Sunday night’s BET Awards began with an act that wasn’t on the schedule — Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar performing “Freedom,” the anthemic track from Beyoncé’s album Lemonade.
It was an intense, thoroughly choreographed performance, replete with flying sparks and smoke and a stage that looked convincingly like it was made of molten lava.
Beyoncé has recently taken to marketing herself as a political artist of sorts, and Sunday night’s show wasn’t an exception — it began with a voice-over from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
Watch it here.
More Must-Reads From TIME
- In Photos: How Wildfire Smoke Impacted Cities
- How Antitrust Laws Could Kill the PGA-LIV Golf Merger
- Teens Are Taking Wegovy for Weight Loss
- Prince Harry Breaks Royal Convention to Testify in Court
- Elliot Page: Embracing My Trans Identity Saved Me
- How a Texas High Jumper Has Earned Nearly $1 Million
- The Best TV Shows of 2023 So Far
- 7 Ways to Get Better at Small Talk
