From Pitchfork:
Near the end of futurist funk fashionista Janelle Monáe's set last night she stood above the crowd, popped a Superman pose, and flopped onto the audience. Keep in mind that this is at SXSW-- where rabid fan-dom is rare-- and that the OutKast affiliate is not exactly super-famous at the moment. But there was no hesitation involved in Monáe's flyover move. She looked straight ahead and dropped. Of course, people carried her-- pretty far, too.
Monáe's absurdist combination of funkadelic groove, girl-group bop, and grunge makes Andre 3000's rock experiments look tame. While many of her songs may sound like "Hey Ya" remixes (and her Dre doppelganger guitarist has definitely seen that video about a million times too many), they often split into odd, operatic angles. Her unique vocal phrasing could be described as oompa-loompa-esque . And just when she seemed to take her mother ship past the outer limits, she broke out a jazzy version of Nat King Cole's "Smile" to bring everything back down safely. She's already a star in her own mind, she's just waiting for everyone else to catch up. They just might.
SXSW Highlights From Pitchork
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