LOS ANGELES , California ( CNN ) -- Janelle Monae is a girl from another planet , and she 's invading your world . Janelle Monae creates `` cool , futuristic soul with a real '80s quality , '' says a DJ . Sightings of the singer-songwriter will include this week 's `` American Idol '' finale , the Hollywood Bowl and concert stages across America this summer and TV 's Sci Fi Channel this fall . Monae insists that her real identity is Cindi Mayweather , an android traveling through space and time to escape destruction ordered because she fell in love with a human , a fatal infraction of robots ' rules . Along the way , she 's making music that moves into the future while drawing from decades past . `` It is cool , futuristic soul with a real '80s quality , '' said Garth Trinidad , a disc jockey at Los Angeles , California , radio station KCRW . Trinidad spotted Monae three years ago , and he 's been watching her like an astronomer tracking the approach of a distant comet destined to light Earth 's sky . `` I believe she 's going to be a household name in the next year or two , '' said Trinidad , a self-described `` champion of the underdog '' who is credited with giving Jill Scott and Gnarls Barkley early radio airplay . Monae -- the human -- is a striking combination of voice , style , imagination and fearlessness that defies conventional description , making it easier to buy into the fantasy of Mayweather the android . When her song `` Many Moons '' was nominated for a Grammy in December , it was in the urban/alternative category . If Monae is an android from the future , her musical programming included the past . Trinidad compared her `` very fluid , very pleasing '' voice to Donna Summer , circa 1976 . At a Los Angeles show this month , she mixed 20th-century classics with her own futuristic songs . Monae delivered a sweet version of Nat King Cole 's `` Smile '' while standing atop a barstool . Senior citizens danced the `` Twist '' when her band broke out into the Beatles ' 1964 hit `` I Saw Her Standing There . '' She loves timeless music , Monae said after her show . `` We look to a lot of people whose bodies are dead and gone , but their spirit is still with us , '' Monae said . Her choreography borrows from James Brown , Michael Jackson and Devo , with dance moves from the future . Monae -- or Mayweather -- thinks she can fly . She jumped head-first into the audience , `` crowd surfing '' the unlikely mosh pit in UCLA 's Royce Hall . Search Monae 's name on YouTube and you 'll see her jumping into swimming pools to end her shows . She climbed a tree in New York -- after her swim . Unlike some performers , her talent matches Monae 's onstage antics , Trinidad said . `` It 's one thing for her to perform a certain way , but she backs with it up with talent , '' he said . Monae 's android-on-the-run theme , reminiscent of the 1982 movie `` Blade Runner , '' reminds Trinidad `` of all the great albums from the past that had a story and concept attached . '' `` She was just kind of like bored with everything else going on , and she wanted to transcend it and tell a story , '' he said . Monae said she is not following a formula , that she is `` being led by my maker . '' `` I 'm very similar to a terminal , '' she said . Monae will inevitably capture the world 's attention because she is `` outshining a lot of what 's happening in the mainstream , '' Trinidad said . That time may be near . Sean `` Diddy '' Combs signed her to his Bad Boy Records , giving her music distribution . Coca-Cola hired Monae to sing on its `` Open Happiness '' ad campaign . It airs on this week 's `` American Idol '' finale . Her tour stops next month include at least six shows in the northeastern United States , opening for Gwen Stefani 's reunited rock group No Doubt . Monae then plays the Hollywood Bowl with the legendary jazz singer Etta James . She plays herself in two episodes of the Sci Fi Channel 's `` Stargate Universe '' this fall .
With Monae popping up on commercial , on tour , on TV . Singer has alter ego : Cindi Black , futuristic woman on the cover . Observers praise talent : ` ` I believe she 's going to be a household name , '' says DJ .