Clearly, Janelle Monae is a big fan of somewhat-obscure film references. She already tipped us off by referencing a Maya Deren film in her video, “Tightrope.” But how awesome is this?

The left is the cover for Monae’s upcoming album (due for release on May 18th), The ArchAndroid; and the right is the promotional image for Fritz Lang’s 1927 sci-fi classic, Metropolis. I’m really digging this modern homage to the old movie.

Janelle Monae’s personal style is clearly unique with an emphasis on the futuristic and all things space-related. And interestingly enough, her EP was entitled Metropolis, which The Hydra called back in January a “neo-soul/dance interpretation of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.“

Monae herself seems pretty excited about the cover art, with tweet after tweet about it on her Twitter. As she should be.

At this rate, maybe there will be a class like, “Janelle Monae: References to Film Culture through Music” at some film school someday. I’d enroll.