The Good, the Bad and the What the Fugly: The 2018 BET Hip Hop Awards Red Carpet Was as Extra as Ever

We know, we know: all awards shows are extra. But we still maintain that the 2018 BET Hip Hop Awards was a master class in doing the most—on and off the red (okay, green) carpet. Since the show doesn’t air until Oct. 16 (at 8 p.m. EST on BET, of course), we’ll refrain from posting any spoilers about the winners and losers of statuettes, and requisite starters of shit, and stick to the winners and losers of style.

But as you might already suspect, the fashion choices were all over the place: sequins strutted alongside sneakers; old-school next to new school; T-shirts next to taffeta; and, as always, there was no shortage of exposed skin or egregious logos at Sunday night’s ceremony at the Fillmore Miami Beach in Florida. Who killed it? To be honest, the abundance of tees, polos and jeans made it hard for the more ... creative dressers not to stand out, though not always for the best reasons.

Like, for instance, what’s happening here with Hip-Hop Barbie and Ken?

And what in the Knights of the Round Table hell is this ensemble?

And does this mean E.T. has finally phoned home?

And there’s really not much to say about this coordinating couple except, “Welcome to the jungle.”

There’s plenty more where that came from, and while it’s not all terrible, terrible is fairly relative, in this case. But while hip-hop may sadly still remain a male-dominated field, it was the women of rap who dominated this year’s step-and-repeat, in styles ranging from elegant to inconceivable. And since there’s only so many button-downs, tees and sport sets we can stand, we decided to keep our focus on the ladies for this year’s BET Hip Hop Awards red carpet roundup. Enjoy ... and tune in on the 16th for all the winning action!