Cardi B, Don Lemon, Michelle Obama

Cardi B, Don Lemon and SZA joined Michelle Obama and Kendrick Lamar as NAACP Image Award winners on Night 2 of the virtual pre-show.

Cardi B won three Image Awards on Tuesday night, including Outstanding Female Artist and Outstanding Album for her latest record “Am I the Drama?” Her song “ErrTime” won the award for outstanding hip-hop/rap song. Before the ceremony, Cardi B had won just one Image Award, for his performance as judge and executive producer of “Rhythm & Flow.”

Veteran journalist Don Lemon won two trophies for his eponymous talk show, “The Don Lemon Show”; Lemon’s news and talk series and Obama’s podcast “IMO,” which the former first lady co-hosts with her brother Craig Robinson, won four of the five awards given for that medium.

Lamar, who was also a big winner on the first night of the three-part virtual ceremony, hosted by Angel “ThatChickAngel” Laketa Moore and Khleo Thomas. On Tuesday, Lamar also won awards in two more categories: He was named outstanding male artist and shared the music video/visual album award with SZA for their Grammy-winning hit “Luther.”

Ryan Coogler’s ‘Sinners’ won its first awards from a whopping 18 nominations, receiving awards for outstanding soundtrack and original music. The historical vampire thriller is the most nominated project at this year’s Image Awards, which air live on Saturday, February 28 at 8pm ET/PT on BET and CBS. Deon Cole returns to host the show, broadcast from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. The recently released Peacock series “Bel-Air” led the TV categories with seven nominations. Nominees for Entertainer of the Year, the show’s signature category, include Cynthia Erivo, Doechii, Lamar, Michael B. Jordan and Teyana Taylor.

Special honorees for this year’s NAACP Image Awards week include Viola Davis, who will receive the Chairman’s Award; Colman Domingo, winner of the President’s Award; A$AP Rocky, who receives the Vanguard Award for fashion; and Rev. Dr. Jamal-Harrison Bryant, who will receive the prestigious Mildred Bond Roxborough Social Justice Impact Award.

Watch the virtual pre-show in the video above. The full list of night two winners can be found below:

Outstanding Music Video/Visual Album

“luther” – Kendrick Lamar & SZA (pgLang under exclusive license from Interscope Records)

Excellent new artist

Monaleo – “Who did the body?” (Columbia Records)

Outstanding Female Artist

Cardi B (Atlantic records)

Outstanding Male Artist

Kendrick Lamar (pgLang under exclusive license from Interscope Records)

Excellent hip-hop/rap song

“ErrTime” – Cardi B (Atlantic Records)

Excellent soundtrack/compilation album

“Sinners (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” (Proximity Media LLC, under exclusive license from Masterworks, a label of Sony Music Entertainment)

Outstanding International Song

“Is It” – Tyla (Epic Records)

Excellent jazz album

“We Insist! 2025” – Terri Lyne Carrington & Christie Dashiell (Candid Records)

Excellent gospel/Christian song

“Do it again” – Kirk Franklin (Fo Yo Soul Recordings/Tribl Records)

Excellent gospel/Christian album

“Tasha” – Tasha Cobbs Leonard (Motown Gospel)

Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration (Traditional)

803Fresh performance. Fantasia – “Boots on the Ground Remix” (Snake Eyez Music Group/Artist Partner Group)

Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration (Contemporary)

Chris Brown with. Bryson Tiller & Usher – “It Depends (Remix)” (RCA Records/Chris Brown Entertainment)

Outstanding Original Score for TV/Film

“Sinners (Original Motion Picture Score)” (Proximity Media LLC, under exclusive license from Sony Classical, a label of Sony Music Entertainment)

Excellent album

“Am I the drama?” – Cardi B (Atlantic records)

Excellent podcast – scripted/limited series/short form

“Interesting Stuff with JC” (Jim Connors LLC)

Excellent podcast – News and information

“The Don Lemon Show” (Lemon Media Network)

Excellent podcast – Lifestyle/Self-Help

“IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson” (higher ground)

Excellent podcast – arts, sports and entertainment

“IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson” (higher ground)

Excellent podcast – Society and culture

“The Don Lemon Show” (Lemon Media Network)

Monday February 23

The 57th NAACP Image Awards week kicked off Monday when former first lady Michelle Obama and rapper Kendrick Lamar won two of the early awards.

Obama’s latest book, ‘The Look’ – which explored her style evolution from her time in the White House to her subsequent life – won the award for outstanding literary work, biography/autobiography. Meanwhile, Lamar’s electrifying halftime performance at the Super Bowl was named outstanding short series or special – reality/nonfiction/documentary. Both Obama and Lamar are repeat winners of the Image Awards: She won in the same category in 2019 for her memoir “Becoming,” while he has nine trophies from the NAACP, including two for his 2025 anthem “Not Like Us.”

The awards were announced during the first edition of a three-night virtual event, where winners will be announced in the majority of the Image Awards’ more than 90 categories (film, television and streaming, music, literature and podcasts). The pre-show ceremony, hosted by Angel “ThatChickAngel” Laketa Moore and Khleo Thomas, aired exclusively on YouTube and NAACP+ and focused primarily on the literary categories, as well as two awards for digital content creators. For the first time, the NAACP Image Awards were all about gaming, with Berlin Edmond Jr., aka Berleezy, winning the top prize.

Watch the virtual pre-show ceremony in the video above. The full list of night one winners can be found here:

Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography

“The Look” – Michelle Obama (crown)

Outstanding literary work – non-fiction

“A More Perfect Party: The Night Shirley Chisholm & Diahann Carroll Reshaped Politics” – Juanita Tolliver (Legacy Lit/Hachette Book Group)

Excellent literary work – educational

“Who better than you?” – Will Packer (Penguin Random House)

Outstanding Literary Work – Journalism

“On borrowed time” – Anissa Durham (online)

Outstanding literary work – debut author

Charles B. Fancher – “Red Clay” (Blackstone Publishing)

Outstanding literary work – fiction

“Death of the Author” – Nnedi Okorafor (William Morrow)

Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry

“The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems” – Patricia Smith (Scribner)

Outstanding Literary Work – Children

“Yvonne Clark and Her Technical Spark” – Allen R. Wells; Illustrated by DeAndra Hodge (Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers/Macmillan)

Outstanding Literary Work – Youth/Teens

“Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Book of Anansi” – Angie Thomas (HarperCollins/Clarion Books)

Outstanding literary work – graphic novel

“Parable of the Talents: A Graphic Novel Adaptation” – Octavia E. Butler, edited by Damien Duffy, illustrated by John Jennings and David Brame (Abrams ComicArts)

Outstanding short series or special – reality/non-fiction/documentary

“The Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show Starring Kendrick Lamar” (FOX)

Outstanding Digital Content Creator – Gaming/Tech

Berlin Edmond Jr. (@Berleezy)

Outstanding Digital Content Creator – Fitness/Wellness/Food

Keith Lee (@keith_lee125)