This, now-passed, icon of R&B is responsible for classics like Never Too Much, Dance with My Father, and Here and Now.
Luther Vandross
Before we all realized he liked them young, Drake was often compared to this 80-90s era rapper for their balance between feminine appeal and hard-hitting bars.
LL Cool J
If TRL was on MTV, then what was the BET equivalent of that music video countdown show?
106 in Pak
This is the first black person to run as a major party candidate and run in a nation wide primary race back in the 1980s.
Jesse Jackson
Play as this character as he traverses the gangs of an open-world Los Angeles as he shoots, drives, steals, and schemes to survive and thrive.
Carl Johnson (CJ) or Franklin Clinton (GTA San Andreas or GTA V)
This artist, known as the originator of the phrase "blue-eyed soul", would purposely not appear on his album covers so that black people wouldn't hesitate to listen to his music.
Bobby Caldwell
The historic hip-hop beef between these two 90s rappers ended with one rapper being forced by his mother to apologize to the other for one particularly nasty bar.
Nas vs Jay-Z
In 2003, this iconic pop star surprised James Brown mid performance during a segment honoring him at the BET Awards.
Michael Jackson
This leader of the Black Panther Party created the Rainbow Coalition, a working-class, multicultural political movement that caught out socialist reforms in America.
Fred Hampton
Step into the shoes of this ex-soldier as he gets his revenge and overtakes New Bordeaux in this more gameplay-focused sequel in this historic crime franchise.
Lincoln Clay (Mafia III)
Michael Jackson very rarely uses features from other artists. But when it comes to rappers, this is the ONLY rap artist he's come back to twice for a verse.
In 2011, this iconic west coast rapper symbolically passed the torch to Kendrick Lamar during one of his concerts, and later appeared on his next album: To Pimp a Butterfly.
Snoop Dogg
Before Black Panther, not many black directors got the chance to direct entries in large franchises. But back in 2003, the director of Baby Boy, Boyz in da Hood, and Poetic Justice, John Singleton, directed the second entry in this, now, billion-dollar franchise.
Fast and Furious (2 Fast 2 Furious)
Known for WAY more than just a sweet treat, this man invented crop rotation, the foundation of all modern farming practices here and around the world.
George Washington Carver
Play as this, the most shameless token black of all time, as you and your co-op partner mow down hundreds of dark-skinned black people in their native country of Africa.
Sheva Alomar (RE5)
SWV
The Jay-Z classic "Renegade" originally belonged to this slightly lesser-known Detroit rapper and longtime friend of Eminem.
Royce Da 5'9"
At the 2005 BET Awards, this legendary pop group made the night of Terence Howard, Magic Johnson, and Nelly by giving them all a lap dance on stage.
Destiny's Child
This man is known for developing early technologies for game cartridges that Atari and Nintendo adopted before going on to found the first black-owned game company, Video Soft.
Jerry Lawson
Play as this familiar character as he mutates, traverses, and destroys an open-world, apocalyptic New York as he hunts for the character you once played as in the last game.
James Heller (Prototype 2)
This oh-so-sweet track is now a staple of every black family function due to its use in movies like Love & Basketball and the end credits of The Best Man.
Candy - Cameo
Name at least HALF of the six featured artists on the remix of Busta Rhymes' Touch It.
Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, Rah Digga, Lloyd Banks, Papoose and DMX
Reruns of this network sitcom were so popular on BET that, years after the series finale, this show aired new seasons on BET instead of UPN (later renamed to The CW).
The Game
Everyone knows that Rosa parked herself on the back of the bus. But before the NAACP sent her out, this 15-year-old was sent out first, but didn't get as much national attention due in part to her darker skin.
Claudette Colvin
In this massive, online, third-person shooter, step in the boots of this character during the campaign as you fly, shoot, and drop towers in the spiritual successor to the iconic PS1 and PS3 launch titles.
Emmett Graves (Starhawk)