Michelle Obama's Congratulations Message For Beyoncé Is Almost As Emotional As 'Homecoming'

The relationship between Michelle Obama and Beyoncé goes beyond close friendship — there’s a level of genuine mutual admiration between that’s quite rare between two people. And that admiration was put on display this week. After Beyoncé wrote about the former First Lady in an essay for the TIME 100 list published on Wednesday, April 17, Michelle Obama praised Beyoncé for the success of her Netflix film Homecoming in a video shared on Thursday, April 18. And it's sure to be inspiring for all — and maybe tear-inducing.

Obama started the message, posted on her Twitter account, with the only greeting that's appropriate for Beyoncé: “Hey, queen!” She then commended the singer for continuing to raise the bar and remaining flawless while doing so. “I’d say I’m surprised, but I know who you are," Obama said. “I’ve seen it up close and personal. Girl, you make me so proud, and I love you.”

Obama had the utmost praise for Homecoming, and rightfully so. The Netflix documentary centered around Beyoncé's 2018 Coachella performance is a beautiful portrait of black history and celebration that goes beyond a Coachella performance and puts HBCUs in the center of today’s cultural landscape. “I also love that your new Netflix film, Homecoming, is informed by the black leaders, thinkers, and poets who’ve paved the way for folks like us,” remarked the former First Lady. “I love that it’s both a celebration and a call to action. And I love that you’re using this film to inspire the next generation of history makers and record breakers who’ll run the world in the years ahead.”

Obama ended her message with some advice and encouragement for Queen Bey. “So to you, my dear friend, I just want to say: Keep telling the truth, because you can do it in a way that no one else can.” Amen to that.

The former First Lady's message to Beyoncé is especially sweet considering that, just a day earlier, Beyoncé paid tribute to Obama to commemorate her spot on TIME's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. “Loving Michelle Obama wasn’t much of a choice,” the performer wrote in her essay. “It was something that came naturally, because of how she carried herself. Because she resembled us and was moving in spaces where, as black Americans, we weren’t exactly meant to be, she seemed so powerful.”

In her tribute, Beyoncé recalled when she first met Obama, on the eve of former President Barack Obama’s first inauguration, and described her as a “warm, regal, confident woman” on first impression. “The way she looked, walked and spoke, in that warm but authoritative tone, we saw our mothers and sisters,” she wrote. “She was strong and ambitious and spoke her mind without sacrificing honesty or empathy. That takes a lot of courage and discipline.”

“She would’ve been impactful simply by being in the White House, the first African-American First Lady. But she also used her position of power to improve the world around her,” the singer wrote. “She empowers all of us to interrogate our fears and surpass greatness.”

And "surpass greatness" is exactly what Beyoncé did with Homecoming. The world is truly better with both ladies in them, and for that, we are so blessed.