BET Awards 2016: Best Moments

Wind, water, fire — is there any element Queen B didn't incorporate into her opening performance of "Freedom"? (Shut up, Earth! Nobody's asking you!)

Sure, we probably didn't need another Hamilton parody at an award show, but we'd never say no to Tracee Ellis Ross twerking on co-host Anthony Anderson, 1776-style. (Favorite line: "Why does BET have us dressed like the white people from Roots?")

Terrence J's "stay woke" mantra is kind of like P. Diddy's classic "vote or die." You know, for those who prefer their democracy without a side of death threats.

The Bey protégés slayed with their distinctive style(s) and offbeat "Drop." But why did they perform their single flanked by potted plants with bedsheets hung behind them? Did their mentor break the bank with her own performance?

Come on, now — by America's standards, you're Medium-Sized Joe at best.

I know he was paying tribute to Prince, but I have wonder exactly how many Oompa Loompas it took to dress Spike Lee for the BET Awards.

Tracee Ellis Ross, Gabrielle Union, Taraji P. Henson, Kerry Washington and Viola Davis? Seriously, who slipped BET my secret list of dream Emmy nominees?

Accepting the Humanitarian Award, Grey's Anatomy actor/activist Jesse Williams said, "We're done watching waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture... trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strange fruit."

Ah, those immortal Prince lyrics: "You don't have to have an ass to be my chaps."

After expressing her admiration for the evening's Prince tribute, Beyoncé's mom — who accepted the awards for her daughter, who hopped a plane immediately following her performance — added that we need to start giving our flowers to the living. "I'm hoping we will celebrate them while they're alive," she concluded. (Ready, set, interpret!)