India.Arie Criticizes Megan Thee Stallion & Janelle Monae For On-Stage Behavior

BYCole Blake6.0K Views
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LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 26: India.Arie attends the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards at Staples Center on January 26, 2020 in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
India.Arie wasn't happy with Megan Thee Stallion and Janelle Monae's performances at the 2023 Essence Festival of Culture.

India.Arie called out Megan Thee Stallion and Janelle Monae on Instagram, earlier this week, in response to their recent performances at the 2023 Essence Festival of Culture. She argued that Megan's dancing and Monae flashing her breast displayed a lack of "discretion." India.Arie made the statement in a comment on Essence's Instagram page.

The outlet had posted a video of Megan and Monae on stage with the caption: “Hot girl bootcamp was in full effect last night. It’s @janellemonae with the encouragement for us." India.Arie commented: “The issue is what is CONTEXT. Humanity does EVERYTHING. But does EVERYTHING BELONG IN A STAGE. No, is everything for KIDS? No, is everything for EVERY BODY? so when we as a culture make something like this main stream ~ it shows a lack of discretion [and] discernment."

Janelle Monae Performs At Essence Festival

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JUNE 30: Singer Janelle Monae performs onstage during night 1 of the 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture™ at Caesars Superdome on June 30, 2023, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

“Just as many folks have the right to want our MAINSTREAM International export – out Music – to show us in a respectful light,” she continued. “Id like to go on the record saying : this wont age well and thats my issue. i LOVE Janelle AND Meg the way i love us all — AND i dont like this moment. Dont bother debating me lol idc and I DO this. for 25 yrs i've done THIS. so. read ponder or don't." Other fans took both sides of the argument in the comments section. Check out the post featuring Monae and Megan below.

Megan Thee Stallion & Janelle Monae At Essence Festival

The performance comes after the release of Janelle Monae's latest album, The Age of Pleasure. She kicked off the promotion of the album with the sensual music video for its lead single, "Lipstick Lover," earlier this year.

[Via]

About The Author
Cole Blake is a current staff writer at HotNewHipHop based out of New York City. He began writing for the site as an intern back in 2018 while finishing his B.A. in Journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s covered a number of breaking stories for HNHH. These include the ongoing YSL RICO trial, the allegations surrounding Diddy, and much more. His work also extends outside of hip-hop, having written extensively about a myriad of topics including politics, sports, and pop culture. He’s attended several music festivals to provide coverage for the site as well, such as Rolling Loud and Governors Ball.
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