A while back I wrote an open letter to Summer '08 and listed Janelle Monáe's music as a source of inspiration and adventure. Little did I know at the time that it was a self-fulfilling prophesy. This past weekend I was at BAM in Brooklyn shooting performances and holding interviews with the artists at the 4th annual Afro-Punk festival. I was able to meet and interview Africa Bambaataa, The Apes, Millsted, Sweetie, The Smyrk... and Janelle Monáe! You can read the blog entry that I wrote for work on the MTV Newsroom blog. While searching for other coverage this morning, I came across this video shot from the audience. You can see me up on the left hand side of the stage shooting Janelle Monáe (at 9:08 in). At one point she dove down from the stage and for a moment latched on to my shotgun mic. You can see what I saw (and shot) here: The crowd LOVED her and I, while working, experienced my ultimate definition of summer fun.Janelle Monáe is one of the few artists around who I think should have either a daily vlog going on or some sort of weekly episodic series about her life and the Wondaland Artists Society. I say this purely as a fan of her music and her message. I hope that in August she brings a shooter with her on her trip to Norway for the Oya Festival where she will be playing with N.E.R.D. I also hope that eventually she will release a live performance DVD. Her stage presence is electric and I should know, as I was inches away from her and was almost knocked off the stage when she flung herself into the crowd this past weekend ^_^. Awesome!