By Karu F. Daniels, AOL Black Voices

The 13th Annual Essence Music Festival got into full swing during its second night of performances at the Louisiana Superdome.

Out of the four performances (which also included blue-eyed soul crooner Robin Thicke, and multimedia funnyman Steve Harvey), I caught an up, close and personal glimpse of R&B hottie Chris Brown, and literally had gotten chills up my spine from Beyoncé Knowles.

Brown previewed some songs from his upcoming sophomore opus -- two of which included collaborations with his label-mate T-Pain -- along with what seemed like an endless stream of his own radio hits from his multi-platinum selling debut.

The 6'2 tall 18-year-old crooner seemed to bring the audience much delight with his new remix of Rihanna's chart-topping single 'Umbrella' -- which substitutes the repetitive refrain from umbrella to Cinderalla.

Brown was later joined by his partner-in-rhyme Bow Wow, the former pubescent rapper named Lil' Bow Wow who isn't so little any more with his husky voice. The two youngins performed their hit song 'Shorty Like Mine' and Bow Wow did a solo of his song 'Outta My System.'

One of the most memorable moments from Chris Brown's set included his musical homage to King of Pop Michael Jackson, which included his renditions of 'Rock With You,' 'Billie Jean' and 'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin''). See the exclusive clip below ...

And then it was time for the main event: Beyonce, who the swelling audience waited for with what seemed like bated breath.

The Bootylicious beauty stormed the stage like a lightning rod, opening with an electrifying version of her hit song 'Crazy in Love' -- which she blended with Gnarls Barkley's chart-topper 'Crazy' -- and moving into a hot and heavy version of new tracks 'Freakum Dress' and 'Green Light.' The former Destiny's Child front-woman did not only change outfits several times, she also changed musical styles: from the reggae-tinged 'Baby Boy' mixed in with the dancehall classic 'Murder She Wrote' to the Broadway musical-themed introduction of 'Ring the Alarm' -- which sent the audience into a frenzy.

People can say what they want to about Beyonce, but the girl is a lightning rod on the stage.

She's a force of nature, unlike anything I've seen her generation, as is evidence with this clip below (courtesy of AOL Black Voices' celebrity columnist Jawn Murray). Check on it ...