There’s only one Janelle Monae, and no one is doing it like her at Glastonbury 2024

There’s a reason Janelle is so decorated.

Words: Abigail Firth.
Photos: Patrick Gunning.

Following a mass exodus from the Pyramid Stage following Shania Twain’s legends slot, and clashing with Avril Lavigne, Nia Archives AND Romy, Janelle Monae is truly up against it as she takes to the Pyramid Stage on Sunday evening.

But for those who are there to see it, what a treat. While the crowd ends up being sparser than usual at this time, anyone doubting this as a Pyramid-sized performance would be silly. There’s a reason Janelle is so decorated (ahem, ten time Grammy nominee), and from the moment ‘Float’ kicks in, she reinforces that status.

Clocking up countless costume changes, her first half performances of ‘Champagne Shit’, ‘Q.U.E.E.N.’ and ‘Electric Lady’ are at a level of camp found nowhere else on Glastonbury’s main stages, while ‘Django Jane’ serves as a reminder she’s an un-fuck-with-able rapper when she wants to be too. A sex-positive second half boasts her biggest hits and zaniest production, including a, erm, vagina costume for ‘Pynk’ and a Michael Jackson-esque dance solo before ‘Make Me Feel’.

Over the course of her career, Janelle Monae has been compared to multiple game-changing Black artists; think Grace Jones, Prince, Lauryn Hill. But when she gets on that stage we’re reminded that there’s only one Janelle Monae, and no one is doing it like her.