The 6th annual Urban One Honors celebrated the queen of hip hop soul, Mary J Blige’s decorated career. The Real Love singer was given the Entertainment Icon Award, joining previous honorees Dionne Warwick and Chloé Bailey.
As part of the tribute, Summer Walker graced the stage to honor Blige with two of her hit songs, ‘My Life‘ and ‘Real Love.’ However, Walker’s performance left viewers divided, leaving them to share their displeasure on social media.
Justice Baiden, founder of LVRN records and Walker’s manager seemingly came to the singer’s defense in a recent interview with The Progress Report. Baiden spoke out about how social media comments have ruined the creativity for artists.
“Social media has made everybody lack accountability,” he said before later continuing, “And I’m not saying this is all on one side, but it’s a two-way street. […] You guys have to let artists be artists. That’s the reason why we like them. And if you don’t let them be artists, things are gonna feel stale, as versus, giving them that space. And really letting them be them.”
Walker has been signed to Baiden’s LVRN label since 2018, which released projects, Last Days of Summer, Over It, and Still Over It.