It's hard to follow an epic performance by Beyoncé, but the 2016 BET Awards hosts Anthony Anderson and Tracie Ellis Ross (of ABC's Black-ish) found a way on Sunday night. The dynamic duo appeared on stage wearing some old timey costumes and gave the audience a hilarious Hamilton parody at the 2016 BET Awards. They didn't try to tackle the complex rhymes of the Tony-winning Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda, but rather applied their own twist to the music: Anderson and Ross performed contemporary songs in the style of Hamilton and it was so fun.
Anderson and Ross came out dressed to the nines in revolutionary-era gear right out of your high school history books. They sang OT Genasis' "Cut It," Desiigner's "Panda," Rihanna's "Sex With Me," and The Weeknd's "Can't Feel My Face" using the cadence and the moves of Miranda's cast and choreography of the world famous Broadway musical. The duo starts out on opposite sides of the stage: Ross definitely channels Angelica Scuyler as she sings "Cut It," while Anderson totally dished out "Panda." They meet in the middle of the stage to sing it out some more to "Can't Feel My Face" and Rihanna's "Sex With Me." It's a skit Hamilton and music fans alike can appreciate.
After some dancing and twirling in their period costumes, Ross expressed how thankful she was that BET brought them back to host the award show and gave a salute to Beyonce's epic opening performance, in which she and Kendrick Lamar brought down the house to her song "Freedom." Anderson expresses some confusion at which Hamilton the BET Awards wanted them to pay tribute to — and then he brings out his favorite Hamilton, Anthony Hamilton, to sing with a (fake) musket.
According to Twitter, President Barack Obama's staff was definitely watching, too, sending out a Hamilton-themed fundraising e-mail right after the bit was done airing. Coincidence or just awesome planning? The answer isn't clear, but it's cool that he's a Hamilton fan, too.
Relive the performance below:
