Erykah Badu Subs for Skylar Grey During Lupe Fiaco’s Performance of ‘Words I Never Said’ at 2011 BET Hip-Hop Awards

Lupe Fiasco performed his smash hit 'Words I Never Said' at the 2011 BET Hip-Hop Awards. Noticeably absent was singer Skylar Grey, whose icy vocals are the yin to Fiasco's yang. Erykah Badu subbed for Grey during the performance and her voice lent a decidedly different element to the song. We liked it!

The performance represented the most rock 'n' roll moment of this hip-hop show, and Lupe, dressed all in black, was feeling it, bouncing all over the stage as though he chugged a case of Red Bull backstage before performing.

Badu was completely obscured, dressed head to toe in black, with a veil covering her head and her face. You could barely see her eyes, much less any skin. However, you could still hear her stunning voice and that's really all that mattered. Again, the interplay between Lupe Fiasco's heat and Skylar Grey's cool delivery is what made the song such a success and the reimagining with Badu made it feel like somewhat of a "new" song. That's the beauty of a live awards show performance, right?

While performing, giant screens in the background flashed the lyrics to the song, creating strong images to complement the powerful song.

We missed Miss Grey but we dug Badu. She was a more than suitable fill in.

Watch Lupe Fiasco and Erykah Badu Perform 'Words I Never Said'