Beyoncé Tops 2017 BET Awards with 7 Nominations

By Sameer Rao May 15, 2017

Beyoncé took over last year’s BET Awards with a performance of her song "Freedom" with Kendrick Lamar. Today (May 15), that track received a "Best Collaboration" nod for this year’s BET Awards. It’s just one of the "Lemonade" artist’s seven nominations—the most of any artist this year.

BET announced the nominations via a press release. Bey faces her sister Solange Knowles—who received four nods—in three categories: "Best Female R&B/Pop Artist;" "Video of the Year," which pits "Sorry" against "Cranes in the Sky;" and "Album of the Year," where "Lemonade" competes with "A Seat at the Table." Both Knowles siblings’ 2016 albums and accompanying visual works explored motifs of Black womanhood, police violence and healing through resistance.

Other musicians with multiple nominations include Bruno Mars with five and both Chance the Rapper and Migos with four.

The BET Awards recognize Black excellence in various entertainment areas. In film, "Hidden Figures" competes against four projects from Black directors—"Fences," "Moonlight," "Get Out" and "The Birth of a Nation"—in the "Best Movie" group. In athletics, Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles, Gabby DouglasSkylar Diggins-Smith, and Venus and Serena Williams each earned nominations for the "Sportswoman of the Year Award."

BET did not announce who would perform at the June 25 awards ceremony. The 2016 ceremony featured an all-star musical tribute to Prince and a speech from "Humanitarian Award" winner Jesse Williams that inspired its own trending hashtag, #JesseWilliamsAppreciationDay.

Read the full list of 2017 nominees at BET.com.