# What do you think of Janelle Monae (music artist)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 22, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-janelle-monae-music-artist/551022 "2010-08-22T01:14:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-janelle-monae-music-artist/551022/1 "2010-08-22T01:14:34Z")
Here she is performing [Tightrope](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzZnao2fbRQ) on Letterman. Her second single from her new album [The ArchAndroid](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_ArchAndroid_%28Suites_II_and_III%29) is [Cold War.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqmORiHNtN4) I really like her style and sound. A nice change of pace from most pop music. I thought I would just throw up this thread and see what everyone else thinks of her. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-janelle-monae-music-artist/551022/2 "2010-08-22T01:28:33Z")
I love her. I keep finding Tightrope stuck in my head, and her dancing is amazing in its music video. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-janelle-monae-music-artist/551022/3 "2010-08-22T01:46:28Z")
I like Tightrope a lot, but I haven’t heard any of her other songs. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-janelle-monae-music-artist/551022/4 "2010-08-22T02:53:28Z")
I love her. I got her recent CD for my wife, but I like it more than she does. The range of musical styles is amazing – rock, hip-hop, pop, electronica… Plus, she’s gorgeous! (And I think about half my age, but oh well.) There’s a chance we’ll look back ten or fifteen years from now, and say “she really helped define the direction of popular music in the early twenty-tens”. I know she doesn’t write all or perhaps most of her music and lyrics (yet), but I think I recall reading that she is a serious musician. (And I think she’s a Kansas City product, no? Local girl, that would make her for me.) BTW, I think my favorite track on the album is “Wonderland”, but it’s a close call. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-janelle-monae-music-artist/551022/5 "2010-08-22T11:57:06Z")
Is she the one who dresses like she’s waiting tables? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-janelle-monae-music-artist/551022/6 "2010-08-22T14:32:45Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Is she the one who dresses like she’s waiting tables? Well, she did dress like that at some awards ceremony recently, but if her wardrobe is half as eclectic as her music, she’ll probably wear very different things on different occasions. ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-janelle-monae-music-artist/551022/7 "2010-08-22T19:07:57Z")
She played at my son’s college campus last night and rocked the house. He sent me some links. I love her style–and she can sing, too. Her guitarist looks exactly like Andre 3000 with long hair in the Hey Ya video, which fits, because in some ways their sound is like Outkast meets Michael Jackson. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-janelle-monae-music-artist/551022/8 "2010-08-22T19:17:04Z")
> [@Caprese](#): > > Her guitarist looks exactly like Andre 3000 with long hair in the Hey Ya video, which fits, because in some ways their sound is like Outkast meets Michael Jackson. I’m not surprised, since Big Boi seems to be something of a mentor for her. Anyway, this thread is making me think I’ll be more active in checking out more of her music. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-janelle-monae-music-artist/551022/9 "2010-08-22T19:24:49Z")
It sounds kind of over produced to me. The music video single, not the live song. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-janelle-monae-music-artist/551022/10 "2010-08-23T04:24:53Z")
I thought her live performance was overdone, too–too much movement that didn’t mean anything. The background people were at least moving to the music. The actual music isn’t bad, but it is repetitive. I don’t understand why people think that a song that gets stuck in your head is good. If it is stuck, that means it is there against your will. ---
**Author:** ![mariposalabrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@mariposalabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mariposalabrown)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-janelle-monae-music-artist/551022/11 "2010-08-23T04:34:55Z")
Saw her open for MGMT a couple months ago and she was killer, so much energy and she is gorgeous. Also, dressed like a waiter, I think that’s her style for now. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-janelle-monae-music-artist/551022/12 "2010-08-23T16:10:31Z")
I really dig her stuff, although Tightrope is the song I’ve heard most often. I’m probably going to see her next month at the 9:30 Club. –Cliffy