Clearly at home on stage, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Janelle Monae [ tickets ] is a theatrical performer. In fact, musical theater was her first career goal--as soon as she finished high school in her hometown of Kansas City, KS, Monae headed straight for New York City to study the craft at the American Musical Academy.

After a few off-Broadway stints in 2004, she discovered her true passion was making music and soon moved away from the Big Apple. In her new home of Atlanta, she helped launch the Wondaland Arts Society [W.A.S.] where she met artists such as Big Boi [ tickets ] of OutKast [ tickets ], and by 2007 she was signed to Sean "Diddy" Combs [ tickets ]' Bad Boy Records. Last year, Monae released "Metropolis: The Chase Suite (Special Edition)," which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for the single "Many Moons."