Buzz Watch: Janelle Monae!

Authored by Jay Baage on August 7, 2008 - 3:34pm.

In a digital age when the artist that is getting the most buzz on social networking sites such as MySpace is a crappy Eurotechno artist called Basshunter, it is refreshing to see that the Internet also brings us class acts such as Janelle Monae! Her first single "Violet Stars Happy Hunting" was an almost instant Internet sensation and her album Metropolis "The Chase" was only available through her website and live performances, as well as iTunes and other mp3 download sites. She has since been signed by Sean "Diddy" Combs' label, Bad Boy Records via a joint venture with her own recording label, The Wondaland Arts Society. In four days, August 12, she will release the first physical copy of her album, a special limited edition only pressed in 57,821 copies. It will be interesting to see how it does. My guess is that her 32,000+ friends on MySpace will want to own their fair share of these collectibles. Take a look at her website and her MySpace page, they are good examples of how a unique artist can befriend the web and the people using it. The only thing missing is a few really good videos on YouTube!