip of the tribute with the caption: ‘#Mambamentality #Mamba and our #Mambacita ❤️❤️ @liltunechi 👏🏽👏🏽 #2 #24 #8 forever 💜💛#GiannaBryant @kobebryant “✌🏽fingers for THE Mambacita “❤️ #GigiBryant Beautiful Tribute “G-O-A-T like Kobe-B”.’
The segment featured Lil Wayne performing interspersed with photos and videos of Kobe playing on the court throughout his career as well as sweet photos of the basketball star with Gigi, who was 13 when she died.
‘This is Black power status/ Two fingers for the Mambacita/ I’m screamin’ Black Mamba matters,’ Lil Wayne rapped before adding a tribute to Vanessa and her family, saying: ‘My heart goes out to Vanessa and the whole Black Mamba family.
‘Rest in power/ Let’s hope for peace/ Black lives matter, facts.’
Lil Wayne, 37, previously expressed his devastation at Kobe’s death and included a tribute to the NBA star on his most recent album Funeral, leaving 24 seconds of silence on the eighth track in honour of Kobe’s jersey numbers.
In March, the rapper also told MTV: ‘What I admire the most is how [his legacy] evolved. We knew him as the kid phenom straight from high school… He hit the league and murked it.. [then] he became a champion.
‘It’s very hard to become a champion… He did it again and then again.’
Other tributes during the In Memoriam segment included hip hop stars Juice Wrld and Pop Smoke, who both died in the last 12 months.
Singer and comedian Wayne Brady performed a tribute to rock and roll pioneer Little Richard, who died in May at the age of 87.
Brady sang a medley of the late star’s best-known hits, including the influential rock staples Lucille and Tutti Frutti.
BET Awards 2020 full winners list
Best female R&B/pop artist
Lizzo
Best male R&B/pop artist
Chris Brown
Best group
Migos
Best collaboration
No Guidance - Chris Brown featuring Drake
Best male hip hop artist
DaBaby
Best female hip hop artist
Megan Thee Stallion
Video of the year
Higher - DJ Khaled featuring Nipsey Hussle and John Legend
Video director of the year
Teyana "Spike Tee" Taylor
Best new artist
Roddy Ricch
Album of the year
Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial - Roddy Ricch
Best gospel/inspirational award
Just For Me - Kirk Frankland
Best actress
Issa Rae
Best actor
Michael B Jordan
Youngstars Award
Marsai Martin
Best movie
Queen & Slim
Sportswoman of the year
Simone Biles
Sportsman of the year
LeBron James
BET HER Award
Brown Skin Girl - Beyonce featuring Blue Ivy, Wizkid, Saint Jhn
Viewer's choice award
Hot Girl Summer - Megan Thee Stallion featuring Nicki Minaj
Best international act
Burna Boy (Nigeria)
Best new international act
Sha Sha (Zimbabwe)
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