Phillyist Playlist: Janelle Monáe at Johnny Brenda's

Photo by Flickr user Dominick Brady

Ever heard of the musical genre "punk&b" before? "Cyber soul," perhaps? Yeah, us neither, but apparently we've got the punk&b princess and cyber soul diva rocking the upstairs stage at Johnny Brenda's tonight and tomorrow. Her name is Janelle Monáe (MySpace). She is twelve shades of crazy, but delightfully and groundbreaking-ly so. Her inspirations include science fiction, surrealism, and James Brown. What's not to love?

Monáe's big break came with other experimental hip-hoppers, Outkast, in their 2006 film, Idlewild. She sang on two tracks before finishing her first EP, 2007's Metropolis, a concept piece set in the year 2719 that integrates soul, funk and hip-hop into an intriguing rhythmic and futuristic sound. Metropolis caught the ear of some Howard University graduate named Sean Combs, whoever that is. Combs signed Monáe and released Metropolis on Bad Boy Records. Though too zany for the mainstream, it received critical acclaim and even earned Monáe a Grammy nomination for the song "Many Moons." Monáe subsequently did the festival circuit and linked up with other loonies like Of Montreal.

Today Monáe is touring in support of her first full-length album, The ArchAndroid, due out in May. Tracks from The ArchAndroid include "Tightrope" (featuring Big Boi) and "Cold War." Early releases indicate that this album will be just as genre-bending and innovative as the first, especially given the bland Bad Boy landscape into which it will be released. She's out there, and it's fun to go out there with her.

Janelle Monáe
TONIGHT and tomorrow, 3/17/10 and 3/18/10
Doors 8:00pm, Show 9:00pm, All Ages
Johnny Brenda's (1201 N. Frankford Ave)
Tickets: $12