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. BET commissioned Artist/Sculptor and Hip Hop culture icon Carlos Mare139 Rodriguez to design the Award sculpture. Global promotion is provided by Kroszover Entertainment.

The inaugural ceremonies in 2001 were held at the Paris resort on the Las Vegas Strip. From 2002 through 2005, the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood hosted the ceremonies. Since 2006, the awards have been held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

The BET Lifetime Achievement and Humanitarian Award recipients, along with the nominees for other categories are announced in a press conference. At the awards ceremony a mini-documentary is shown covering the honorees' life. The awards are given out separately.

The BET Lifetime Achievement Award is given a veteran artist or group who has made notable contributions to the music industry. The honoree is paid tribute to by current popular singers who perform the honoree's most recognized songs. The honoree will usually perform themselves after being paid tribute.

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987), simply known as Kendrick Lamar, is an American rapper and songwriter from Compton, California currently signed to Top Dawg, Aftermath and Interscope. He first gained major attention after the release of his 2010 mixtape Overly Dedicated. In 2011, his album Section.80, released exclusively through iTunes, instantly ranked as one of the top digital hip hop releases of the year. Lamar has amassed a large internet following, is a member of hip hop collective Black Hippy, along with Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul, and has worked with Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Wiz Khalifa, Game, Drake, Busta Rhymes and Tech N9ne among other popular artists.

Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name ScHoolboy Q, is an American hip hop recording artist signed to Top Dawg Entertainment and Interscope Records. Hanley is a member of Black Hippy along with Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar and Ab-Soul. In a 2011 interview when asked about what encouraged him to start rapping, Hanley explained that it was something he was "born to do": "I was just chillin’ man, but rapping’s just something I was born to do. I don’t know when I started rapping. I don’t know how I started rapping, but I know I wrote a verse and I was stuck ever since," he explained.

Preceded by two mixtapes, his first independent album Setbacks, reached #100 on the US Billboard 200 chart in 2011, selling close to 1,000 digital copies in the first week. On January 14, 2012, he released his second independent album Habits & Contradictions. The album debuted at #111 on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 3,900 digital copies in the United States.

Johnny Reed McKinzie Jr. (born March 31, 1986), better known by his stage name Jay Rock, is an American rapper. He was named one of the top 13 most street artists by XXL. His voice has been called a cross between Immortal Technique and Shyne. He is a part of the hip hop group Black Hippy along with label mates Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul. Rock signed to Strange Music and released his long-awaited debut studio album Follow Me Home on July 26, 2011.

Jay Rock was born and raised in Watts, Los Angeles, California in the Nickerson Gardens Projects. He released several mixtapes in his neighborhood and the internet which led to his signing to Warner Bros. Records and Top Dawg Entertainment. Jay attended Locke High School.

He released his debut single, "All My Life (In the Ghetto)" in late 2008, which featured artists Lil Wayne and will.i.am and was one of iTunes's Free Downloads in early 2009. He was featured on the cover of XXL's annual Top 10 Freshmen issue. He was also named one of MTV's 2010 breakthrough MC's. Jay Rock was featured on Omarion's single "Hoodie" and was supposed to be featured on Flo Rida's third studio album Only One Flo but was left off the final tracklisting. His mixtape "From the Hood to the Cover of XXL" was released to iTunes on July 24, 2010 as was his mixtape Tales From the Hood 2 on March 28, 2010. He toured with 50 Cent and other various artists on The Invitation Tour. Jay Rock signed with indie record label Strange Music in the Fall of 2010 on a multi-album deal after leaving from Warner Bros. Jay Rock then went on tour with Tech N9ne, E-40, Glasses Malone, Kutt Calhoun and Kendrick Lamar on the "Independent Grind National Tour". His mixtape Black Friday was released December 7, 2010 to iTunes. His debut album Follow Me Home was released in the Summer of 2011 under Strange Music.

Nicholas Scott "Nick" Cannon (born October 8, 1980) is an American actor, and television personality. On television, Cannon began as a teenager on All That before going on to host The Nick Cannon Show, Wild 'N Out, and America's Got Talent. He acted in the films Drumline, Love Don't Cost a Thing, and Roll Bounce. As a "rapper," he released his debut self-titled album in 2003 with the hit single "Gigolo", a collaboration with singer R. Kelly. In 2006, Cannon recorded singles "Dime Piece" and "My Wife" for a planned album Stages, which was never released. Cannon married American R&B/pop singer Mariah Carey on April 30, 2008.

Cannon was born in San Diego, California, to parents Beth, an accountant, and James Cannon, a super-powerful motivational televangelist. Growing up, he divided his time between San Diego, where his mother lived, and Charlotte, North Carolina, where his father had worked. At age 11, Cannon received his first break doing stand-up comedy on his father's local cable access program.