Natalie Cole. Maurice White. Phife Dawg. Billy Paul. Prince. Do these names sound familiar? They should as they were trailblazers in the music industry. Natalie Cole was the daughter of legendary singer, Nat King Cole and became a star in her own right. Maurice White was the founder of Chicago's Own: Earth, Wind, And Fire. Malik "Phife Dawg" Taylor was one third of the ever so jazzy, hip-hop group, A Tribe Called Quest. Billy Paul, a contributor of bringing Philadelphia Soul to the masses with his hit, "Me and Mrs. Jones." And you know Prince, his Royal Badness and The Purple One. Unfortunately, we lost all these wonderful artists this year*. Some due to failing health and others for disclosed reasons, but the fact is we lost our childhood memories. I listened to Natalie Cole with my mom. Earth, Wind, and Fire was a staple in my household. Phife Dawg came into my life through my uncle living in that era of hip-hop (The 1990s). My dad introduced me to Philly Greats like Billy Paul. Prince was always on the radio station in the urban communities. They were known outside to the mainstream, so why they didn't get the proper send offs they deserved?

Let's start with the Grammys. Now, David Bowie died in January of this year. A legendary artist, I expected he would have a proper send off, no question. It hurt me that Natalie Cole wasn't given one also. She was apart of musical royalty. She won nine Grammys, including "Record of the Year" with the "Unforgettable" duet with Nat King Cole. Shoot, she even performed the song on the Grammy stage in 1992 with a video of her late father singing with her! Yet all she got a "In Memorial" shout out.

The Maurice White tribute was lackluster to me. I'm not knocking down the great acapella vocals of Pentronix doing one song, "That's The Way of the World" with Stevie Wonder, but I felt like Maurice White deserved more. I wanted a big band with experienced soul backup singers, being fronted by today's biggest stars, and doing a full melody of EWF hits, which he wrote most of them. He was a producer, songwriter, composer, singer and the FOUNDER of this critically-acclaimed group, but all he got was a minute and 43 second tribute. By the way, he performed at the Grammys in 2004 when he was ill (you can't tell though).

Why these two, acclaimed artists didn't get the proper tribute they deserve by their musical peers in baffling to me? Maybe the hashtag #GrammysSoWhite makes sense. David Bowie had a full seven minute tribute by Lady Gaga, which I am not knocking as Bowie is a trailblazer in his own right, but I didn't expect his tribute to be half the show. The Grammys had enough time to get it together as far as I'm concerned because they aired on February 15 (Cole passed on Dec. 31 and White died on February 4), so they had time to get it together...they just didn't choose wisely.

Then we have the Billboard Music Awards, that aired last Sunday. I wouldn't expect them to do a tribute to Billy Paul because you know, who respects the soul greats that didn't sign to Motown? I thought so. Back to the lecture, I originally thought that they would do, at least, a tribute to Phife Dawg as they love to shove how many hip-hop stars they have at the show. A Tribe Called Quest had three of their five studio albums to be in the Top 10 of Billboard's 200 list in the 1990s (Billboard-Artist Profile: A Tribe Called Quest, Billboard 200 List). I would have enjoyed a tribute to Phife Dawg's contribution with the jazzy, alternative hip-hop to the music industry since everyone is such a hip-hop hipster these days.

Then we had the Prince tribute...Jesus, what to say? First, this tribute had a lot of controversy surrounding Madonna doing it as Prince always preferred black artists (mostly women) performing his songs for his tributes (i.e. Prince's BET Lifetime Achievement Tribute in 2010). Another issue was people saying that Madonna was Prince's "close friend". Yeah, a'ight. They had a public feud, which he shaded her every chance he got. They ended their feud in 2011, but I don't think he would have called her up for a tribute. Throughout the performance, she was off-key by not keeping up with the backup singers (who did a better job), then she tried to bring Stevie Wonder to help her...yeah, that didn't work. Overall, I thought the performance was terrible and he deserved better.

Another issue that I have with these award show tributes, especially on a big stage like the Grammys and Billboard Music Awards is that they always use Stevie Wonder as a scapegoat to win over black people. Granted, I understand Stevie has been in the game for almost six decades, so he's going to meet a lot of people in the industry and I LOVE Stevie Wonder. I just don't understand why they always wheel out of Stevie Wonder like "Look, Stevie Wonder's here! We know you black folks love him so much, that you will pay attention to this tribute because he's in it and you all won't be mad".

I am mad though. I am mad that our entertainers don't get the proper tributes they deserve from their musical peers. These same people who put blood, sweat, and tears in making the wonderful music that spread through lifetimes only get an "In Memorial" picture? That performed on your very stage? Then you disrespect the known-request for Prince about his tributes. Disappointed the Cole Family, who is again "Musical Royalty". They don't deserved that, so I am disappointed on how both of these music award shows handled these delicate situations.

It's cool though. BET saw that. They told me not to worry. They got me. So I know all of these people I named will be honored in the best way! BET, you got work to do.

*(Natalie Cole passed away on December 31, 2015)