In her acceptance speech of Best Female R&B / Pop Artist, H.E.R. proclaimed that R&B music is in no way, shape or form, dead… and that other genres owe a huge debt to Black music.
“I just want you guys to know how important this stage is. How important it is for us to recognize each other and to celebrate each other,” H.E.R. said in her speech. “We all know sometimes if we don’t, who else will?”
“I had the pleasure of being on a stage of a different genre — a completely different genre,” she said, referring to her recent performance on the Country Music Television (CMT) Awards two weeks ago.
“You know, they asked me, ‘What are you bringing to this stage? It’s a completely different world, you know, you come from R&B.’ It was a country stage. I said, ‘Well, R&B and Soul music is the foundation of country music.'” H.E.R. declared proudly.
The 24-year-old singer said, “There wouldn’t be a lot of those other genres if it were not for Black music. And when they say R&B is dead, or R&B is not alive, I’m like, it’s in everything.”
Watch the speech below: