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VIDEO: Janelle Monáe and Erykah Badu are the "Q.U.E.E.N."

Catching up with the High Funkstress of Fierceness better known as Ms. Janelle Monáe: The clever and stylish video has dropped for "Q.U.E.E.N.", the funky and sassy new duet between Monáe and Erykah Badu.

"Q.U.E.E.N." is the first single off Monáe’s upcoming new album The Electric Lady. Monáe spoke with Idolator about the new project. Get into the funk and watch the official music video AFTER THE TRUMP ...

Janelle Monáe: KCRW, Tour, "Smile" and "Billboard Mashup Monday"

Catching up with all things Janelle Monáe ...

The "Tightrope" sensation performed KCRW Live Session with her band Saturday night in Santa Monica. The session will be broadcast July 2, reports the LA Times. "Monáe showed the lucky crowd of 150 people why she's got the pop cognoscenti all worked up. The rising star let loose her signature pompadour ("it's called a Monáe," she informed the crowd) during a high-energy outing that featured her intricate, powerful vocalizing along with expressive dancers in freaky costumes."

Photos of the KCRW Live Session are HERE.

Monáe is currently on tour with Erykah Badu. Tomorrow night they head to San Diego. The "Tightrope" singer is also on the Lilith Fair schedule.

Monáe and The ArchAndroid continue to receive phenomenal reviews. An excellent write-up today at The Scotsman describes her as a "pint-sized, extravagantly bequiffed dynamo from Atlanta who is destined to be the next big soul star to emerge from the U.S."

Janelle Monáe performs a brilliant cover of Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" for Billboard's Mashup Mondays. Michael Jackson covered the classic on his 1995 album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. The song later became so identified with the King of Pop—who died one year ago this week—that his brother Jermaine sung it at at his memorial. "Emotionally, I've been connected to this song for quite sometime," says Monáe. "It's one of those classic standards, it's been sung by a lot of the greats, Stevie Wonder to Nat King Cole to Judy Garland to Frank Sinatra."

Watch the performance WHEN YOU JUMP ...

VIDEO: Janelle Monáe's "Tightrope" Performance on David Letterman

The High Funkstress of Fierceness Janelle Monae made her network television debut last night on the Late Show With David Letterman. Monáe's new album The ArchAndroid dropped yesterday and her jazz, funk and gospel fused arrangement was just as amazing as the performance—which ended with her spinning around, taking off her jacket and donning a cape a la James Brown. 

In other Janelle Monáe news:  The Atlanta-based singer will tour with Erykah Badu and Pharrell Williams' N.E.R.D.  Read the reviews at ArjanWrites and Creative Loafing. Also: The Atlantic  is hosting a week-long virtual discussion on all things Janelle Monáe.

Alyssa Rosenberg writes today:  

"[Monáe] really does feel to me like an entirely different generation.  Part of it is her highly realized, mature aesthetic, a tuxedo she considers a uniform paired with science-fiction imagery and themes: her music is rooted even farther in the future than the time she's actually operating in. And part of that sense comes from the confidence Monáe and her Atlanta contemporary, the rapper B.o.B., whose first album, B.o.B. Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray, dropped just weeks before The ArchAndroid, both project."

Monáe is signed to Sean Combs' Bad Boy label and Didy was behind stage during the performance. Letterman coaxed him to come out, watch the performance WHEN YOU JUMP ....

Erykah Badu to Be Charged with Disorderly Conduct Over Nude Video

More on a story R20 reported earlier this week. The Dallas Police Department will charge Grammy Award-winning R&B star Erykah Badu with disorderly conduct after stripping down nude in public for her controversial new music video "Window Seat", reports the Dallas Morning News.

Initially, police said they had no complaints about the artist's taping of a video in which she disrobed in public, and had no plans to pursue any charges. But after the video went viral Monday, the subsequent brouhaha made national headlines and became the subject of talk radio and the blogo-sphere.Dallas Police Deputy Chief Mike Genovesi, who oversees the special investigations division, said Friday that he expects that citation – about as serious as a traffic ticket – will be issued next week.In a news release, police state that Badu had disrobed in a public place without regard to other individuals and children who were in close proximity.Genovesi said police had one witness come forward Thursday, and she told authorities that she "observed Ms. Badu remove her clothing on the public street. The witness had two small children with her and was offended."

In the music video, the Dallas-born entertainer Badu strips down as she strolls through Dealey Plaza toward the location where John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. A rifle sound is edited into the video, rings out and the naked Badu collapses to the pavement as bystanders watch.

The singer said she was challenging "groupthink" and told the Morning News that she chose the famous "grassy knoll" because "it was the most monumental place in Dallas I could think of."

Disorderly conduct is a Class C misdemeanor in Dallas. The DPD says the ticket will be mailed to Badu, who can choose to pay the fine or go to court. The fine: $500. The publicity is priceless.

"Window Seat" has since been removed or edited at some YouTube channels. If you missed it the first time around, watch the official un-edited version and Erykah Badu performing the song on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" AFTER THE JUMP ...

Erykah Badu Defends Nude Video at JFK Assassination Site

Soul and R&B star Erykah Badu is defending a controversial new music video where she walks down a Dallas  sidewalk  before collapsing naked near the exact spot where John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.

In the five-and-a-half-minute "Window Seat" video–which instantly went viral Monday on YouTube–the Dallas-born entertainer strips down before crowds in Dealey Plaza. The video was shot for Badu's new album, "New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh" without a crew in one take on March 17, according to her Twitter. As the music video progresses, a naked Badu reaches Dealey Plaza and an edited-in gunshot is heard. Badu's head snaps back and the naked singer crumples to the ground.

In an interview with the Dallas Morning News, the singer says she chose the famous "grassy knoll" at Dealey Plaza because "it was the most monumental place in Dallas I could think of."

Badu tweeted that she was "too busy lookin for cops" to be shy about her nudity, but was aware that children were around and “prayed they wouldn’t b traumatized."

Edgy and pushing the envelope? Or tasteless? Watch the video WHEN YOU JUMP ...