iPlay: Janelle Monáe

I’m weird. This is no epiphany. No culture shock. No dig at myself. Everyone that knows me knows this. BFam knows it and yet he married me anyway. My weirdness flows into musical tastes. The more out there, head scratchy-type of artist, the more he knows his wife will love it.

A few years back, when Gnarls Barkley first came on the scene with their debut song Crazy, BFam knew how much I loved the lead singer, Cee-Lo, from his days with hip-hop group, Goodie MoB, and figured I’d love this just the same. He came in one day, threw the CD in my direction, and said, “Weird. You’ll love it.”

BFam’s not all that keen on the weird.

Two years ago, he found someone equally as weird. He thought it strange this “weird girl” was signed to a label such as Bad Boy Records because they don’t do weird too much if at all. (You know Bad Boy. Puff Daddy. P. Diddy. Puff Diddly-Doo. Whatever he’s calling himself nowadays.) One listen and I was hooked! Again! That boy just knows me entirely too well.

One thing I’ve learned about the artists BFam deems weird, that I happen to love, is they are performance artists. Listening to them is one thing. Watching them and listening? It’s like eating Oreo cookies without milk. You have to have both to truly relish the full experience. Janelle Monáe is one of those people. It’s done deliberately. She’s a performance artist raised on drama, stage and, I’m almost positive, Broadway. My favorite track from her first EP is Sincerely, Jane (featured below). Because I believe in making weird a family experience, I’ve played it over and over and over again enough in the car, that my kids sing along. Yay! Then we get home to BFam’s scowl of our weird and turn it off. Boo!

Her newest album, The ArchAndroid, drops May 18th. The latest single from that album, Tightrope, makes me happy. She’s like a little Jackie Wilson. Can’t wait!

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Song: Sincerely, Jane
Artist: Janelle Monáe
Album: Metropolis Suite I of IV: The Chase (August 2008)
FEAR says: Weird is good. (Boo, BFam!)

iPlay: Angela Bofill

Early 80′s. I’m a kid, younger than 10, sitting at my mother’s feet. She’s in our dining room, sitting at the table with a lowball glass of E&J Brandy. I’m too young to know or understand the ways of adults, but my mother has had a hard day. She could be drinking Kool-Aid for all I care. The drink is not how I know my mother has had a hard day. What’s playing on the turntable console is.

I didn’t know much about the origins of Angela Bofill. Where she came from, what singing groups she may have been affiliated with. All I knew was her albums spoke to my mother. Because of this, I listened. Whatever she was singing to my mother was making it all better. She’s had countless hits, one of which I’m featuring below. It was her ballads that my mother would play on those unusually hard days. And because I don’t want her to go grab another lowball, I won’t play them now. I’m not calling my mother an alcoholic. I’m just trying to make you understand how powerful this woman’s voice was in our house. She could take you there, wherever your “there” may have been.

While I adore her ballads, she had some hip-shaking, dance floor-burning speaker thumpers as well. Written by Linda Creed, People Make The World Go Round was originally recorded by The Stylistics and has, since its inception, been covered by such artists as Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Will Downing, and hosts of others. I like The Stylistics, but you know how a song doesn’t really become a song until a certain artist sings it? This song didn’t exist for me until I heard it come from this woman. What was a ballady, slow groove, she threw in bongos, a wicked string section, Latin flair, and a funky bass line that made you want to turn up your nose and slap yo’ momma. And the horns! I dare you to listen to this song and try not to whip out your bell bottoms!

They just don’t make music like this anymore.

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Song: People Make The World Go Round
Artist: Angela Bofill
Album: Angel of the Night (October 1979)
FEAR says: FOWNKEE! (Can you dig it?)

iPlay: The Replacements

I figure I went far out on a ledge with my last iPlay, what with all the nakedness. Hope no one was offended.

Can I just say that no one should be because, on any given day, my butt looks like that. I like keeping mine in jeans and dress pants, though. I’m just sayin’…

I knew nothing of this group until… c’mon. I’ve said it enough times, you know where I’m going with this… Rock Band. That’s right. Never heard of them until I played a song of theirs on the video game. And I rock. And it’s hard. And the song is catchy. The bass line sticks with you a few days. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when you’re at your respective jobs, twirling around in your swivel chair, trying your best to concentrate on the upcoming staff meeting or latest pie chart or current office gossip, when you bust out into a doon-doon-doon-doon-doon-doon-doon.

I’m telling you. Don’t come crying to me.

Color me shocked when the subject of the song up and dies last month. I had no idea who he was or that he even existed. I just knew that he was in love (doon-doon-doon-doon-doon-doon-doon) with that song (doon-doon-doon-doon-doon-doon-doon).

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Song: Alex Chilton
Artist: The Replacements
Album: Pleased To Meet Me (1987)
FEAR says: doon-doon-doon-doon-doon-doon-doon

iPlay: Erykah Badu

A week ago, I did some research for a few upcoming iPlays. A week ago, I chose this artist and this song before her album was readily available to the public. Her album wasn’t due for release until March 31st, and I didn’t want to get too ahead of myself or her due date. A week ago, I realized the song I’d chosen was getting airplay on the radio. Oh good, I thought. Now I can post it as an iPlay without feeling guilty.

On March 28th, the days before her album dropped in major retail outlets and electronic stores alike, she premiered this video [NSFW; click the link at the bottom of the page that says "Window Seat (Official)"], the video to the song that just happened to be the one I’d chosen for this post.

Then, all hell broke loose.

Now. A few thoughts: I like Erykah Badu. I wouldn’t have picked her for an iPlay if I didn’t. I’ve listened to her since she first debuted. She’s always been weird/eclectic/artsy/different – whatever you want to call it. But she’s never strayed from who she really is. Considering the obscene amounts of violence thought commonplace in entertainment now-a-days; the cyber-bullying; the teen suicides; the terrorist bombers… you see where I’m going with this, right? This? This is tame. This is nothing. This is art.

More importantly? This is not new.

Tell me, YouTube. Why is it OK to keep this up – the “official video”, the credited inspiration for Window Seat – yet ban Erykah? Shame on you.

Hot song, nonetheless. Enjoy.

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Song: Window Seat
Artist: Erykah Badu
Album: New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh (March 2010)
FEAR says: What are y’all so afraid of? Put the video back up.