Wait, Who Told Summer Walker To Do That Tribute To Mary J. Blige?

On Sunday, the Queen of Hip Hop Soul Mary J. Blige was honored with the Entertainment Icon Award at Urban One Honors. Blige rightfully deserves to receive all of her flowers while she’s here.

The woman is a music pioneer: she has eight multi-platinum albums, nine Grammy wins, an Emmy, two Academy Award nominations and two Golden Globe nominations.

However, the person who chose to do a musical tribute was Summer Walker.

Walker looked stunning as she performed two of Blige’s most notable hits: “My Life” and “Real Love.” No shade to the “Girls Need Love” singer, but her renditions of the classic hits were lackluster.

For her entire career, Blige has had immense passion and creativity for the R&B genre. Her 1992 debut album “What’s the 411?” had two No. R&B No. 1s: “You Remind Me” and “Real Love.” Her follow up, 1994's “My Life,” is considered a staple in the genre.

In addition, she has released 15 studio albums and has starred in several films and television shows including “The Umbrella Academy,” “Mudbound,” “Respect,” and “Power Book II: Ghost.” Walker’s energy onstage was barely palpable and quite frankly—she doesn’t really have the vocal range to do Blige justice.

Also, the backup singers followed Walker’s lead and offered no magnetism or excitement whatever. There should have been baseball jerseys and kneepads—even Mary’s signature thigh-high boot look—but the theatrics of her persona were completely ignored. Walker didn’t even hit the signature Mary dance, which only proves she really was the wrong person to do the tribute.

We’re not entirely sure who chose Walker to execute something beyond her scope, but hopefully the Queen will have homage paid to her the right way going forward.