Janelle Monáe Blasts Nelly for Trump Inaugural Performance at Grammy Afterparty
Count Janelle Monáe among those furious at Nelly for his performance at Donald Trump’s Liberty Ball inauguration celebration on Jan. 20.
Monáe hit the stage Sunday night alongside Anderson .Paak and a live band at a 2025 Grammy Awards afterparty going down at Andy’s in West Hollywood. The tuneful collective covered Nelly’s “Hot in Herre” anthem, but JM made sure to flip some feisty lyrics slamming the St. Louis native, whom she says “sold out.”
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“I used to like Nelly, but then he went to perform for Donald Trump,” she rapped in her navy-blue pilot cap as the throttling freestyle drew cheers from the crowd. “I’m gonna look back like I don’t give a f—. I care about women, I care about Hispanics, I care about Spanish people, I care about Mexicans.”
Monáe continued to bash Nelly in the new lyrics: “F— that n—a. I don’t give a f—. You sold out. I used to think he was cool but now you look like a mother—-ing fool. F— you, n—a. Get a new attitude.”
Nelly previously defended himself from the backlash during an interview with Willie D in January. “I’m not doing this for money,” he claimed. “I’m doing this ’cause it’s an honor. I respect the office.”
Nelly isn’t the only rapper who faced backlash for performing at Trump’s various inaugural events, as Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross and Soulja Boy were also condemned for seemingly aligning with Trump.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith came to Nelly’s defense too. “Nelly is not a political person, he doesn’t get involved in the campaigns,” he said. “Nelly does perform for people who will pay the right fee and believes in respecting the office because of the power that comes with it. That’s his position. Like it or not, you gotta respect it.”
Prior to the afterparty, Janelle Monáe moonwalked across the Crypto.com Arena stage at the 67th annual Grammy Awards as she performed Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ‘Til Ya Get Enough” as part of the Quincy Jones tribute segment.
Find Janelle Monáe’s “Hot in Herre” performance blasting Nelly below.
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