The Soul Train Awards are always a must-watch event, with the show consistently giving roses to the veterans who built the music industry as we know it while showing love to younger, promising artists who carry on the traditions of their predecessors. Look below for the performances from Sunday’s event.
SiR ft. D Smoke – “Hair Down,” “John Redcorn”
SiR was the first major performance of the night. Outfitted in a blue flannel and accompanied by a team of dancers dressed as flight attendants, he performed his Kendrick Lamar-assisted single “Hair Down.” There was then a brief moment that highlighted his older brother, Rhythm + Flow winner D. Smoke, at the piano, playing background as SiR performed another Chasing Summer highlight, “John Redcorn.”
K. Michelle – “The Rain”
Songwriter/production team Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were honored for their achievements on Sunday night, and this continued with K. Michelle’s performance of “The Rain.” The song is a remake of the 1998 New Edition hit “Can You Stand The Rain,” which was written by the duo. K. Michelle performed the record in a glowing all-white dress.
Tiana Major9 and EarthGang – “Collide”
Tiana Major9 and EarthGang recently released the music video for “Collide,” their beautiful new song from the soundtrack for Lena Waithe’s upcoming film Queen and Slim. They performed the song tonight, first with EarthGang member Wow Gr8 performing a spoken word poem written by Lena Waithe, then he and Tiana Major9 intimately sharing space in front of a colorful arrangement of flowers and car rims.
Wale ft. Jeremih and Kelly Price – “On Chill,” “Sue Me”
Wale’s sixth studio album Wow… That’s Crazy was one of the best of 2019, and he got well-deserved recognition at the Soul Train Awards. He and Jeremih rocked his sultry hit “On Chill” before leaving the stage, and in an unexpected twist, he returned to the stage with Kelly Price for a performance of the album’s intro “Sue Me.”
Queen Naija – “Good Morning Text”
Queen Naija kept it real during her performance of her new single “Good Morning Text.” The singer-songwriter provided power vocals to the stage while looking great doing so. In a soft-off white number, Ms. Najia belted her ballad in style.
Boyz II Men and Stokley Williams – Medley
To kick off the first part of the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis tribute, Boyz II Men started with a performance of “Tender Love” (1985), the duo’s written and produced single for Force MDs. Nathan Morris, Shawn Stockman, and Wanya Morris then moved on to their 1994 hit “On Bended Knee.” But all the aunties weren’t ready for the next performance…
After the first dose of nostalgia from the R&B trio, singer Stokley Williams took us even deeper into the 90s with a performance of Mint Condition’s “Pretty Brown Eyes” and a live performance of his 2019 single “She…” setting the tone for the live performances of the night.
Pink Sweat$ – “Honesty”
In one of the better, yet shorter performances of the night, newcomer Pink Sweat$ shared emotive, melodic harmonies from his single “Honesty”
Teamarrr –”Kinda Love”
Filmmaker, director and actor Issa Rae has ventured into music with a new label called Raedio, and at the Soul Train Awards she had an opportunity to present her first signee. Haitian-American singer Teamarrr has a unique voice, and she showcased her talent with a performance of her hit song “Kinda Love.”
Erykah Badu, Robert Glasper, Carl Thomas, Keyshia Cole, Le’Andria Johnson, Anthony Hamilton – Soul Cypher
This year’s Soul Cypher was anointed with some of the most important voices in contemporary R&B. With Erykah Badu and Robert Glasper providing the instrumentals, Carl Thomas, Keyshia Cole, gospel vocalist Le’Andria Johnson and Anthony Hamilton sang passionately and confidently while noting their classic hits. Thomas reworked his jam “I Just Thought You Should Know” while Cole created a mini-universe using songs like “I Should’ve Cheated,” “Last Night” and “Trust and Believe.” Next was Sunday’s Best winner Le’Andria Johnson, who called on all to rightfully “Call on Jesus” while Hamilton closed out the cypher with a twist on his classic, “Charlene.” But before we said goodbye, Badu had to hit a few notes–including a pretty high one.
Yolanda Adams – Medley
Moments after being honored with the Lady of Soul Award for the way she’s merged soul and gospel throughout her career, Yolanda Adams blessed the audience with what Kirk Franklin described as her “god-kissed voice.” She first performed the uptempo “Victory,” and continued into a medley of other songs like “Born This Day,” the vulnerable “Open My Heart,” “Be Blessed,” and “The Battle Is The Lords” before closing her set with a stirring performance of “In The Midst Of It All.”
Luke James ft. BJ The Chicago Kid, Ro James – “Go Girl”
Luke James provided ultra nostalgia for his performance of “go girl” with R&B bredrens Ro James and BJ The Chicago Kid. Each of the sultry singers arrived dressed to the nines in fits that paid homage the iconic fashion of the 90s. The track does the same with odes to Martin and more. “It’s a celebratory song that I created with two of my best buds in the business, Ro and BJ. ‘go girl’ is a feeling, an unconventional vibration about a specific woman,” James previously told Billboard about the track. “It’s perfectly freeing… as if it came out of a ‘90s classic love song or film.” We totally agree.
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis tribute
If you call yourself a musician and don’t know Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis’ discography, you better start doing your research and watch these performances. After delivering a moving acceptence speech for the Lifetime Achievement Award, the songwriter and production duo hit the stage (with Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds) to join acts like the Sounds of Blackness for “Optimistic” and The S.O.S. Band for their 1983 classics like the smooth “Just Be Good To Me” and the popularly covered, interpolated, and sampled “Tell Me If You Still Care.” Cherelle and Alexander O’Neal hit the stage for rendition of their 1985 single, “Saturday Love.”
But the real party went down when they reunited with their felliow bandmates of The Time. Morris Day brought the smooth swag in his silver suit and shades as they performed their Prince-produced jam “Jungle Love” (1984), with signature dance and mirror holdin’ hypeman (Jerome Benton) in tow. But what’s a performance by The Time without Morris Day doing the bird dance? Gotta have it every time. It never gets old.
