Cold War

I just started to really get into Janelle Monae.  When she was first signed, there was much concern over the fact that she was signed to Bad Boy.  I fed into that concern as well.  When I first saw her, I was really struck by her image.  She had SUCH strong personal style and a larger than life presence.  Her first album was ok, but it wasn't anything groundbreaking.  It was really riding on a lot of the trends that were happening in music at that time, thanks to Amy Winehouse and Duffy. Then, I move to Seattle, start listening to KEXP, and I start hearing these fantastic R&B songs and was really surprised to find out that they are by Janelle Monae.  I bought the album and was really struck by what I heard.  It's experimental, pushing soul/R&B to a whole new place, but it's also accessible.  I then saw a tribute to Prince on the BET Awards, and Janelle had one of the most EPIC moments I've ever seen on live TV.  She was electric.  This week, a new music video was released for one of my favorite songs on the album, "Cold War", and it shook me to my core.  It is the most emotionally raw music video that I can remember.  This song obviously means a lot to her (as it does to me) and I think it's amazing that she let us see this moment of emotion in such an intimate way.  It's such a beautiful video for that.  I can't wait to see where Janelle takes us next!