On 'What Now,' Brittany Howard is a virtuoso in pursuit of a flow state

For all the Prince worship present in pop culture, there aren't very many contemporary stars who are able to sustain the total relentlessness of his musicality — how talent oozed from every inch and in every direction, how jazz and gospel ran through his blood. Figures like Janelle Monáe have proudly taken up our short king's funk-fueled pursuit of pleasure and androgyny, and his influence surely can be felt in guitar-R&B loverboys like Omar Apollo and Miguel. But that sense of awe one gets from watching Prince play his guitar — it's like the difference between singing and sanging. He made that thing wail, then matched it with a voice capable of articulating entirely new emotions and a sense of rhythm which cannot be taught.

Watching Brittany Howard's video for "What Now," I'm reminded ofmore than this person singing, is what you're meant to focus on. She's a guitar god in the shadows — something you can only be when your instrumental skill and style speak for themselves.