The good, the exceptional and the downright disastrous: Couleur Cafe

Kooky and credible: the super-talented Janelle Monae

I take it all back. The indifference, the ambivalence, the dismissiveness. All hail Janelle Monae! This girl rocks! Not only does she rock, she does it gracefully, too: artistically, creatively, theatrically, dramatically. Having seen her bring the house down at this year's Couleur Cafe opening night, I'm now a believer, converted by an engaging, consummate performer delivering a stellar show, including her whole band. An hour long set that was a monochrome riot of energy and talent that was matchless on this particular night. I can't wait to see her again in a better setting i.e. where the sound mixers actually work.

Seun Kuti and Egypt 80: taking over from where Fela left off

Seun Kuti played on the same stage as Janelle Monae and gave a good performance. But something was missing. Can't  put my finger on it.  Nothing wrong with it but it didn't compare to his performance at Cargo some years ago, which came on the back of the release of his debut album, the politically potent Many Things. For one thing, he didn't make good use of the stage. You could barely see his dancers, who were hidden away at the back. But that wasn't it. Perhaps it was the lack of connection with the audience or jet-lag, who knows? The highlight of the set, though, was a rendition of a song called Rise, taken from his latest offering, the wonderfully-titled From Africa With Fury. Definitely one to download.

Purveyors of true hip-hop: I Am

The other day I told my multilingual colleague how lucky he was to be able to enjoy music from around the world whereas us monolingual English speakers are confined by laziness to consuming the commercialism that the industry inflicts upon us. What prompted this comment was the Couleur Cafe line-up. I knew a few of the artists but not nearly as many as the non-British seemed to know. And everybody else was raving about seeing one group in particular. Now I know why. I'd never heard of I Am until a few days before the festival and now I'll be joining the masses in singing their praises. I Am delivered a tight hip-hop set that combined a tight, lyrical flow over heavy street beats with consummate professionalism. These guys are veterans and ground breakers on the French rap scene and, though they've been around since the 1990's they haven't lost any of their fire. Unlike these two...

Legends dishing out old rope: Method Man and Redman

Method Man and Redman were supposed to be the highlight of our night. The 10.30pm billing was testament to that. But I'll leave it to my equally bemused friend to sum up their 'performance': 'This is like a parody of a hip-hop show. I've invested my life in this music and they're pissing on my memories.'

Nuff said!