After releasing the hit debut LP, The ArchAndroid, rubbing elbows with the likes of Prince and Stevie Wonder at Bonnaroo, and performing with Bruno Mars and B.o.B. at the Grammy’s, soul and hip hop diva Janelle Monáe certainly is not in Kansas City anymore.
Janelle Monáe will be teaming up with indie pop up-and-comers, Fun, tomorrow night as a part of the Campus Consciousness Tour.
According to its website, the tour “aims to inspire and activate students in an electric atmosphere while leaving a positive impact on each community the tour visits.” Pushing a green agenda, the tour has efficiencies to lessen the environmental footprint. The tour has hosted other big name artists since 2006, including Drake, Wiz Khalifa, and Passion Pit.
“I enjoy college tours,” Monáe said. “It’s more special to catch an audience that is very open to learn and haven’t yet gone into the real world.”
According to Fun singer Nate Ruess, playing for new college crowds is always exciting, but the best part of a college tour involves a little indulgence in one of his favorite pastimes — playing basketball with the students.
Fun collaborated with Monáe for their single, “We Are Young.” The two did not meet in person until the start of the tour.
Though often labeled as “pop”, Ruess stated that the music Fun makes is not like current pop music heard on the radio, but more like the music of bands such as The Beatles and their contemporaries.
When show time comes for Blackburn-Templeton Memorial Auditorium, Monáe promises a performance that the audience will not forget. A former student of musical theatre, Monáe looks to bring the stories from her concept album to life.
“I don’t have to be on Broadway to be in a musical,” Monáe said. “This won’t just be just a concert, but an experience from the beginning to the end.”
Aside from writing the music, Monáe is heavily involved in producing, preparing the live show and is even in charge of her wardrobe and makeup.
“I’m very humble to be the narrator of this whole project,” she said. Whether or not Monáe is performing for crowds of thousands or dozens, she is happy to be fueling her passion.
“Performing is just in my DNA,” Monáe said. “If no one was watching, I’d still be doing this.”
ap338210@ohiou.edu
