Cardi B and Kendrick Lamar were the big winners on Tuesday (Feb. 24), night 2 of the 57th NAACP Image Awards virtual show, leading up to the live presentation of the 57th NAACP Image Awards on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on BET and CBS.
Cardi won outstanding female artist; outstanding album for Am I the Drama?; and outstanding hip-hop/rap song for “ErrTime.” Cardi is the first hip-hop artist to win female artist since Lauryn Hill in 1999. This is the third time the award for outstanding album has gone to a hip-hop album, with this album preceded by Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1999) and Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. (2018).
Moreover, this marks the eighth consecutive year that the award for outstanding album has gone to a female solo artist. The streak started in 2019 with Ella Mai and has continued with Beyoncé (three times), Jhené Aiko, Jazmine Sullivan and Victoria Monét.
Lamar won outstanding male artist and outstanding music video/visual album for “Luther,” his megahit collab with SZA. Lamar is the third hip-hop artist to win outstanding male artist, following LL Cool J (2003) and Drake (2021).
Monaleo, a 24-year old rapper/songwriter, won outstanding new artist. This is the sixth year in a row a female artist has won that award. The streak started with Doja Cat in 2021 and has continued with Saweetie, Coco Jones, Victoria Monét and Doechii.
Also on Tuesday, Sinners won both outstanding soundtrack/compilation album and outstanding original score for TV/film. The Don Lemon Show and IMO With Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson both won two podcast awards.
On night 1 of the virtual show on Monday, “The Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show Starring Kendrick Lamar” won outstanding short-form series or special – reality/nonfiction/documentary. In another category announced Monday, Michelle Obama’s The Look took outstanding literary work – biography/autobiography.
The NAACP is recognizing winners in non–televised categories virtually on YouTube/NAACPPlus each night through Wednesday, Feb. 25, and at the 57th NAACP Image Awards Creative Honors on Thursday, Feb. 26. Actor/comedian/writer Deon Cole is set to host Saturday’s two-hour televised show from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California.
Lamar is nominated for entertainer of the year on Saturday’s show, along with Cynthia Erivo, Doechii, Michael B. Jordan and Teyana Taylor.
Here’s the full list of nominees for the 2026 NAACP Image Awards, with winners marked as they are announced. Billboard will update this post as winners are announced across the five nights of the awards.