| cold war, real beauty |

I often wonder if Janelle Monae is for real. She is so wonderfully unique, yet her musicality (and PR campaign) affords her status as a mainstream popster. In this way, her appeal is similar to that of hip-hop/pop maven Andre 3000. Both are multi-talented, but more importantly, they both convey messages that speak beyond the mere lyrics on their records.

In this, her latest video from her smash album, Monae turns back the clock and gives a nod to Sinead O'Connor's iconic video for "Nothing Compares 2 U". The bare-bones presentation is nothing like what I had imagined the video would be. Still, there are elements of the video that will immediately stop you in your tracks and beg you to watch. By the second verse, I was convinced that I was indeed watching a real person. I may not know her "cold war" is, but it doesn't really matter; I'll be damned if those aren't real tears.

After watching this video four times, I still don't quite know what I'm looking at. There's a mysterious, raw  beauty that I just can't seem to resist.