Usher knows it all started when he was younger. 

Upon receiving the award for Best Male R&B/Pop artist at the 2024 BET Awards June 30, the 45-year-old used his acceptance speech to give a heartfelt shoutout to fathers around the country. 

“It’s important to understand that fatherhood is so important,” Usher explained on stage at Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. “For all the fathers tonight at home or in the audience I would like for y’all to stand up just for two seconds for me. Far too often, we get to this moment and we say to our mothers, ‘Look Ma, I made it.’ We don’t get a chance to say enough, ‘Dad I did it’ So, this one is for all of the men out there being generals to their sons, and motivation for our future Black leaders—young men.”

And Usher—who is a father to Cinco, 16, Naviyd, 15, with ex Tameka Foster as well as Sovereign, 3, and Sire, 2, with wife Jennifer Goicoechea—also dedicated part of his speech to comment on his career leading up to receiving the 2024 BET Lifetime Achievement Award. 

“I’m really happy to still be a part of the fight,” he explained. “Motivation from my past, for all the artists of my past, as well as inspiration for all the new kids.”

Of course, the “Yeah!” rapper couldn’t help but sneak in a joke, too. 

“Damn, I sound old as f--k, right?” Usher laughed. “But I’m not.”

While his brief shoutout was centered around other fathers in the room—and who were tuning into the show at home—Usher has opened up before about how growing up without a father shaped his desire to be a hands-on dad to his four kids. 

“You should never abandon that responsibility, which is to be there, reading with your child, being supportive of your child's growth,” he explained to Essence in 2008, just after becoming a father for the first time. “That is communicating. That is making the choice to put your child before your own vanity.”

Keep reading to see every star’s arrival at the 2024 BET Awards.