The BET

BET Awards

The BET Awards were established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate African Americans and other minorities in music, acting, sports, and other fields of entertainment over the past year. The awards are presented annually and broadcast live on BET...

Centric Award (simply called the Centric Award) recognizes and is awarded to neo soul

Neo soul

The term neo soul was originally coined by Kedar Massenburg of Motown Records in the late 1990s as a marketing category following the commercial breakthroughs of artists such as D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Maxwell...

and/or traditional R&B

Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

artists. The award is named after one of BET's sister channels, Centric. The Centric Award was first awarded in 2006 as the BET J Cool Like That Award. The name of the award was changed when BET J was rebranded as Centic in 2009. It is usually awarded during the red carpet pre-show.

Winners & Nominees

• Most Wins: Raheem DeVaughn
  Raheem DeVaughn
  Raheem DeVaughn is an American singer and songwriter. His debut album, The Love Experience , reached No. 46 on the Billboard 200 album chart. It featured the singles "Guess Who Loves You More" and "You". His second album Love Behind the Melody was released in January 2008...
  
  , Monica, Jazmine Sullivan
  Jazmine Sullivan
  Jazmine Marie Sullivan is an American recording artist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is also the protégé of rapper Missy Elliott. Her debut single "Need U Bad" reached number one on Billboards Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, while her second single, "Bust Your Windows" peaked at number four...
  
  , Anthony Hamilton
  Anthony Hamilton (musician)
  Anthony Hamilton is an American R&B, and soul singer-songwriter, and record producer who rose to fame with his platinum-selling second studio album Comin' from Where I'm From , which featured the singles "Comin' from Where I'm From" and "Charlene."-Life and career:Hamilton was born in Charlotte,...
  
  , Marsha Ambrosius
  Marsha Ambrosius
  Marsha Ambrosius or Marsha is an English singer/songwriter. A former member of the English Soul/R&B duo Floetry, she released her first solo album Late Nights & Early Mornings on March 1, 2011.-Early career with Floetry:...
  
   & Gerald Levert
  Gerald Levert
  Gerald Levert was an American R&B singer. Gerald Levert sang with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon in the R&B trio LeVert. He was also a part of LSG, an R&B supergroup comprising Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, and Levert...
  
   have each won in this category once.

Centric Award
Year	Winner	Nominees
2011	Marsha Ambrosius Marsha Ambrosius Marsha Ambrosius or Marsha is an English singer/songwriter. A former member of the English Soul/R&B duo Floetry, she released her first solo album Late Nights & Early Mornings on March 1, 2011.-Early career with Floetry:...	R. Kelly R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly , better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. A native of Chicago, Kelly began performing during the late 1980s and debuted in 1992 with the group Public Announcement. In 1993, Kelly went solo with the album 12 Play... Eric Benet KEM Kem -Places:*Kem, Russia, a town in Russia*Kem, Uganda*Kem, Maharashtra, India*Kem , a crater on Mars.*King Edward Mine, a mine called King Edward Mine in Cornwall.*Kem River, a river in Russia.*KEM, IATA airport code for Kemi-Tornio Airport in Finland.... Cee-Lo Green
2010	Monica	Maxwell Maxwell (musician) Maxwell , is an American R&B, funk and neo soul musician. He played an important role in the development of the soul sub-genre, neo-soul.-Early life:... Sade Sade (band) Sade is a British smooth jazz band that formed in 1983, named for Nigerian lead singer Sade Adu. Their music features elements of R&B, soul, jazz, and soft rock.... Melanie Fiona Melanie Fiona Melanie Fiona Hallim is a Canadian R&B and Grammy-nominated recording artist from Toronto, Ontario. She was born to Guyanese immigrant parents of African, Indian, and Portuguese descent and grew up in the inner city of Toronto. Living in a music filled household, Fiona says she always knew music... Chrisette Michele Chrisette Michele Chrisette Michele Payne , known professionally as Chrisette Michele, is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter....
2009	Jazmine Sullivan Jazmine Sullivan Jazmine Marie Sullivan is an American recording artist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is also the protégé of rapper Missy Elliott. Her debut single "Need U Bad" reached number one on Billboards Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, while her second single, "Bust Your Windows" peaked at number four...	Musiq Soulchild Raphael Saadiq Raphael Saadiq Raphael Saadiq is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Saadiq has been a standard bearer for "old school" R&B since his early days as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! He also produced songs of such artists as TLC, Joss Stone, D'Angelo, Mary J... Seal Seal (musician) Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel , known simply as Seal, is a British soul and R&B singer-songwriter, of Nigerian and Brazilian background. Seal has won numerous music awards throughout his career, including three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male in 1992, four Grammy Awards, and an... Solange Solange Knowles Solange Piaget Knowles , who performs under the mononym Solange, is an American singer-songwriter, actress, model, dancer, and DJ. Knowles was born and raised in Houston, Texas along with her older sister singer Beyoncé, a former member of R&B group Destiny's Child...

BET J Award
Year	Winner	Nominees
2008	Raheem DeVaughn Raheem DeVaughn Raheem DeVaughn is an American singer and songwriter. His debut album, The Love Experience , reached No. 46 on the Billboard 200 album chart. It featured the singles "Guess Who Loves You More" and "You". His second album Love Behind the Melody was released in January 2008...	Chaka Khan Chaka Khan Chaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career... Ledisi Ledisi Ledisi Anibade Young is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Her first name means "to bring forth" or "to come here" in Yoruba. Ledisi is known for her jazz influenced vocals. In 1995, Ledisi formed the group known as Anibade. After unsuccessfully trying to get the group signed to a major... Jill Scott Jill Scott Jill Scott is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter, poet, and actress. In 2007, Scott made her cinematic debut in the films Hounddog and in Tyler Perry's feature film, Why Did I Get Married? That year, her third studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3, was released on... Angie Stone Angie Stone Angie Stone is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She has been nominated for three Grammy Award. She is more successful on the charts R&B charts, with four Top 10 albums, forms including a number one album and 10 singles on the R&B chart,...
2007	Gerald Levert Gerald Levert Gerald Levert was an American R&B singer. Gerald Levert sang with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon in the R&B trio LeVert. He was also a part of LSG, an R&B supergroup comprising Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, and Levert...	Eric Roberson Eric Roberson Eric Roberson is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter from Rahway, New Jersey, United States. He is sometimes referred to simply as Erro.... Musiq Soulchild Brian McKnight Brian McKnight Brian McKnight is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, producer, and R&B/Pop musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist who plays nine instruments: piano, guitar, bass guitar, drums, percussions, trombone, tuba, flugelhorn and trumpet.... Elisabeth Withers Elisabeth Withers Elisabeth Withers is an American Neo-soul and R&B singer-songwriter.-Biography:Withers was born in Joliet, Illinois, and studied at the Berklee College of Music and then at New York University. She sang as a backup vocalist for Celine Dion and Jennifer Lopez, among others, and released several...
2006	Anthony Hamilton Anthony Hamilton (musician) Anthony Hamilton is an American R&B, and soul singer-songwriter, and record producer who rose to fame with his platinum-selling second studio album Comin' from Where I'm From , which featured the singles "Comin' from Where I'm From" and "Charlene."-Life and career:Hamilton was born in Charlotte,...	Eric Benet Eric Benét Eric Benét, is an American singer. His duet with Tamia, "Spend My Life With You" was a number one song for three weeks on the US Billboard R&B chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2000.... Heather Headley Heather Headley Heather Headley is a Trinidadian-American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She has won one Tony Award and one Grammy Award.-Personal life:... Kindred the Family Soul Kindred the Family Soul Kindred the Family Soul, also referred to as Kindred, are an American R&B, soul, and neo soul duo consisting of the married couple of Fatin Dantzler and Aja Graydon... Corrine Bailey Rae