*Montell Jordan, Ebro Darden and Public Enemy’s Chuck D brought three different perspectives on legacy and Black music’s future to the sixth annual BMAC/Black Music Action Coalition Gala Thursday night in Beverly Hills.
Presented by Live Nation and hosted by Kenny Burns, the Sept. 24 gathering at The Beverly Hilton honored artists, executives and organizations using their influence to advance Black music and culture. Patti LaBelle, Common and Public Enemy were among this year’s major honorees, as EURweb previously reported in its 2026 BMAC Gala preview.
But ahead of the ceremony, EURweb caught up with several guests for conversations that moved beyond awards — touching on career longevity, activism, technology and what established voices owe the generations coming behind them.
The result was a candid snapshot of how veteran voices in Black music are thinking about where the culture has been — and where it needs to go next.
It was less about looking back for nostalgia’s sake than using decades of experience to wrestle with what Black music should carry forward.
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Montell Jordan: ‘I Do Not Balance. I Prioritize’
Montell Jordan, whose career has stretched across music, ministry and motivational work, pushed back on the idea that successfully juggling different chapters of life requires finding the perfect balance.
“I do not balance. I prioritize,” Jordan told EURweb.
He explained that priorities should evolve as people move through life, shifting from what they “have to do,” to what they “get to do,” and eventually toward what they “love to do.”
Asked what he hopes younger Black artists have access to that his generation didn’t, Jordan pointed less to a particular industry resource than to an appreciation for hard work. He also stressed the importance of maintaining creativity and critical thinking as technology assumes a larger role in the music business.
His message was less about resisting technology than remembering the human talent behind it: artists still have to think, create and develop their own voices.
Ebro Says Artists Should Follow Their Convictions
For radio personality and podcaster Ebro Darden, the conversation turned to a question deeply connected to BMAC’s mission: how artists decide when — and whether — to use their platforms for social advocacy.
“You got to go with your heart,” Darden told EURweb, adding that artists have to “choose your battles and go with your heart.”
His point was that advocacy should come from conviction rather than pressure. Artists shouldn’t feel obligated to become activists simply because audiences expect them to speak on every issue.
Darden also entertained a considerably lighter question: his dream “Verzuz” battle. He named JAY-Z vs. Nas as one matchup he’d like to see and also considered the ultimate hip-hop what-if: The Notorious B.I.G. vs. Tupac Shakur.
For Darden, a “Verzuz” isn’t simply a catalog-counting exercise. Performance, charisma and how artists present their records can matter just as much as the number of hits available.
Chuck D Looks Back at Hip-Hop’s Group Era
Public Enemy‘s Chuck D, whose group received BMAC’s Social Impact Award, turned the conversation toward what hip-hop performance once demanded from artists. Later that evening, Big Daddy Kane presented the award to Chuck D and Flavor Flav.
“When you checked out a group and they had to prove themselves off a record and be live, you wanted to look at a stage like this,” Chuck D told EURweb.
He recalled an era when rappers, dancers and other performers worked together to create a complete live experience — underscoring the value of groups and collective performance in hip-hop’s development.
Chuck D carried that collective message onto the BMAC stage alongside Flavor Flav. Accepting Public Enemy’s Social Impact Award, he told the crowd, “We turn ‘me’ into ‘we’,” before the group led attendees in a chant of “Fight the Power.”
Taken together, the conversations offered a fitting counterpoint to an awards night built around recognition. Jordan looked at how artists sustain themselves.
Darden considered when they should use their voices. Chuck D looked back at what the culture risks losing if its history isn’t carried forward.
At BMAC, honoring Black music’s legacy was only part of the conversation. The other question was what today’s artists choose to do with it.
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