Janelle Monáe fans got quite the eyeful on the final stop of her Age of Pleasure Tour in Los Angeles earlier this week.
On Wednesday night (October 18), the talented singer, who has no qualms baring her breasts as of late, freed the nipple while performing at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood.
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Journalist Shirley Ju captured the moment the singer exposed her left breast while getting frisky in the middle of her set.
You can check out the video below:
janelle monae flashed the crowd👀 pic.twitter.com/bX1ADQME6D
— Shirley Ju (@shirju) October 19, 2023
Janelle Monáe seems to be living her best life as she continues to embrace her sexuality, yet some people seem perpetually bothered by her recent behavior.
Over the summer, the 37 year old lifted a part of her top and exposed her right breast to the audience while performing at Essence Festival in New Orleans.
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The event’s official Twitter page shared a clip of this and captioned it: “ YOU CANNOT POLICE @JanelleMonae.” Soon after, another user retweet the video and wrote: “Unnecessary on so many levels and for so many reasons.”
In response, veteran rapper Uncle Luke wrote: “What is this girl going through? She’s never been out there like this.. is it a midlife crisis?”
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In this particular context, it is important to recognize that Luke, who fronted 2 Live Crew, was very welcoming of women flaunting their sexuality throughout his career in music. One of the group’s biggest hits, “I Wanna Rock (Doo Doo Brown)” features him rapping: “Shake, shake them titties, baby, shake them titties, baby/ Pop, pop that pussy, baby, pop that pussy, baby.”
It is also worth noting that even though Monáe has only started flashing her breasts recently, artists have been doing so for years before her. Swedish singer-songwriter Tove Lo, for example, lifts up her top during every performance as part of a brand that champions sexual and female liberation.
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To that point, Monáe has explained that she is comfortable in her own skin and has no regrets about baring her breasts — in fact, she said she is “much happier” showing them off.
The singer and actor spoke with Rolling Stone earlier this year about entering an era of sexual liberation and freedom.
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She also discussed receiving backlash for flashing her breasts at an event celebrating the release of her new single and music video, “Lipstick Lover.”
The “Tightrope” singer has remained unbothered by criticism of the NSFW promotional campaign for her latest album. “I’m much happier when my titties are out and I can run around free,” she told Rolling Stone.
It’s not the first time Monáe has celebrated women and the feminine form. In 2020, she took to Twitter to call out misogyny in Hip Hop, and said she’s only interested in seeing women dominate the genre.
“I really only ever wanna hear women rapping. The amount of misogyny from most of men in rap and music is infuriating. We need to abolish that shit too,” she wrote at the time. “Y’all can’t wait to call women every bitch, hoe, discuss violent acts against women, etc for clout in rap, rock, and through out music history,” she continued.
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“Misogny has NEVER been okay yet it has become normalized. Women didn’t create misogny, y’all did. SO YOU DO THE WORK to ABOLISH IT.”
She added in a follow-up tweet: “The only gas lighting I accept is the gas we lighting to burn down the misogyny.”
