For real, Ananda Lewis just stood out from the crowd. A lot of VJs were all about hype and keeping things light, but Ananda was unafraid to get into deeper conversations. She started off hosting Teen Summit on BET, which was way more serious than anything else on at the time, so she knew how to talk about serious issues and not just ask about someone's next album.

She also brought a different perspective because she was a Black woman at a time MTV was mostly white VJs. That mattered a lot to me and my friends because we finally saw someone who looked like us doing big things on TV. And she didn't just stick to music—she hosted specials about school violence, racism, and more. She used her platform to do more than just promote bands.

She made it cool to care about what was going on in the world, not just who was topping the charts. Ananda was real, and you could tell she actually cared, which set her apart from pretty much everyone else on those shows.