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Burna Boy was among the main performers at last night’s BET Hip Hop Awards 2020, teaming up with Coldplay‘s Chris Martin for a politically-charged performance of ‘Monsters You Made’.
The Afrobeats star called out police brutality in his native Nigeria during the performance, using powerful visuals to back the #EndSARS campaign, while his band wore shirts that read #StopPoliceBrutality.
Ending the performance, Burna Boy delivered a short monologue to remember the victims of last week’s protests in Lagos’ Lekki Gate – with Amnesty International claiming that at least 12 people were killed after brutal clashes broke out last week.
“This is for Tiamiyu Kazeem, this is for Kolade Johnson, this is for everyone that has lost their lives at the hands of SARS and all kinds of police brutality,” he said.
“End police brutality now and end profiling.”
The impassioned performance comes after Burna Boy previously described the EndSARS movement as the most important moment in Nigeria’s history.
Speaking to Sky News last week, he said: “It is shocking when you see it happen in that place, in such a place, that was the landmark of everything.
“The Lekki Toll Gate, that was the most peaceful place to protest, the most peaceful venue in the whole country and then that is the place where (the shootings) happen. It is not something that you can just wrap your head around.
“This is the most important moment in Nigeria’s history… that is what we are witnessing right now because if nothing changes after this, if this doesn’t work, then it is over.”
Other key winners at last night’s awards include the likes of Megan Thee Stallion and Roddy Ricch.
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