Omarion

Performing alongside the larger than life, beard-faced, tattoo-drenched Rick Ross, Omarion made waves with his performance at the BET Hip Hop Awards.

Male R&B is enjoying a renaissance, with the mercurial talents of Frank Ocean and the re-emergence of Usher of late, and Omarion’s performance has well and truly proved that he’s another one to be taken seriously. Bounding on stage, dressed solely in white, he accompanied Maybach Music boss, Rick Ross, who had just spat out a topless rendition of Hold Me Back. The pair sang Ice Cold together to a rapturous response from the audience, who were all mouthing proudly along to the frenetic show. Omarion, aka Maybach O, is working on his MMG debut. It has been a busy 24 hours for Ross as last night (October, 9) he dropped his most recent mixtape The Black Bar Mitzvah, followed by the official video for Diced Pineapples.

All this talk of performances, brawls and trouble backstage, and one might be forgiven for forgetting that the BET Hip Hop Awards are exactly that: an awards show. And in that vein, it’s pertinent to mention Kanye West, who cleaned up. He grabbed Producer of the Year, the Made You Look Award (Best Hip Hop Style) and the Perfect Combo Award for "Mercy," along with his G.O.O.D. Music crew. The multiplatinum hit maker took home another three awards for his work with Jay Z as part of the Throne, bringing his total to six.