Janelle Monae’s Special Session for KCRW

Janelle Monae proved that she is undoubtedly a star on the rise in a live sessionwetaped in front of a small studio audience at legendary producer Bob Clearmountain’s Berkeley Street Studio in Santa Monica, and now its available in the archives just in time for the holiday weekend. If you haven’t heard Janelle’s music yet, NOW is the time. She puts on a show like no other and her ambitious sophomore album, “The ArchAndroid,” is currently the most played album on KCRW.

She wowed the Hollywood Bowl twice last summer with her bold and unique style and you can see why in her live session.

Her interview with Jason Bentley touched on a wide variety of topics, from her desire to “preserve art,” her musical theater background and comparisons to David Bowie to working with Sean Combs, her own artist collective — the Wondaland Arts Society – and, best of all, her hairstyle.

“I’m the type of person that I experiment in my room when I’m alone and I just come up with all these crazy things, and whatever works, you know, works. It works for me and it’s a “Monae.” People call it a “Whompador,” and a “Pompador,”- it’s called a Monae.”

Check it out in the photo below.

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