Janelle Monae

On her debut Bad Boy EP, Janelle Monae plays Cindi Mayweather, an alien android from the future who's on the run because she's in love with a human, which is illegal. Along the way, she fills us in on her feelings: She just wants to be free to love who she wants, she says on the Outkast-stanky "Many Moons" (Big Boi produced). She implores the president to get his head out of his hiney on the Lauryn-Hill-meets-Cee-Lo-Green old-soul groove "Dear Mr. President." And she calls out her apathetic fellow citizens on the delicious "Sincerely, Jane." Ladies and gents, meet the new queen of the ATLiens.