Metropolis Daily News
Janelle creates BIG BUZZ@ SXSW!
March 23rd, 2009
Boston Globe
Singer Monáe creates a buzz at SXSW
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“Word on the street, and in hotel elevators and the corner Starbucks, spread fast at the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference here last week. It usually went something like this: “Oh my God, have you seen Janelle Monáe yet? You. Have. To.”
“Monáe was in a league of her own. She seems like she’s from another planet, but it’s here on earth that her fame seems imminent.”
Austin 360
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“Gentle reader, every now and again at SXSW, if you’re exceptionally fortunate, you’ll encounter an artist that’s so singular in vision – so well rehearsed with music that is extraordinarily forward-looking – that you’ll know deep down in your marrow that you’re bearing witness to greatness.”
Village Voice
SXSW 2009 Best in Show: Janelle Monae
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“she vacillates gleefully from Orwellian space-funk to skronking heavy metal to her pretty incredible torch-song cover of Nat King Cole’s “Smile” to the new “Tightrope,” a fantastic pop-r&b anthem with serious “Umbrella”-of-2009 potential. Throughout, she dabbles in diva howls and operatic lunacy, all while dancing like a robot trying to do the Human.”
New York Times – read the full article here!
LA Times
SXSW: Lasting impressions in a down climate
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The Pitch
Dispatch from SXSW: Janelle Monae is queen
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“the place exploded. And I do mean exploded. A sea of flashing cameras, more than I had seen at any show thus far, immediately appeared. ”
“Even at SXSW, a place where thousands of bands are competing for attention, it’s hard to find a few that simply blow you away, the few that just have that intangible it. Janelle Monae certainly does, and proved it in Austin.”
Pitchfork
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“Monáe’s absurdist combination of funkadelic groove, girl-group bop, and grunge makes Andre 3000’s rock experiments look tame.”
Metro
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“Janelle Monae put on a set so tight and entertaining that she could have played all night and it still would have seemed too short.”
Minneapolis Star Tribune
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“Janelle Monae opened for Big Boi of OutKast fame at the giant Austin Music Hall with a jaw-dropping performance. Monae offered up several 10-minute-plus soul/funk jams and one long torch ballad all amped up by a hyperactive showmanship that was part Prince, Grace Jones and Gwen Stefani”
Austin 360
http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/music/entries/2009/03/20/sxsw_review_dallas_austin_at_t.html
NBC Bay Area
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Billboard Biz
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“Jonathan McHugh, the music supervisor and movie producer most prominently connected to the “Saw” series was at the Saturday showcase for Chop Shop, the music supervising company, watching a packed tent of about 200 people go apeshit for the futurist funk of Atlantic’s Janelle Monae.”
Muzzle of Bees
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“The floors and walls of the venue shook so hard that I thought that shit was gonna collapse. My friends and I left awestruck, yet again, and on a complete kick-ass show high–meanwhile, picking the chunks of broken ceiling debris out of our hair. Bananas.”
Austin 360
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“Monae took the stage on schedule at 3:30 p.m., with a band member announcing her as “from Kansas City by way of Atlanta, one of the most astonishing performers of our time,” which would have seemed conceited had it not been clearly true.”
La Vie En Robe
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Concrete Loop
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NY Times Arts Beat
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She was amazing at the Afro Punk showcase. She was the only reason I went and the only show I payed for the whole week. It was money well spent!
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:17 pmHappy to see Ms. Monae doing her thing. I hope to God Diddy doesn’t ruin her career.
March 23rd, 2009 at 10:42 pm