Janelle Monae

This year at ACL, there were so many artists that I had been itching to see, but no one was more anticipated for me than Janelle Monae.

Janelle Monae is an artist that doesn’t quite fall into one category or genre. Her music is a combination of contemporary R&B, soul, funk, electric music, pop, dance, and hiphop. She really can do it all, but what stands out to me about her as an artist is her refusal to conform to any norms that are expected of her as a young female of color. In fact, all of Monae’s songs champion for the underdogs of the world. Having labeled herself an underdog, she advocates for weirdness as being a strength that makes everyone special. Monae’s frame of mind is that weirdness does not mean being strange, but rather it’s a uniqueness that is actually each person’s own superpower.

When I listened to her latest album, “Dirty Computer,” I was so moved by this idea of diversity and flaws as additional factors of beauty that must be celebrated, along with a lot of girl power vibes in the album, that I knew I had to see her preform this live.

Another reason I’ve been really drawn to seeing Monae in concert is the fact that every single music video she releases is so visually stunning that I knew her concert visuals would be no different.

She exceeded my expectations. In her performance, Monae found a way to incorporate a lot of the art and visuals that you would think would require a movie set or green screen. She has this song called “Pynk,” in which she celebrates the power of womanhood. In the music video, every set costume and most video props and scenes are pink to emphasize the theme and somehow, Monae managed to bring that same attention to detail to the stage. In fact, most of the videos seemed to be recreated on stage and even more impressive than the stage sets, was Monae’s immaculate voice. Unfazed by the unforgiving heat and cardio effort from her dance choreography, she sounded exactly like she does recorded. Out of every artist at this year’s ACL Festival, Monae had to be my favorite performance of this year’s lineup.

If you haven’t listened to her music, I highly recommend checking out her most recent album, Dirty Computer. While all of Monae’s albums are a gift to the ears, this album will make you an inta-fan of the unstoppable force and artistry that is Janelle Monae.