Hot stuff. Beautiful jazz voice. Quirky imagination. Playing a robot in love and singing about “the walking dead”, Janelle Monae is anything but robotic. She comes from a family that suffered from crack addiction, so she’s got a good attitude about keeping her head straight. Coming from the underground scene, she counts Prince among her fans. Now she is being promoted by Sean “Diddy” Combs, so she is sure to go places. Sounds like she’s auditioning for the next Bond here.
Update: After “Sincerely Jane”, watch her short film “Many Moons” below.
Sincerely Jane
Left the city, my momma she said don’t come back home
These kids round’ killin each other, they lost they minds, they gone
They quittin’ school, making babies and can barely read
Some gone off to their fall, lord have mercy on them
One, two, three, four, your cousins is round’ here sellin’ dope
While they’re daddies, your uncle is walking round’ strung out
Babies with babies, and their tears keep burning,
while their dreams go down the drain now
Chorus: Are we really living or just walking dead now?
Or dreaming of a hope riding the wings of angels
The way we live
The way we die
What a tragedy, I’m so terrified
Day dreamers please wake up, we can’t sleep no more
Love don’t make no sense, ask your neighbor
The winds have changed; it seems they have abandoned us
The truth hurts, and so does yesterday
What good is love if it burns bright, and explodes in flames
(I thought every little thing had love, but – uh)
Chorus: Are we…
I’ve seen them shootin’ up funerals in they Sunday clothes
Spending money on spinners but won’t pay college loans
And all you gangers and bangers rollin’ dice and taking lives, in a smokey dark
Lord have mercy on you
Teacher, teacher please reach those girls in them videos
The little girls just broken queens, confusing bling for soul
Danger, there’s danger when you take off your clothes, all your dreams go down the drain girl
Chorus: Are we…
We live and then we die, and we never know the right
So now, now we’re gone now, on your mark
We live and then we die, and we never touch the sky
So now, now we’re gone now, on your mark
Five, seven, eight, two, one
It is now time, for you to come home my dear
You’ve been gone long enough
You must come, you must go home
Many Moons
