ARTIST2WATCH: JANELLE MONAE

I have been a fan of singer Janelle Monae for quite some time. At first I was a bit hesitant to get into her music, because satan himself Diddy signed her to his Bad Boy Records imprint (with all those poor saps from Making the Band and Cassie on his roster of talent, could you blame me?) Once I took a listen to her tracks, I immediately GAGGED! She's nothing short of amazing with a flawless stage presence and a style like another singing icon, Grace Jones (someone another fave singer of mine Rihanna takes her fashion cues and musical style from). Check out her amazing live performance of the Charlie Chaplin song "Smile" above, and in the videos following, a few tracks to help you jump aboard the Janelle Monae tamale train.
P.S. While jermaine Jackson did a great job singing this song at his brother's memorial, don't you think it would have been cool for Janelle to sing this at the memorial? After all, I did hear he was a fan of her version.