On Tuesday night, Janelle Monáe campaigned her rousing track “Turntables” one last time for an Academy Award nomination on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Set in a dimly-lit warehouse, the genre-bending artist and her wicked band rock out to the song in signature Monáe style: wild and free.
She fiercely wielded an electric guitar and danced herself out of her fedora. Her true grit as a performer can’t be denied here, commanding the spotlight with every change-inflicted lyric she uttered.
“Turntables” is close to receiving a Best Original Song nomination at the 93rd Oscars. The song made the shortlist in February, and polling for Academy Award members to vote closed on Wednesday.
The Nate “Rocket” Wonder-produced record is attached to the Amazon documentary All In: The Fight For Democracy.
In other news, Monáe’s role in last year’s Antebellum earned her 2021 NAACP Image Awards nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture.
Watch Janelle Monáe’s gutsy performance above.