Janelle Monáe ate up her performance at New Orleans’ Essence Festival. On Friday, June 30, the 37-year-old made a controversial choice on stage to lift her top to show her right breast to the audience as she sang. The memorable moment was met with both praise for her boldness and backlash for the exposing move.
Monáe was dressed in a black and white string bikini top, matching shorts, and a hat for the portion of the set. The Kansas City-born singer flashed her breast as she sang her song “Yoga” for the Essence Fest crowd. She piped, “
Sometimes I’m peachy, and sometimes I’m vulgar. Even when I’m sleeping, I got one eye open. You cannot police me, so get off my areola!”The singer’s nipple was covered with pink tape, and the playful moment sparked debate online after Essence’s official event. Twitter shared a short clip of the performance. Captioned,
“YOU CANNOT POLICE @JanelleMonae.” The post was retweeted by another user who wrote: “Unnecessary on so many levels and for so many reasons.”Notably, 2 Live Crew’s front runner, raunchy Uncle Luke, commented: “What is this girl going through? She’s never been out there like this.. is it a midlife crisis?”
Despite Monáe’s image being based on body positivity and being comfortable with one’s own sexuality, the discourse on Twitter continued.