While presenting Mary J. Blige with a Lifetime Achievement Award on Sunday night, the BET Awards rightfully described her as a force through which all emotions of love ebb and flow. In embracing that position, she’s carried a deep and vast catalog of classics, which warrant her referring to herself as “a queen, a living legend” during her acceptance speech. (Let’s hope Blige continues to be less humble and leans more into the chest-puffing space left by Aretha.)
Blige performed her own tribute, wearing the biggest of wigs and the Khaleesi-est of furs, in a nearly 20-minute medley that ran from the mid-’90s classics—“My Life,” “I’m Going Down,” “You Remind Me”—to “I Can Love You” (including a Lil’ Kim-cameo) and finally “Just Fine.” (Hello and congratulations go to Method Man for making everybody nostalgically thirsty during “All I Need.”) Not her best vocal display, nor her most dramatic performance, but the deeper she went with the medley, the more the MJB spirit came out. Watch below.