Janelle Monáe, perfect icon of style |

The nominations for the Grammy Awards were unveiled just a few days ago and, though I generally hate events that imply useless acts like Coldplay walking away with multiple awards, I was pleased to see that Janelle Monáe is up for Best Urban Performance Award for ‘Many Moons’.

Some of you might remember her appearing on the Purple Ribbon All-Star’s Compilation “Got Purp? Volume 2” (2005) and featuring on OutKast’s ‘Call The Law’ and ‘In Your Dreams’ and in the video for the track ‘Morris Brown’, but this stylish wonder has been rocking and ruling the Atlanta scene for a while now.

Monáe moved from Kansas City to New York and eventually to Atlanta four years ago and, in 2005, she signed with Antwan "Big Boi" Patton’s Purple Ribbon Entertainment and started working on her concept album, “Metropolis”.
Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent film inspired not only the album, but also a whole movement, The Wondaland Arts Society, a studio, art collective and record label funded by Monáe together with Chuck Lightning, Nate "Rocket" Wonder and Delvin Franklin. The Wondaland Arts Society first planned to release "Metropolis" in four separate "Suites." The first suite, "Metropolis: The Chase Suite" (Special Edition) was released in collaboration with Sean "P Diddy" Combs' label, Bad Boy Records.

There are many influences in Monáe's music: she indeed incorporates elements of different artists in her performances, from Judy Garland to James Brown, from Michael Jackson and Lauryn Hill to Elvis Presley, Grace Jones and Shirley Bassey. So there's a bit of everything in her album, hip hop, R&B, soul, funk, electronica, disco and classical music. But Monáe's universe goes beyond music: a few months ago the Atlanta Ballet interpreted her songs when they debuted "Big with Antwan 'Big Boi' Patton," a work of dance featuring songs from various Purple Ribbon artists; the Wondaland team worked on a graphic novel project by New Zealand artist Chad Weatherford – author of the artwork for Suite I – and the video for Monáe's single ‘Many Moons’ is actually a short film about an annual android auction in Metropolis, complete with holographic auctioneer and featuring Monáe singing, dancing and walking on the runway with her signature hairstyle, immaculate shirts with skinny bow tie, impeccably tailored suits and saddle shoes.
Her android-meets-jive dancer-meets-businesswoman look, perfectly fits to her Cindi Mayweather character, a fugitive female robot who falls in love with a human being.

I actually think that this talented singer and maniacal performer would be stunning in a fashion magazine photo shoot. Fashion models might be beautiful but they often don't know how to move, while, apart from being absolutely stylish, Monáe seems to know perfectly well how to dance, move and strike poses.

"I'm an alien from outer space," declares Janelle Monáe on the first song of her debut album, and, well, by watching her video you would definitely believe her. Let's just hope she doesn't go back to her galaxy too soon, but she decides to remain for the rest of her life on our sad planet where we desperately need her.