Weekend Preview #2: Janelle Monae/Little Jackie @ Summerstage–8/3

Like Santogold before them, two more out-of-the box Black women take the stage at Central Park this weekend.

Janelle Monae and Little Jackie’s Imani Coppola are two of music’s promising fresh faces. While I’ve had a chance to see Imani during her Brooklyn residency this past February, it’s been over a year since I discovered Janelle Monae. During that time, I’ve had numerous opportunities to see her live, but haven’t. However, once I saw the Summerstage schedule, I circled the date and put it on the family calendar!

What’s not to like? Of course, she’s got a great voice and she writes well. But what really intrigues me is that fact that a 20-something Black woman created an entire persona and mythology about this android Cindy Mayweather. When I first saw her, I immediately thought she claimed Fritz Lang’s Metropolis as inspiration. Probably more likely Ridley Scott’s Bladerunner. On the other hand, it really shouldn’t be surprising, give that anyone in their 20s–Generation Y–is a digital native, so all this cyber stuff is as natural as breathing to them.

The project’s been nurtured by Lord Rico, Big Boi from Outkast and the Wondaland Arts family, and it’s nice to see the incredible foundation that’s been built. In fact, her’s is another project that came up often on our Best of 2007 releases lists. Check out the video clip, and you’ll see that the praise is well-deserved: Girl’s got chops. Good news is that she’s made the leap to a major label, where the project should get the needed resources to really put it in the stratosphere and make her a household name. The downside: she’s signed to Bad Boy. Let’s all hope for the best.

Here’s the deal for the show:

Sunday, August 3

Giant Step & Summerstage present

Jaime Lidell
Little Jackie
Janelle Monae
Jose James
Gilles Peterson

Rumsey Playfield

72st Street, Mid-Park
NYC

Doors @ 2PM
Show @ 3PM

And it’s Free!

UPDATE–The set times are as follows: