Musical Inspirations

As I begin to fully embrace my inner singer/songwriter, I love exploring established artists who are innovating music in ways the industry and the consuming public are gushing over.   Here are some of my musical inspirations who I have been obsessing over for the last few months. Leave a comment and tell me how you feel about these artists, or share some of your own music inspirations!!

Janelle Monae: For some reason I feel a curious possessiveness over Janelle Monae because I met her before she became super-famous.  She was definitely big, but had not yet signed with Diddy.  I did a semester exchange program at Spelman College in Atlanta in 2007 and saw her perform at Clark Atlanta University; and I'll never forget that concert.  She moved like a sexy robotic elvis and wore a tuxedo with the most perfectly molded afro puff.  Her voice revealed clear classical training. After the concert, I remember shaking her hand, and she was maybe 5ft tall and looked like a beautiful black doll.  All I could do was smile and nod like a star-struck little girl.  Okay - let me get on with it.  I paid only a modicum of attention to her after this encounter as she climbed the charts and her music became more mainstream, but I never missed an opportunity to boisterously tell folks that I had met her way back when  - back before "Metropolis: Suite I" even dropped.

I saw her again this Summer at the AfroPunk Festival in Brooklyn, and she delivered the best concert that I have seen in my life.  No lie.  She performd her classic "Violet Stars Happy Hunting" and also some of her new songs, includig "Tightrope."  And she even performed a Jackson 5 Cover - "I Want You Back."  Her energy, passion, and committment on stage were unlike anything I had ever seen, and to top it off, she crowd surfed at the end! Ahh. After the concert I nerded out and watched as many videos and read as much as I could about this musical innovator.  I coudn't be more impressed.  She was born in Kansas City, Kansas to a poor, working class family but didn't let that defeat her. She left and studied music theater at the American Music and Dramatic Academy in New York City, and then picked up and moved down South to Atlanta for new music opportunities and inspiration (all before the age of 21).   In Atlanta, she founded her own label - the Wondaland Arts Society, to provide a space for creative like-minded artists - and set up shop around the Atlanta University Center (affectionately known as the AUC) before joining forces with Big Boi from Outkast.   From her interviews, I have determined that she is by far the most articulate and purposeful artist in the biz.  She wears the tuxedo when she is performing and in public as a salute to the working class people (including her family) who have to wear uniforms; she describes it as her own uniform.  Her afro is a symbol of an African aesthetic not often embraced.  And, her music captures a Sci-Fi/Funk world that I never knew was compatible with R&B/Soul/Pop.  I could go on, but lest I bore you, I'll stop by saying, Janelle Monae is an artist who is redefining the industry; her progressive vision, passion, and social consciousness are all qualities all should embrace.  Next time I meet her, I'll try to tell her as much.

Kimbra: My little sister introduced me to this incredible Kiwi (she is from New Zealand).  When I listen to her song "Plain Gold Rings" and she does her vocal run at the end, I am in awe and instantly envious.  Her style is genre-bending - a mix of pop, soul, jazz, and folk.  And, I basically love everything about her - her passionate vocals, her cute beat-boxing (shout out to my a cappella roots and Out of the Blue!), her quirky outfits, her iPad/midi-controller performances, her creative music videos i.e., "Settle Down" and "Somebody That I Used to Know" with Gotye.  What impresses me the most is her dedication - she has been singing and performing since she was atleast 10 years old.  And so she reminds me that talent takes time to cultivate; Rome wasn't built in a day.

John Legend: I reconnected with Mr. Legend last Spring every week (via satellite) as he lit the stage of the new ABC reality singing show "Duets."  His cool nature and raw criticism (contrasted with some of the other judges' empty flattery of contestants) really resonated with me.

But, beyond his unapologetic honesty, dashing good looks, buttery tenor vocals, and innovative musical style, the reason he really inspires me is that he took a risk in following his passions - leaving a career as a management consultant at Boston Consulting Group.  So - you can be a business-minded, corporate type and an artist??!!  And, to think all of that talent could have been suffocating in Corporate America!  Perhaps I am destined to follow in his path..