Every year, the cypher at the “BET Hip Hop Awards” is one of the most anticipated highlights, and 2024 is no exception. This year, Rapsody took on the role of ghostwriter, crafting freestyles for some unexpected stars who aren't even rappers. The 18th annual ceremony, taped in Las Vegas on Oct. 8, will air on BET on Oct. 15. Ahead of the broadcast, we spoke with the Rapsodyabout her approach to writing the verses and her excitement for this year's celebration of hip hop. She also hinted at diving into a new project already.

BET: You wrote the verses for this year’s cypher—how did you feel when you got the call to take on that responsibility?

Rapsody: Exciting. I thought it was fun. Even the purpose behind it, I was excited about –  you know, having a fun, creative way to get people involved in voting. The cyphers are so important to the BET Awards, it’s what most people look forward to. And I think to have individuals who aren't rappers, as their first talent or even, you know, this is their first time really diving into it, I thought it was gonna be fun, and I was excited that they thought about me to do it. 

BET: How did you approach studying each artist's style to craft something unique for them?

Rapsody: Honestly, I asked everybody to send me what they wanted to rap about. You know, when I'm writing, I never wanna write from my perspective for somebody else. So most everybody sent me what they wanted to include in their raps and I just kind of pieced it together and tried to tell their story the best way I could through my words and flows and all those things. And the ones that didn't send me ideas, I just kind of did my research, went through their pages, read their bios. I tried to do as much research as I can just to get a feel of what they might wanna express, you know? But it was fun. 

BET: What are you most excited for viewers to see at this year’s BET Hip Hop Awards?

Rapsody: I mean, I hope that you get to see great talent, great performances and just Blackness celebrated. I hope that it shows the embodiment of what Black culture is and just celebrate art and artistry that night.

BET: What inspired your latest album, Please Don’t Cry?

Rapsody: It was really allowing my village, the world, to see me in my most vulnerable human state. Not just a rapper, not Rapsody, but I wanted people to get to know me for Marlanna Evans and to see all of my humanity, my joy, my pain, my laughter, my challenges, my triumph, my faith; and really be able to draw a connection through because I'm a reflection of everybody, and I think everybody's somewhat of a reflection of me. We all just humans having human experiences at the end of the day. So, that was what it was about, like using my humanity to show people, to heal people, to encourage people, and to inspire people. 

BET: Are you currently working on anything else?

Rapsody: I'm about to get ready to dive into the next album. I'm inspired again, so excited about creating new music. We are talking about doing a deluxe to Please Don't Cry and some other things outside of music that I can't really speak on now because we're still putting the ideas together. But I'm a pure creative in all things and just showing my talents in other ways and being creative. I'm looking forward to people seeing me in different spaces outside of music.