Billboard music award is a show sponsored by the Billboard magazine, covering the music business. The show had been held yearly until it went inactive in 2007, but resumed in 2011. It focuses on rewarding performing artists in the music industry each year based on their songs’ number of downloads, total airplay and the sales according to Nielsen’s records. The 2013 billboard award was held in Las Vegas on May 19th. In attendance were popular artists like Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Akon, among others. Tracy Morgan, a comedian and actor hosted the show, with live performances by musicians like Bruno Mars, Miguel, and hip hop artist Nicki Minaj.
Hip hop performance requires good stage lighting to bring out the expected quality by the audience. The producers ensured that the audience could clearly see the dancing on stage since light was evenly distributed to all corners. The stage was spacious to accommodate many dancers at the same time and had many entry points to facilitate movement. It was also cushioned to absorb shock and offer a non-slip floor for the dancers. Dancers used improvisational dance moves; they had rehearsed to master and maintain basic steps for a uniform performance.
Nicki Minaj’s performance on her song featuring Lil Wayne ‘High school’ was among the selected acts for the awards show. Nicki starts off the presentation alongside her two female dancers and raps her first verse before her fellow rapper Lil Wayne joins her on stage. She is eloquent, and her lines are audible; some of her fans are heard repeating the lines after her. Rapper Lil Wayne joins in to complete the act where he vocals out his verse. Towards the end of the song, Nicki Minaj is seen to perform a provocative dance around Lil Wayne’s laps. This dance is commonly referred to as ‘a lap dance’.
This performance is adulterous; the dance moves and body language involved are indecent especially to a young audience. The billboard awards show focuses on rewarding the young and the upcoming artists in the music industry. The Nicki Minaj featuring Lil Wayne presentation is an encouragement for the moral decay among the youth. In some parts of the performance, Nicki Minaj and one of her dancers are seen touching their private parts as a dance move. It is inappropriate to touch ones private parts or display nudity in public. Lil Wayne concludes the dance by pointing at her bottom and commenting about it with the words ‘all this’. This is a clear indication of obscenity and antisocial behavior in the society; these musicians are idolized by their fans and are, thus, expected to be mentors to all.
Hip hop music is an influential genre of music with the ability to bring young audience to the dimension of useful live theatre. There are challenges that prevent it from becoming such a prevailing influence to the young generation hence limiting the benefits that accrue from its performance. The artists should account for any message they relay to the society; they should not only focus on making money and acquiring power but also delivering relevant messages to the audience. The music producers also have a role in ensuring that artist conduct themselves appropriately, according to the set code of conduct. This way, hip hop music, will remain all-purposive genre of music to its audience.
Works cited
Youtube Billboard music awards Nicki Minaj (2013) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUsxRVNodK0
Bocade, Jessica Dee. An Analysis of Hip-Hop Theatre: From roots to performance. Honor Theses. (2010). http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/honors_theses/2010/
