Watch: Janelle Monae Gives Amazing Performance of Tightrope on Letterman

Late night talk shows have their share of musicians every night and the depending on who the host is (or rather how much he is involved with the music booking), there’s usually a lot of room for variety. However, when it comes around to that time of the night and the musical guest is on last, that performance better be fantastic enough to keep you from dozing off.

Ladies and gentleman, enter the amazing Janelle Monae.

Monae has just released her long awaited debut album, The ArchAndroid, and if you’ seen the music video for her single, ‘Tightrope,” you would already know how charismatic she is. She’s got the beauty, the vocals, and the moves down but to see her deliver this song live is another story. Known for always killing it on stage, Monae had us mesmerized as she transcended our television sets as her energy and talent just exuded charming credibility.

There was no way anyone fell asleep while she did her number as David Letterman’s musical guest. Not only did she envelope herself in this performance but the fancy footwork was wonderfully complemented by her backing band who also had synchronized dance moves. If that combination weren’t enough to get you off the couch to do the tightrope with her, she also had a James Brown moment where she threw her jacket off only to be draped in a cape.

Diddy also makes a cameo at the end, considering the fact Monae is signed to Bad Boy Records. This may be one act of Diddy’s who actually continues to sell records. Discovered by OutKast‘s Big Boi and good buddies with indie dance rockers, of Montreal, we’ve got a genre bending star we can’t take our eyes off of. What a magnificent way to completely slay a debut performance on American television.

Watch Janelle Monae’s stellar performance below and let us know what you think!

What did you think of Janelle Monae’s performance of “Tightrope?”