{"id":441382,"date":"2026-05-23T09:09:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T09:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/441382\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T09:09:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T09:09:10","slug":"bet-awards-2026-could-olivia-dean-take-home-best-new-artist-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/441382\/","title":{"rendered":"BET AWARDS 2026: Could Olivia Dean Take Home Best New Artist? | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The BET Awards\u2019 Best New Artist race is about who turned momentum into something that looked and felt bigger by the end of the year.<\/a> Olivia Dean has done exactly that.<\/p>\n

She won Best New Artist at the 2026 Grammys<\/a>, while \u201cThe Art of Loving\u201d became her breakout statement, reaching No. 1 in the U.K. and No. 4 on the Billboard 200, with \u201cMan I Need\u201d becoming her first U.S. top 10 hit and U.K.chart double alongside the album. The record also won British Album of the Year at the Brit Awards, which is a pretty serious amount of validation for someone still being labeled \u201cnew.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dean\u2019s year was not built on one viral moment, but on a full-bodied breakthrough. \u201cThe Art of Loving\u201d gave her a polished, but emotionally open sound, and \u201cMan I Need\u201d turned that sound into a genuine crossover record.<\/p>\n

Yes, Dean is a top contender, but the category is stacked enough to make the conversation interesting. Raye brings theatrical scale with \u201cThis Music May Contain Hope,\u201d an ambitious album that Pitchfork <\/a>called dramatic and emotionally charged, while \u201cWhere Is My Husband!\u201d gave her another U.K. No. 1. Destin Conrad has the quiet, but real power of a 2025 debut, \u201cLove on Digital,\u201d plus his first Grammy nomination for Best Progressive R&B Album.<\/p>\n

Monaleo is the rap wildcard with \u201cWho Did the Body,\u201d blending her trademark humor with mortality, social injustice, and legacy, and Pitchfork<\/a> placed it among the best rap albums of 2025. JayDon<\/a> has youth and momentum on his side, rebranding in 2024, signing with Mega in 2025, and continuing his rise with singles like \u201cLullaby\u201d and \u201cI\u2019ll Be Good.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

kwn<\/a> also has a strong underdog case, thanks to the viral run of \u201cWorst Behaviour,\u201d the Kehlani remix, and a 2025 profile that pushed her into Billboard\u2019s R&B Rookie of the Month and the NME 100 conversation.<\/p>\n

So who wins? If the category rewards the most complete breakthrough, Olivia Dean is the one to beat. If it rewards the boldest artistic swing, Raye is right there. If it rewards the artist who feels most likely to keep climbing, Destin Conrad and Monaleo are not to be slept on. And you can\u2019t forget about the other nominees, Trap Dickey, Miles Minnick, and Belly Gang Kushington, who are all making major waves. But right now, Dean\u2019s mix of critical praise, chart proof, and industry-wide momentum gives her the strongest all-around argument. She does not just look like a new artist having a moment. She looks like somebody entering the next level.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The BET Awards\u2019 Best New Artist race is about who turned momentum into something that looked and felt…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[156,157,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-441382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}