Janelle Monáe Blasts Nelly for Playing Trump Inauguration: ‘A Motherf-cking Fool’

Janelle Monáe did not mince their words during a freestyle about Nelly over the beat of his song, “Hot in Herre.” During a Grammys afterparty Sunday, the musician called out the singer for performing at Donald Trump‘s inaugural ball.

“Fuck you, Nelly!” they declared after singing the lyrics to “Hot in Herre,” and going into a freestyle: “I used to like Nelly but then he went to perform for Donald Trump.”

“I care about women. I care about Hispanics. I care about Spanish people. I care about Mexicans… I care about gay people,” they continued. “I used to think he was cool, but now you look like a motherfucking fool… Fuck you, n—a. Get a new attitude… I might be a little tipsy but I know everything I’m motherfucking saying. Fuck you, Nelly!”

A rep for Nelly did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.

The Monáe diss comes several weeks after Nelly defended his decision to perform during the presidential inauguration event, saying he would’ve agreed to play even if Kamala Harris or Joe Biden won the election.

“I respect the office. This isn’t politics. Politics for me is over; [Trump] won, he’s the Commander-in-Chief,” he said in a podcast interview, later adding: “I love this country as well. It is an honor for me to perform for the President of the United States, regardless of who is in office.”

Monáe previously endorsed Harris in a November interview with Bossip, slamming Trump’s policy stances and rhetoric: ”He’s a hateful person and he wants the rest of the world to exhibit that behavior and that is dangerous. Kamala is about ‘we,’ where Trump is about ‘me.’ That’s the clear difference.”

Monáe appeared at the 2025 Grammys Sunday night, performing Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” during a tribute to Quincy Jones.