The 'Hamilton' Cast Stands Out On BET Cypher

In addition to a very entertaining night, the BET Hip Hop Awards always provide a showcase for incredible new and established rap talent. One of the best things about the awards telecast is its annual BET Cypher. For those who are unaware of the BET Cypher, it is a televised freestyle performance of several different rappers. Over the years some of the best artists of our generation have performed on it. For example, 2009's BET Cypher featured an epic mainstream debut performance by Nicki Minaj (after the release of a few mixtapes), which proved just how talented the rapper really is. But the segment really outdid itself on Tuesday night when three cast members of the cast of the hit Broadway musical Hamilton performed on BET Cypher: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs, and Renee Elise Goldsberry, who freestyled and brought down the house.

In my opinion, Goldsberry's performance was especially incredible, bringing forth the issue of people not taking women's history and legends as seriously as men and not knowing nearly enough about important female figures. It's yet another reason why Hamilton and its cast members are worth noticing and appreciating. The appearance of the cast made perfect sense; Lin-Manuel Miranda is known for his rap and freestyle abilities. It's the reason why his talent is so well-recognized in shows like Hamilton and the Tony award-winning musical In The Heights. Here are the other amazing talents who performed on Cypher Tuesday night.

1. The Cast Of Hamilton & Black Thought

Aside from Goldsberry's brilliant rhymes, Miranda and Diggs also had hard-hitting and personal moments in their freestyle performances. Miranda's especially was incredible and gave us a chance to learn more about his real life and history. And bonus: Black Thought from The Roots performed with Questlove spinning.

2. Doug E. Fresh

The one and only Doug E. Fresh performed on Cypher (and beatboxed) with quite possibly one of the best beatboxers I've ever heard, Nicole Paris.

3. Tink

Easily the best freestyler of the night, Tink is already gaining popularity in the hip hop community, and this is only going to make things even better for her.

4. Joyner Lucas

Lucas' rhymes were hard-hitting, sarcastic, and just irreverent enough to become iconic long after the 2015 BET Hip Hop Awards end.

5. Keith Murray

His Cypher may not have been the absolute best, but Murray gets a major shoutout for endorsing Hillary Clinton at the end of his freestyle performance. Seriously.

If you missed the full awards show, be sure to at least check out these epic BET Cypher peformance — they were easily the highlights of the night.