In what has to be one of the greatest uses of nostalgia at an awards show in recent years, BET celebrated 25 years of 106 & Park the other night by bringing the famous music video countdown show back to life.

 

Former hosts Free, Julissa Bermudez, Big Tigger, Terrence J and Keshia Chanté all reunited on stage to pay homage to the show and celebrate the music videos of the 2000s. The original show was counting down the top 10 videos of the day, so 25 years later, the very artists who took over the charts at that time all came back for another round. The hosts even presented each performer as a “video” to really pull on our heart strings.

 

Ashanti got the party started with a medley of her biggest hits like “Happy”, “Rock Wit U” and “Foolish”, looking fierce and confident with her troupe of dancers. Clearly motherhood hasn’t slowed Ashanti down because she didn’t miss a beat and helped set the tone for the nostalgic journey viewers were about to embark on. Jim Jones followed with a rendition of his throwback hit “Ballin”. While this track is fire, part of me expected for Ja Rule to pop up after Ashanti and given that the two have been performing together in recent years, that wouldn’t have been a stretch, but let me not be ungrateful. 

 

Next up, a cluster of some of the greatest women of the era showing us that they still got it. Keyshia Cole performed her classic hit “I Should Have Cheated” while Amerie took a stroll down memory lane performing “1 Thing”. Amerie recently has been causing quite a bit of chatter online for her less than stellar rendition of the same song on Tiny Desk. Whether or not she redeemed herself, I’ll leave up to interpretation, but the reality is that when it comes to performances like these, as long as we have the dose of nostalgia, her actual vocals aren’t exactly priority anyway. 

 

The real standout from this crop however was Mya who tore up the stage performing “Case of The Ex”. I’ll never forgive the world for letting Mya disappear from the mainstream because she always gives incredible choreography and irresistibly catchy songs. As a bookend Millennial, seeing her back onstage to have her own moment in the light felt healing. Mya was one of the trailblazers who opened the door for the R&B girls who wanted to dip their toes into pop. When I look at Tinashe, Normani and Coco Jones it’s clear that artists like Janet etc had influence on them, but let us not forget that Mya was also in the mix back in the day. All these years later she’s letting everyone know that she’s still got it. 

 

T.I. had the crowd jumping and the emergence of B2K had all grown women in the audience transported back to their teenage days. The screams in the crowd were undeniable, it’s like a battle cry that erupts the minute your favourite boy band hits the stage. If you know you know. It was the closing moment of the entire throwback performance by Bow Wow however that has been making the most noise. Bow Wow is lovingly known as “Mr. 106 & Park” because of both his former gig as host of the show along his constant presence on the actual top 10 for the entire of it run, so he was the most logical choice to tie up the celebration. Bow Wow cemented that title by performing his biggest hits like “Like You” and “Fresh Azimiz”.

 

The way we consume music videos has changed so drastically since the days when 106 & Park was on air but the one thing that has remained consistent since then is the love that people have for the music. We may be taking it in differently, but Monday night was proof that the love is just the same. You can catch the full 20 minute 106 & Park celebration performance below.

 

 

Ashanti, Keyshia Cole, Amerie, Mya, and Bow Wow performed at the BET Awards 2025 in Los Angeles on June 9, 2025, with other artists also in attendance.
Photo credits: Image Press Agency/ NurPhoto/ Chelsea Lauren/ Shutterstock

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