2elijah said:

OR, may be the photographer is just that good! lol. Just kidding, she was definitely off the hook!

I think its amazing that James Brown's music sounds fresher and more "Today" that most artists from just 10 years ago.
It seems dude was not just ahead of his time, but somehow just stays ahead in a continuum

If you look at the footage in the "Tightrope" video. She has a bit of James Brown going on in her dancing, and you can compare that to James Brown's "Out of Sight/Night Train" video from the 60s. Starting from the 2:25 mark in the video, watch his dancers to the left and on the [b]5:50 mark, when James has one knee up gliding across the stage, just like how Janelle does that when she jumps off the table and dances through her dancers with one knee up in a scene from the vid "Tightrope".[/b] Now doesn't that part remind you of some of the steps Janelle and her dancers are doing in a part of the "Tightrope" video? A lot of James Brown influence there for sure.
[Edited 5/12/10 17:48pm]

Yes, I agree, I posted that same, exact JB video in this thread (look at[b] reply #17,

2elijah said:

Yes, I was responding to that post, should have included your quote.

violetblues said:

It's okay, just thought you may have missed it, and just wanted to see if you saw the comparisons I was pointing out. It's all good.

2elijah said:

Ohh yeah, people will be immitating JB till the end of time.

This Lady is kewl. Love the influence of the past greats-I haven't been this excited in a while. Very interesting to say the least. I'll certainly buy the cd when it comes out.
Side note: Janelle has a grace and elegance about here sort of like Lena Horne (RIP) anybody notice?

here are snippets of her new album it's sounds like a great album im def gonna buy it!!!! http://www.youtube.com/wa...CdXJxR_09w

p4life said:

Now that is the only way an artist should allow their work on youtube!.. or any other free streaming site. A flat out commercial, a taste sampler for the consumer to make an informed opinion/decision as to whether or not to PURCHASE the the artwork.

It is foolish for an artist to allow full length cuts on free streaming sites, whether they can find it through some other illicit means or not.

OK, with that off my chest, I think its an ok album, but too middle of the road commercial not my taste. I'll pass.
[Edited 5/15/10 13:09pm]

Waterinyourbath said:

She's gonna be on David Letterman, tonight (5/18). Performing "Tightrope." Found out via her Twitter page.

http://blog.washingtonpos...e_the.html

Album review: Janelle Monae, "The ArchAndroid"

By Bill Friskics-Warren

Not since the '70s heyday of George Clinton's Parliafunkadelicment Thang has anyone fused science fiction/fantasy and genre-defying funk with such vision and aplomb as Janelle Monáe does on this full-length debut. The album chronicles the adventures of Cindi Mayweather, a cyber-heroine who's been sent to free the citizens of the mythical Metropolis from a repressive secret society. Even if the at times abstruse plot of her outre "emotion picture" doesn't grab you, Monáe's expansive, high-spirited music almost certainly will.

"Tightrope," the album's first single, is roiling James Brown-style funk featuring Big Boi of OutKast. "Faster" updates the swizzle-stick disco of Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band. "Say You'll Go" interpolates a passage from Debussy's "Clair de Lune," while "BaBopByeYa," the set's epic closing track, calls to mind both Broadway musicals and James Bond movie scores.

Ever referential, Monáe cites influences musical (Rachmaninoff, Arthur Lee and "Purple Rain") and abstract (Muhammad Ali's fists, Rabbi Loew's Golem and Bob Marley's smile) for each of the album's 18 tracks. From "Locked Inside," a dappled ray of melodic sunshine in homage to Stevie Wonder, to "Mushrooms & Roses," a brooding blues-rocker replete with "guitar orgasms" a la Ernie Isley, Monáe proudly wears these inspirations on her musical sleeve.

"When everything is wrong I dance inside my mind / That's when I come alive, like a schizo running wild," she sings over the punk bass line of one track. Her musical schizophrenia might cause her to overreach at times, but never is she lacking in imagination or commitment.

Janelle Monáe performs at DAR Constitution Hall on May 28 and Pier Six Pavilion on May 30.

Recommended tracks: "Tightrope," "Locked Inside," "Mushrooms &

Im going to see her in memphis june tenth with Badu. I have listened to The Chase Suite a hundred times over the past couple years. I can't wait.