Some have seen the discontent I expressed about the most recent BET Awards. But I am not the only one who was concerned, as hundreds of thousands of viewers were highly disappointed. I am not angry at BET; but I do think that their ultimate blessing may have been their greatest curse.

You see, a large number of black folks over the age of 22 don't watch BET anymore. They figure that the show is the domain of their teenage children, and many adults don't pay very much attention to what their children are doing (which is unfortunate). The problem is that the death of Michael Jackson was that unique moment during which old and young converged to celebrate the life of a performer whose career spanned five decades.

The awards show was "financial crunk juice" for BET, who saw their viewership rise to over 10 million viewers for one night. Advertising money was flowing like Grey Goose at a house party. The problem was that many African Americans who don't normally watch BET were absolutely livid over what they saw.

While the night featured a large number of questionable moments, the personal kicker for me was watching Lil Wayne and Drake end the show with a blockbuster performance of a song with the chorus "I wish I could 'bleep' every girl in the world." Not only did they end the show with this song, they also had a large number of underage girls dancing on stage as they performed.

That is when I had to personally draw the line. I respect creative expression, but as a father of 3 girls, I had just been pushed over the edge.

Imagine your 12 year old daughter hearing this song and listening to it over and over again. She has then psychologically internalized her role as a sex object. She has also learned to idolize the men performing the song and to accept egregious male behavior that ultimately puts her health at risk. As a black woman, she has then been initiated into her role as one of the many black women across America with shocking HIV infection rates.

Lil Wayne and Drake felt the heat and Drake took the step of responding publicly to the criticism. I found the transcript below of Drake's interview with Complex Magazine to be interesting. I want you to hear his side of the story so that I am not accused of unfairly attacking rappers (I was disappointed by the fact that Oprah didn't let gangster rappers speak during her town hall meeting on hip hop a couple of years ago). I am not angry with Drake, Lil Wayne or BET: But the truth is that if we don't talk about this, our community is in serious trouble.

Drake's comments are below:

Complex: There were rumors of a $4 million bonus...

Drake: [Laughs] Where is it? Tell me where it is, I'll go pick it up right now. I got some money. I got a little money. I'll be alright for a couple months. Complex: Damn, that's horrible. At the BET Awards this past Sunday, everyone was shocked to see you sitting on a stool. Did you ever think to yourself, Maybe I shouldn't perform?

Drake: That, actually-to be honest-was a terrible idea that I'll never do to myself again. [Laughs] But I was being pressed from different areas to perform, and I think what really happened at the BET Awards is with the passing of Mike, the climate really changed, as far as the award show goes. I don't think it called for us to perform "Every Girl" and "Always Strapped," and I think it was an award show filled with tributes and music and these genuine heartfelt speeches. And to sort of climax out of a very tongue-in-cheek point, and then people misconstruing Wayne's daughters and her friends coming out on stage...

Complex: Yeah, it really was an awkward moment.

Drake: Yeah, it was just timed very poorly and it definitely wasn't planned like that, but with that being said, it is what is. I believe in Wayne and myself and it's nothing we can't bounce back from. To anyone who was offended, my personal apologies, it wasn't intended to offend anybody.

Complex: Watching it at home, the BET Awards seemed to be a mess. Did it seem that way in person?

Drake: Well, I can only speak for my portion of it. I had asked for something very specific for my performance and none of those were met, as far as production value, so...

Complex: That's BET for you...

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Distinguished Scholar with the Barbara Jordan Institute for Policy Research at The University of Texas Southern. He is also the author of "Black American Money", to be released on July 15, 2009. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered directly to your email inbox, please click here.