Victoria Monét And Chris Brown Lead Early Winners At NAACP Image Awards

Victoria Monét and Chris Brown are taking the lead at the NAACP Image Awards virtual ceremony that kicked off on Monday, March 11.

The three-day event takes place online ahead of the live televised award ceremony hosted by Queen Latifah on Saturday. Early winners are announced in categories across music, television, and film.

With Monét receiving the most nominations in the recording category, the “On My Mama” singer was bound to secure some early wins ahead of the televised ceremony. Earning six nominations in total, Monét has already secured two Image Awards after winning Outstanding New Artist and Outstanding Album for “Jaguar II,” Variety reports. It’s the first NAACP Image Awards for the singer/songwriter who is enjoying a clean sweep during award season after winning three Grammys last month.

Usher followed up after Monét with five nominations and secured an early win for Outstanding Male Artist. Outstanding Female Artist went to H.E.R. and Chris Brown won two for his 2023 collaborations with Ciara (“How We Roll”) and Davido & Lojay (“Sensational”).

On the film side, “The Color Purple” musical film landed its first win among its 16 dominating nominations for outstanding soundtrack or compilation album. The Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, and Quincy Jones-produced film serves as a reimagined version of Alice Walker’s classic novel, Spielberg’s 1985 Academy Award-nominated film, and the Tony-winning Broadway musical. The soundtrack included the film’s musical tracks with performances from the cast of A-listers including Fantasia, Taraji P. Henson, Halle Bailey, H.E.R., Corey Hawkins, Colman Domingo, and Danielle Brooks.

The virtual NAACP Image Awards is hosted by Khloe Thomas and featured presenters Bellah (Hulu’s “Queenie”), Da’Vinchi (Starz’s “BMF”), Danielle Jalade (Disney’s “Saturdays”), Gabrielle Nevaeh (Nickelodeon’s “That Girl Lay Lay”) and Vanessa Simmons (BET+ “Deadly Entanglement”). The Queen Latifah-hosted Image Awards will broadcast live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 16, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on BET and CBS.

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