Janelle Monae was already promising to be a distinguishable kind of talent with her 2007 EP and her 60s soul sound with a touch of outer space. And the music video for her new song “Tightrope” (to be released on her upcoming album in May) has given us even more to look forward to.

There’s one thing extra special about this video though. Aside from the smooth dancing, awesome energy, and undeniably catchy song, the video features a Maya Deren reference. (Puttin’ my film history cap on…) See those hooded people with the mirrors for faces? That’s from the mind of the renowned avant-garde filmmaker herself. And unmistakably so. The faceless, cloaked people appear in Deren’s experimental short, Meshes of the Afternoon (1943). See the original image at about 3:18 in this video:

Though made in the early 40s with very simple filmmaking techniques, this image alone effectively disturbs me every time I see it, and haunts me after.

As a fan of Maya Deren and her works, the reference came as a gleeful, nerdy surprise. Did someone really just pay homage to what some consider the “grandmother of avant-garde” in their music video?! I decided to do a Google search to see if my finding was novel. (It wasn’t, most unfortunately.) But I was pleased to find that a few other people took note of this.

Janelle and/or this music video director have earned extra points in my book for this. (Not that anyone’s reading my book, but still). For anyone who’s a fan of – or at least familiar with – Maya Deren, this little homage blows all the rest of them out of the water in its total unexpectedness. I hate to use the word “obscure,” but Deren is too often neglected outside of a film history class (assuming the curriculum covers avant-garde). As this guy says on MuuMuse, “Lady Gaga, eat your obscure cultural reference loving heart out.”

He’s right. I’ll take a nod to Deren over heavy-handed Tarantino references any day.