Bruno Mars & Janelle Monáe

Usually, I have some vehement oppositions to anything even remotely associated to mainstream hip-hop, especially the likes of which I see with suffocating regularity on music TV stations. But Ms. Monáe is possibly the singular exception. Unless you count my guilty pleasure liking of certain Drake songs, but that’s a different article altogether. Point is, the girl sings like she means it. Underneath all that slick production is a voice that knows how to emote on a track that’s danceable at the same time. On top of that, the old school hip-hop and classic soul nods she throws into each song make it clear Monáe isn’t just going through the motions, like so many of her genre-mates seem to. - Brien Overly