About 4:24 into the music video for "Tightrope," a black man in a dark suit and donning a top hat tips his hat to Janelle as she's carried away by two faceless "dementor-like" beings after dancing. Set in an insane asylum, the funky rhythms of "Tightrope" and the message of balancing one's life become a dance that gets the entire asylum dancing and grooving to to Janelle's James Brown-inspired footwork. According to the first of the following videos, Janelle explains the video as a positive message to balance oneself on the tightrope of life to maintain one's sanity .Janelle also says that the people in the music video may or may not be mentally ill since she signed a contract with the sanatorium, Palace of the Dogs. Regardless of the possible mental illness of the dancers and participants in the video, the black man with the top hat who crosses paths with her and tips his hat as she's carried away by the faceless figures draped in black is Baron Samedi, loa of death. Him tipping his hat to Monae means she is being taken away to die, which in the clip is shown as her being sent back to her cell. Monae is subtly suggesting that prison, or insane asylums, essentially kill the victims. Of course one would have to be somewhat familiar with Haitian Vodou in order to catch the reference. Ms. Monae also embraces a Vodou aesthetic and religious beliefs in other parts of the song, even singing, "Put some voodoo on it" near the song's conclusion, making the Vodou reference explicit with the connection between asylums and as crossroads of the living and the dead. Moreover, the song's introductory passage, quoted in full at the top of the post, celebrates the power of dancing as liberating, which is part of the core of Vodou beliefs. In addition, the dark attire of the residents suggest a funereal setting, which is thematically paired with the appearance of Baron Samedi, loa of death.
Of course one could also interpret the song as a metaphor for Janelle Monae's career, which tips on the tightrope between popular R&B music and independent, artsy music. Janelle Monae is trying to appeal to mainstream audiences beyond the narrow bands of white hipsters, but at the same time wants to retain her artistic creativity and control without losing it for the mainstream R&B crowd. The song itself, rooted in funk and featuring her James Brown-like dance moves is artistically within the 'safe' or expected confines of popular R&B, but her lyrics, on the surface simple, could suggest she is trying to balance her music career as indie but also popular, or willing to perform for the masses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4AE7r51Dqc&feature=related Janelle explains the song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwnefUaKCbc&ob=av3e Music video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvf3Vc2NzI4&feature=related interesting rap mix of "Tightrope"
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