The Soul Train Awards and BET Hip-Hop Awards have been suspended indefinitely due to poor ratings. The Soul Train Awards launched on Black Entertainment Television (BET) in 2009. The BET Awards launched in 2001 on BET.
Both programs suffered poor ratings in recent years due to the public’s lack of interest in mumble rap and drill music.
The BET Awards have not been suspended.
BET CEO Scott Mills confirmed the suspensions in a discussion with Billboard. He explained that the shows are not canceled, they are “suspended indefinitely”. He didn’t provide a timetable for when they are expected to return.
“It’s less about them being no longer and more about our team having to reimagine them for this changing media landscape that we find ourselves in,” Mills told Billboard.
Mills said his team is working on moving the awards shows to a different platform.
“So for BET linear, we have suspended the Soul Train and Hip-Hop award shows. But we have a team that’s actively thinking about where those award shows might best live as the media climate continues to evolve,” he said.
Bots and fake listeners on Spotify
Some Hip-Hop journalists blame “bots” on music-streaming platforms such as Spotify that artificially boost songs and fake listeners.
Bots are automated programs on Spotify and other streaming services that artificially boost the number of streams, likes, and fake listeners.
Others blame record labels for paying influencers and podcasters to promote songs and albums that otherwise would not get airplay on the radio.
One manosphere message board member wrote: “They’re not standing behind the music because there are no more standout records charting like there were once 7 yrs ago.”
Just recently, Hip-Hop podcaster Akademiks exposed hip-hop journalists who were paid by a record label to promote the Clipse album.
Akademiks calls out hip hop journalists who got paid to give fake praise and act like that clipse album is the best thing since sliced bread pic.twitter.com/WQTfSa0Qdk
— Akademiks TV (@AkademiksTV) August 4, 2025
