From R&B to dance to indie— the top 3 female artists of 2010

Although practically no opinion is conclusive in the highly debatable world of popular music, Janelle Monáe, Robyn and Alexis Krauss are three critically-praised female musicians who shone last year and should have long, promising careers ahead of them. They have demonstrated their artistic genius through creative individuality and innovation, for which they received various awards and accolades.

Janelle Monáe was arguably the queen of 2010. Her first full-length album, "The ArchAndroid," received unanimous critical praise and two Grammy nominations, including Best Contemporary R&B album. "The ArchAndroid" certainly contains R&B influences, from James Brown to Stevie Wonder to Prince. But the beauty of the album is the ease with which Monáe skips across genres. The album contains orchestration, pastoral folk, electric guitars, and vocal effects that could have come off of Radiohead's "Kid A." And yet it's instantly catchy: familiar without being stale.

Monáe's youthful spirit gives her music relevance in today's pop scene. Although talking about her achievements requires encyclopedic knowledge of pop music, listening to them only requires open ears. The real genius of Janelle Monáe is her subtle ambition. Conceptually, the album deals with a dystopian future and the glimmering hope of a messianic android. But listening to it doesn't require an Orwellian worldview or even a real knowledge of the theme. Monáe is no diva—she keeps her genius under wraps, dressed in tuxedos and science fiction. Through a fictional premise, Monáe creates an authenticity that anyone can appreciate.

Of the top three, Robyn has been recording for the longest–her debut album was released over a decade ago. So what made her shine in 2010 specifically? Unfortunately for dance music, Robyn has not been the most prolific artist, often taking multiple years between albums. But in 2010, Robyn showed the world she has plenty of material up her sleeve by releasing three mini-albums. Although each was called a part of the larger album (which was released in full in November), the first two had additional songs, giving them an essence and identity of their own.  To thank her for returning to the music scene, the Grammy awards nominated one of her singles for "Best Dance Recording."

The dance genre in the overall music industry is equivalent to comedy in film: there is so much recycled material that often critics downplay the whole genre and fail to acknowledge genuinely great works. Moreover, dance music, like comedic film, is consumer-friendly, which some interpret to mean "weightless and worthless." Robyn proves the close-minded elitists wrong. Like Janelle Monáe, Robyn makes music that could be analyzed, but that should simply be enjoyed. Unlike Monáe, Robyn produces a sense of depth and entertainment in one chosen genre, and shows her talent through mastering it.

Unlike Janelle Monáe and Robyn, Alexis Krauss is not a solo artist. Instead, she is one-half of the band Sleigh Bells. From the first bombastic beat of their debut album, "Treats," Sleigh Bells grabs the listener violently and insists that she turn up the volume as loud as she can stand it. Part of the appeal of Sleigh Bells is that they do not sound like anything else–rather than skipping around genres, Sleigh Bells could almost be described as genre-less. The best way to describe the band through conventional means would be "dance-punk noise pop." Vocalist Alexis Krauss cannot be credited with creating every musical aspect, but her involvement is invaluable, as she has really created the character of Sleigh Bells. She often infuses their songs with the more familiar aspects of music–the melody, harmonies and hooks–creating order within the rich instrumentation that could be lost without her. She also succeeds in distinguishing songs from each other, transitioning smoothly between being breathy and soft to being an aggressive rocker. With an amazing debut album under their belt, it will be exciting to see what Sleigh Bells creates in the future.

These top three female artists have all excelled last year in the music industry. In an industry that often overlooks the achievements of female musicians, Janelle Monáe, Robyn and Alexis Krauss have successfully demonstrated their talent and passion through widely varying and individual approaches to music. Be on the lookout for more outstanding songs from them in the future.