How Pop Music Mainstreams Religious Weirdness popmatters.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from popmatters.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
This Lady Marmalade performance allowed each of the track’s four performers to enjoy their time in the spotlight – complete with all the sequins, feathers and big hair it’s become synonymous with – before coming together as a four-piece.
As if there wasn’t enough talent on stage already, they were joined on stage first by Missy Elliott and eventually its original performer, Patti LaBelle, who taught those younger artists a thing or two about high notes.
What. A. Performance.
Prince and Beyoncé - Purple Rain/Baby, I’m A Star/Let’s Go Crazy/Crazy In Love (2004)
We all know that when it came to rising stars and new talent, no one had a better eye than Prince, so it’s no surprise that right at the beginning of Beyoncé’s solo career, he chose her to perform with him at the Grammys.
Slate has relationships with various online retailers. If you buy something through our links, Slate may earn an affiliate commission. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. All prices were up to date at the time of publication.
In the Minaj universe, mothering is mastery: a specifically female form of one-upmanship. By declaring herself the mother of all rappers, Nicki claims to be the originator of hip-hop vernacular, an expert speaker watching her sons stutter and mewl. Giving birth means she has ultimate bragging rights, demanding filial piety while threatening to withhold love, care, and even legitimacy (“So fuck a funny style, tryna act hard/ Uh, you my son, no daddy, you a bastard […] They talk slick and wondering why I be sonning them” in “Hands Up”). “Sonning” is a method of cutting down to size, in ways only a mother can: in “Give It All to Me”