The BET Awards are just that – an awards racket for a mainstream cable network. But this opening performance proved that something is simmering deeper in pop culture, a sentiment of assertion and rebelliousness that will not be ignored. If Beyoncé’s “Formation” video was all about the proverbial water rising, then she turned the faucets on again for her introduction to the BET Awards on Sunday. Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have a Dream” speech – the famous “blank check” segment – would be an ambitious, maybe perilous gesture for any artist who didn’t carry her current stature in pop culture. Flames, jail, police, Africa, liberation – Lamar’s Grammy performance earlier this year ignited this conversation on television, and Beyoncé’s set continued it.

Source: Los Angeles Times June 27, 2016 00:56 UTC