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Ever the showstopper, Cardi timed the performance with the drop of a more formal announcement on social media, once again posing in the nude, as she did during her first pregnancy. In fact, the rapper was technically wearing more this time around, as she was adorned only in jewelry, tattoos and what appeared to be a plaster cast of her pregnant torso—oh, and about 36 inches of hair.

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Of course, Cardi is no stranger to celebrating skin—and was far from the only one to do so on Sunday night. Her “WAP” partner Megan Thee Stallion was racking up wins while also strategically revealing “body-ody-ody” throughout the evening’s festivities, giving a quartet of gowns and garter-belted looks to accompany her four BET Awards.

Image for article titled The Big Reveal: The 2021 BET Awards' Biggest Trend Was Skin
Photo: Paras Griffin (Getty Images), Bennett Raglin (Getty Images), Paras Griffin (Getty Images), Bennett Raglin (Getty Images)
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In an evening celebrating Black women, it was refreshing to see plenty of intergenerational respect being paid. Aside from host Taraji P. Henson and Lifetime Achievement honoree Queen Latifah, luminaries like Maxine Waters, Issa Rae, Naomi Campbell, Marsai Martin, Lena Waithe, Jill Scott, Lil’ Kim and more. Another sartorial tribute? Zendaya’s quiet homage to a queen not in attendance on Sunday, as she donned a diaphanous Versace gown which remixed a dress worn by Beyoncé during her performance at the 3rd annual BET Awards in 2003.

Lil’ Kim and Zendaya, left; Beyoncé at the 3rd Annual BET Awards in 2003.
Lil’ Kim and Zendaya, left; Beyoncé at the 3rd Annual BET Awards in 2003.
Photo: Paras Griffin (Getty Images), Kevin Winter (Getty Images)
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But the evening didn’t only belong to the women. Before he stunned the audience with perhaps the perfect closing performance for Pride Month, Lil Nas X gave a gender-fluid performance on the red carpet in two looks, a floral suit by Richard Quinn and a gown and jacket combo by Andrea Grossi, the latter of which evoked royalty realness with Versailles-worthy panniers in its voluminous skirt, which hung by suspenders over the artist’s bare chest.

Image for article titled The Big Reveal: The 2021 BET Awards' Biggest Trend Was Skin
Photo: Paras Griffin (Getty Images), Bennett Raglin (Getty Images), Paras Griffin (Getty Images)
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Who else made a statement on the BET Awards red carpet? In a season of mass exposure, here were some of other looks being served on Sunday night.