Janelle Monáe

Before she took the Interwebz and the electro-funk-soul underground by storm performing as her cyborg alter ego Cindy Mayweather, Janelle Monáe paid her dues on Big Boi Presents...Got Purp? Vol. 2, the Idlewild soundtrack and her own 2003 solo release The Audition. Below is a sampling from each release:

Janelle Monáe - Lettin' Go.mp3




Outkast - Call The Law ft. Janelle Monáe.mp3

Janelle Monáe - You Are My Everything.mp3

You gotta love that kind of versatility. And when both your face and your voice rival each other with their immense beauty, you're quite the force to be reckoned with. Throw in quirky charisma and a willingness to overstep boundaries that need to crossed and well...you get her current persona:

We need more Janelle Monáes...

Closet Freak: The Missing Link

When Cee-lo broke away from Goodie Mob and dropped "Cee-lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections" in 2002 it raised a lot of eyebrows at first. But it brought just the right amount of "funk soul bruhvah" (© Fatboy Slim) to the table so people didn't really seem to mind. Little did we know, it was a precursor to even more daring and ostentatious creative endeavors with DJ Danger Mouse as Gnarls Barkley. Lest we forget, before he was "Crazy," Cee-lo was a self-proclaimed "Closet Freak" and he did a hysterical video to tell us alllllll about it:

Cee-Lo - Closet Freak
Uploaded by madafonka2

Best. Video. EVAR. Pure hysteria - negroes was wilin' OUT when they came up with the concept for this joint. This video is pretty much they key to the missing link between his transition from Goodie Mobb to Gnarls Barkley. I mean...he pretend-morphs into a big sparkly bat at the bridge of the song! If THAT didn't tip you off that he was on some other isht...and he definitely gets the "No Shame In My Game" award for rocking the feather boas/mohawk and not...much...else...

I still bust out "Closet Freak" like once a month, but when I really wanna vibe and lose myself in my thoughts for a few minutes then I throw on:

Cee-lo - Basehead Jazz.mp3

So yeah. Just a few of many reasons why I fornicates with Cee-lo. He doesn't fuck around.

Gotta Get Up (Another Day)

I can't think of a song that sums up how I feel right now more perfectly than this:

Jill Scott - Gotta Get Up (Another Day) ft. 4Hero.mp3



Yeah, I've got a bad case of "The Mondays" >_<

Versions: Amy Winehouse/Jazmine Sullivan

'Round Midnight is said to be the most oft covered jazz standard in all the history of the genre. Chances are if you aren't familiar with the title, you've still probably heard the song in some capacity and by someone other than Thelonious Monk who is said to have composed it in 1940. It didn't originally have lyrics, but when they were added they told a story of deep longing in the late night hours. It's on some hugging-your-pillow-staring-outside-as rain-taps-against-the-window pane-and-sighing isht...with this song playing in the background, HAHA.

That being said, there are a couple of recent renderings of the song that I really dig. The first one is by Amy Winehouse, which appeared as a non-album b-side with the 2004 single "Take The Box" from her debut album "Frank." She wasn't even 21 when she recorded this, but her delivery was impeccable. She knew exactly what to put behind the notes she was singing to make them matter - I think we Black folk call that "soul." The overall production is great - quirky yet sultry, it definitely can get you to feel some kinda way if all the right elements are in place.

Amy Winehouse - 'Round Midnight.mp3

More recently, there's Jazmine Sullivan's live cover. She's straight outta the Black Lily scene in Philly, and getting her feet wet in the industry with the likes of Missy Elliot. There's not much I can really say to prepare you for the voice you're about to hear, so I'm just going to post the track. Give yourself about 5 seconds before you check your arm for goosebumps:

Jazmine Sullivan - Round Midnight (Live).mp3

How THAT is coming from a 20 year old is beyond me, but whatever diety saw it fit to bless her with those pipes I am grieviously in their debt.

So yeah. I don't really prefer one cover over the other - they're both pretty badass in their own respects, so it doesn't do them justice to compare. It's just cool to hear how different people interpret the song and how they choose to convey it in their delivery.