The music video for Janelle Monae’s “Make Me Feel” opens with the singer decked out in ‘80s apparel, walking into a nightclub that we think we would only see in a movie. It has dim lighting, glow of orange, red, blue, green, and purple lights, energy from the other people and background conversations, the tension is building and you are just waiting for the music to start. Then she sees her alter ego sitting in a chair on stage and the music starts. Monae seems nervous, looking around, seems very unsure. Her alter ego is the epitome of cool, calm and collected. The rest of the video is a montage of clips, each one brighter, more surreal and sensual than the last.

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGRzz0oqgUE

I think the most interesting clip in this montage of videos is the one of her running back and forth between the man and woman love interests in the video (2:35-2:50). A dimly lit room with a purple/red glow and the woman at one end, the man at the other end and Monae in the middle going back and forth as she sings “That’s just the way that I feel now, baby/ Good God! I can’t help it! Agh!/ That’s just the way that I feel, yeah/ Please! I can’t help it” echoing one of the main themes behind the song that she is a girl who places herself in romantic situations with both men and women, it just depends how they make her feel. The song is groovy, sexy and sends a progressive message, I am what I am. She sings about feeling a certain way for someone regardless of their gender.

In Monae’s 2019 Grammys performance of “Make Me Feel” the slick choreography and sleek outfits mirrored the video’s themes as well. Surrounded by a troupe of dancers and breaking out her own solo dance routine as well, the elaborate performance definitely paid tribute to the sensational video released earlier that year. Decked out in a black, patent leather, tuxedo-like bodysuit and electric guitar in hand, dancers wearing a similar outfit, she definitely embraced her sexuality with the outfits and the smoke filled, purple lit stage, also paying homage to her late mentor Prince. Her silky moves across the stage couldn’t help but get the crowd to their feet and make them feel alive as she delivered her LGBTQ anthem.

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGLkRG89p00