I Want My Monae (That's What I Want)

Janelle Monae
Album: ArchAndroid
Song: Tightrope

Not sure if I'm a fan of Ms. Monae, but I've got to give her huge props for her creative courage.  It must be hard for a black woman to make the type of music she does, which combines pop, rock, jazz, hip hop, prog rock and the kitchen sink in a groovy musical stew.  James Brown is an obvious influence.  Sorta reminds me of a female version of Outkast.  And she writes concept albums.  ArchAndroid represents the second and third parts of her "Metropolis" trilogy, in which Monae's alter-ego Cindi Merriweather becomes a messiah-like figure to an android army.  Wow.  And yes, Fritz Lang's Metropolis is the primary inspiration.  And her energy!  Holy cripes she never stops moving.  A great performer.  She has toured with indie darlings Of Montreal.  Has an iron in every damn fire.

I'm gonna hedge my bets a bit, however.  Puff Daddy or P-Diddy or whateverthefuckhegoesbynow is her mentor.  Will be interesting to see if she remains true to her (somewhat difficult to market) self or goes off the Diddylicious pop chart deep end.