'All The Rage Launch was a very well put together event. Janelle is a performer like none I have ever seen before...'

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Janelle Monae: simply out of this world Andy Morris 26 October 2009 She's from another time. And quite possibly another planet. Which makes her, in GQ's eyes at least, utterly irresistible. Janelle Monae, the super-charged 23-year-old Kansas City soul singer has been getting critics excited for a while now. Last year Janelle featured in GQ's annual "100 Best Things in the World Right Now" (check out this year's list in our January issue). We were, typically, as understated as ever. "Lo, the female Prince" we cried. You can forgive our enthusiasm. Everything seemed right: she looked great and sounded phenomenal. She dresses in tuxedos (think VV Brown on the way to Andre 3000's party) and her songs focused on an android named Cindi Mayweather who discovers love in the year 2719. She is utterly bonkers in the classic Grace Jones/George Clinton mould. Her EP "Metropolis: The Chase Suite" slipped out in America and everyone waited with baited breath. Nothing more was heard... Until now. Next week she's finally coming over to the UK for her debut live show. On 4 November she headlines Cargo in east London for one of the most eagerly anticipated gigs of the year. A whirling dervish of funk, she's from the James Brown school of stage performance (dramatic entrances, aonetwothreefour countoffs) and looks set to dazzle and amaze. It's even for charity (Resources For Autism) so you really have no excuse for not getting a ticket. Part of the reason for Janelle's unique appeal is that she's certainly got a more interesting biography than most. Growing up poor in Kansas City, both her father and stepfather had major drug problems. Her mother, a caretaker, had to use the money that Janelle won in talent competitions to pay the bills. Janelle was always fiercely individual - in primary school she wore a cape for three months and dressed as a pirate for two. Despite such flamboyance, her homelife grew grimmer and she increasingly escaped into a world of musical theatre. She eventually ended up attending New York's American Musical and Dramatic Arts Academy. She only lasted a year, frustrated that a black girl's roles were limited to appearing in The Lion King, The Wiz and Aida. So she started writing songs, performing and putting music up on myspace. Eventually, P. Diddy heard her tracks and sent her a message. Sadly for Janelle she didn't believe it was really him. She decided to head to Europe on an exchange program - but got stuck in Atlanta instead. Her breakthrough came when she performed Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly" at an Open Mike night at Justin's restaurant. Sitting on the front row was Big Boi, one half of hip-hop duo Outkast. He approached her and Janelle ended up on one of his mixtapes and on a number of tracks on Outkast's underrated Idlewild album. Unsurprisingly, she won over Andre 3000 as well: "Ms. Monae has one of the most enchanting voices of our generation," he said of the band's protégé. He wasn't alone in praising the singer. Janelle signed to Bad Boy Records and Diddy described her as "a true visionary, with an original sound and a mesmerizing presence." Such is her acclaim that she's even managed to get praise from Prince himself. Part of the reason why she's so exciting is the breadth of her influences, including, in no particular order, Octavia E. Butler's sci fi novels, Salvador Dali's painting, Malcolm Gladwell's writing, Ridley Scott's Blade Runner and Fritz Lang's Metropolis. From her Atlanta studio (complete with old funfair machines and an aquarium) she produces strange, soulful songs with titles like "Cybertronic Purgatory" and "Violet Stars Happy Hunting!" She's also reviving the art of the completely ridiculous interview - she told BBC's Newsbeat that she bonded with Big Boi over their love of fencing and once informed an interviewer she'd really love to collaborate with "Bill Cosby and Hillary Clinton". We're still not sure if she's joking. What we are sure of is that we're really keen to see her in London. She seems to have the appetite for touring, saying "It's a big universe. To stay in one tiny place is doing a disservice to yourself." So use this opportunity to see her in a tiny space - you won't regret it.

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