The 2025 BET Awards hit a record-setting and touching high when rap’s omnipresent architect, Snoop Dogg, was presented with the Ultimate Icon Tribute Award. In a move worthy of the West Coast legend who performed it, more than gratitude was doled out. He gave the audience a date to remember and quickly staked his emotional speech with a performance medley that transported fans through his three-decade lordship in hip-hop.
Snoop’s influence has extended well beyond music. From inventing G-funk to reinventing Death Row Records to making moves in tech and media, the Doggfather has been a roadmap for hip-hop evolution. The BET Awards honored his chart-topping successes and his legacy as a trailblazer who used his career to open doors well beyond the booth, inspiring a generation of MCs to see a world of possibilities beyond the microphone.
Humbly and in that familiar way of his, Snoop Dogg would join the stage for his eight-minute acceptance speech, and, just as you’d expect the man to do, the conversation would not center on him. He kicked things off with a warm tribute to gospel icon Kirk Franklin. “I appreciate when you performed at my mother’s funeral,” he said, his voice laden with emotion. “You’ve been a part of my family, and I’m so honored to see you get that tonight. So, Kirk, love you and your family.” For a moment, it put Snoop’s humanity, apart from all the fame, in front of everyone in the room.
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“[God] was good to you, that’s why you’re still here,” Snoop continued, talking about Foxx. “And I’m loving what you’re doing right now with your girls. You’ve got queens in your life. You’re gonna be alright.” And with Mariah Carey, Snoop let the nostalgia flow. “I always say this to you, when I was in the county jail in 1990, ‘Visions of Love’ would come on on Saturday mornings, and we would race to the TV just to see you,” he said in a comment that prompted laughter and applause. “When I finally got a chance to meet you and do a record with you, you always treated me like family, and it’s always been like that. I love you, MC.”
It was deeply personal yet universal, a reminder of music’s role in the harrowing tapestry of our everyday lives. But Snoop wasn’t done. Moments later, the lights dimmed, the crowd erupted, and Snoop brought the room to another level with an epic medley of his biggest hits. The crowd was taken to eras of hip-hop history. Beat by beat, he proved why his name has become synonymous with West Coast culture and world influence.
Sporting his ever-present shades and owning a swagger that only Snoop has, the performance was a victory lap, neither celebrating where he’s been nor where he continues to take the genre. For younger artists in the audience, it was wide-eyed viewing. For them, he wasn’t just a performer. He was a living legend that showed you can age gracefully and still light the stage on fire.
On a night full of star power, Snoop Dogg stood tallest not for his music but for his legacy, community, resilience, and transformation. The BET Awards 2025 did more than bestow him with an award. They honored a movement he helped define. As the clapping subsided and the curtains came together, an icon ain’t just about entertainment.
