Hello, it's frightening to see how silly people behave, specially in the media this not very lethal virus has cost many billions on the stockmarket alone, what is frightening to me what madness will befall this planet when a serious virus strikes....
Today's Artist is a Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, and actor she left her mark on 2010s R&B with an energized retro-futuristic sound wrapped in theatrical science fiction concepts. After she spent years grinding away in the Atlanta underground, she capitalized on support from OutKast's Big Boi and developed into one of the most dynamic artists of her time, fusing soul, funk, hip-hop, and new wave -- among other genres -- with a spirited approach that seemed to treat entertainment and art as indivisible. She and her fellow Wondaland associates likewise stressed singles as much as albums. "Tightrope" and "Django Jane" provided bold jolts, while The ArchAndroid (2010), The Electric Lady (2013), and Dirty Computer (2018), all complex full-lengths, elaborated upon themes of oppression, identity, and liberation as they related to race and sexuality.. . ....... N Joy
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Growing up, Janelle Monáe Robinson felt constrained by the limited resources offered in her greater Kansas City, Kansas environment. When she finished high school, she moved to New York to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy with the intention of pursuing musical theater. After performing in a couple off-Broadway shows and encountering a lack of desirable roles, she opted to try her luck in Atlanta. She soon joined a band and toured the local college circuit, where she eventually got in touch with her future partners in Wondaland Arts Society -- a collective and label that looked to promote experimental arts -- and recorded The Audition, which she financed, released, and distributed in a run of a few hundred copies. OutKast's Big Boi included two of the songs from the set, the Off the Wall-styled "Lettin' Go" and an electro version of DeBarge's "Time Will Reveal," on his 2005 compilation Got Purp?, Vol. 2. Robinson also appeared on OutKast's 2006 soundtrack, Idlewild, and was in the video for "Morris Brown."
In 2007, Monáe released her first solo work, Metropolis. It was originally conceived as a concept album in four parts, or "suites", which were to be released through her website and mp3 download sites. After the release of the first part of the series, Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase) in mid-2007, these plans were altered following her signing with Sean Combs's label, Bad Boy Records, later in the year. The label gave an official and physical release to the first suite in August 2008, which was retitled Metropolis: The Chase Suite (Special Edition) and included two new tracks. The EP was critically acclaimed, garnering Monáe a 51st Annual Grammy Awards Grammy nomination for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for her single "Many Moons",[24] festival appearances and opening slots for indie pop band of Montreal. Monáe also toured as the opening act for band No Doubt on their summer 2009 tour. Her single "Open Happiness" was featured in the 2009 season finale of American Idol. Monáe told MTV about her concept for her new album and also discussed her alter-ego named Cindi Mayweather, she said:
Cindi is an android and I love speaking about the android because they are the new "other". People are afraid of the other and I believe we're going to live in a world with androids because of technology and the way it advances. The first album she was running because she had fallen in love with a human and she was being disassembled for that.
In a November 2009 interview, Monáe revealed the title and concept behind her album, The ArchAndroid. The album was released on May 18, 2010. The second and third suites of Metropolis are combined into this full-length release, in which Monáe's alter-ego, Cindi Mayweather – also the protagonist of Metropolis: The Chase Suite – becomes a messianic figure to the android community of Metropolis. Monáe noted that she plans to shoot a video for each song on The ArchAndroid and create a film, graphic novel and a touring Broadway musical based on the album.[29] The Metropolis concept series draws inspiration from a wide range of musical, cinematic and other sources, ranging from Alfred Hitchcock to Debussy to Philip K. Dick. However, the series puts Fritz Lang's 1927 silent film Metropolis, which Monáe referred to as "the godfather of science-fiction movies", in special regard. Aside from sharing a name, they also share visual styles (the cover for The ArchAndroid is inspired by the iconic poster for Metropolis), conceptual themes and political goals, using expressionistic future scenarios to examine and explore contemporary ideas of prejudice and class. Both also include a performing female android, though to very different effect. Where Metropolis android Maria is the evil, havoc-sowing double of the messianic figure to the city's strictly segregated working class, Monáe's messianic android muse Cindi Mayweather represents an interpretation of androids as that segregated minority, which Monáe describes as "... the Other. And I feel like all of us, whether in the majority or the minority, felt like the Other at some point."
Monáe received the Vanguard Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers at the Rhythm & Soul Music Awards in 2010. Monáe covered Charlie Chaplin's Smile on Billboard.com in June 2010. In an NPR interview in September 2010, Monáe stated that she is a believer in, and a proponent of, time travel. Monáe performed "Tightrope" during the second elimination episode of the 11th Season of Dancing with the Stars on September 28, 2010. Monáe performed at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2011 alongside artists Bruno Mars and B.o.B; She performed the synth section of B.o.B's song "Nothin' on You" and she then performed her track "Cold War" with B.o.B on the guitar and Mars on the drums. The performance received a standing ovation.[36] Monáe's single "Tightrope" was also featured on the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2011, performed by Pia Toscano, Haley Reinhart, Naima Adedapo, and Thia Megia.
In September 2011, Monáe was featured as a guest vocalist on fun.'s single, "We Are Young", which achieved major commercial success, topping the charts of over ten countries and selling more than ten million units worldwide. The song garnered Monáe three Grammy nominations at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year. Nate Ruess, the lead singer of fun., performed an acoustic version of "We Are Young" with Monáe
Monáe was also featured on "Do My Thing" for Estelle's studio album, All of Me. In June 2012, Monáe performed two new songs, "Electric Lady" and "Dorothy Dandridge Eyes" – from her then-upcoming sophomore studio album, The Electric Lady – at the Toronto Jazz Festival. In July 2012, for the second year in a row, she appeared at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Europe as well as in the 46th edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland on the 14th.
In August 2012, Monáe was chosen as CoverGirl's newest spokeswoman. In September 2012, Monáe performed at CarolinaFest in support of President Obama, just before the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.[42] In October 2012, Monáe starred in a commercial for the Sonos Wireless HiFi home audio system, and appeared in a Sonos commercial in 2012 with Deep Cotton. Boston City Council named October 16, 2013 "Janelle Monáe Day" in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, in recognition of her artistry and social leadership.
Monáe's first single from The Electric Lady, "Q.U.E.E.N.", featuring Erykah Badu, premiered on SoundCloud and made available for download purchase at the iTunes Store on April 23, 2013. "Q.U.E.E.N." garnered 31,000 digital sales according to Nielsen Soundscan with the accompanying music video gaining four million YouTube views within its first week of release. In her 2013 interview with fuse, Monáe states that "Q.U.E.E.N." was inspired by conversations she shared with Erykah Badu about the treatment of marginalized people, especially African-American women, and the title is an acronym "for those who are marginalized"; Q standing for the queer community, U standing for the "untouchables", the first E standing for "emigrants", the latter standing for "excommunicated" and N standing for "negroid". Thematically, The Electric Lady continues the utopian cyborg concepts of its predecessors, while presenting itself in more plainspoken, introspective territory in addition to experimenting with genres beyond conventional funk and soul such as jazz ("Dorothy Dandridge Eyes"), pop-punk ("Dance Apocalyptic"), gospel ("Victory") and woozy, sensual vocal ballads ("PrimeTime", featuring Miguel). The album features guest appearances by Prince, Solange Knowles, aforementioned Miguel and Esperanza Spalding[45] with production from previous collaborator Deep Cotton (a psychedelic punk act) and Roman GianArthur (a soul music composer), and was released to critical acclaim on September 10, 2013.
On September 14, 2013, Monáe performed along with Chic at the iTunes Festival in London. On September 28, Monáe performed at the Global Citizens Festival in Central Park alongside Stevie Wonder. Monáe performed as the featured musical guest on Saturday Night Live October 26 with host Edward Norton. Her voice is heard as veterinarian Dr. Monáe in the movie Rio 2, released in the U.S. on April 11, 2014, and her song "What Is Love" was featured on the soundtrack In April 2014, Monáe was invited to perform along with Tessanne Chin, Patti LaBelle, Aretha Franklin, Jill Scott, Ariana Grande, and Melissa Etheridge at the White House as a part of their PBS-broadcast "Women of Soul" event, which celebrated American women artists whose work has left an indelible and profound impact on American national musical culture. She performed "Goldfinger", "Tightrope", and joined in on the all-inclusive performance of "Proud Mary".
On April 14, 2014, Monáe was the recipient of the inaugural Harvard College Women's Center Award for Achievement in Arts and Media for her achievements as an artist, advocate and feminist. She tweeted earlier that day, "Headed to #Harvard to meet the beautiful ladies in the Women's Center. Can't believe I'm the honoree today. Just So thankful".[55] She was also recognized as the 2014 Woman of the Year by the Harvard College Black Men's Forum at their annual Celebration of Black Women gala. In mid-2014, Monáe had an interview with Fuse where she teased a follow up to The Electric Lady. "I'm working on a new, cool creative project called 'Eephus'", she said. "It's a big concept and you're not going to see it coming. It'll just land." Later in 2014, Monáe was featured on Sérgio Mendes' album, Magic. She sings on the track titled "Visions of You".
In late March 2015, Monáe released the single "Yoga" from the album The Eephus. The album debuted at number 22 of the Billboard 200 and at number 5 of the top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums with an equivalent album sales of 47,000 units. In mid-2015 Monáe attended various fashion events including London Fashion Week and the 2015 Met Gala. She began collaborating with Nile Rodgers for a new Chic album and Duran Duran for the album Paper Gods, their first album in over five years, and their single called "Pressure Off".
On August 14, 2015, Monáe, alongside the body of her Atlanta-based Wondaland Arts Society collective, performed her protest song "Hell You Talmbout", that raised awareness of the many black lives that were taken as a result of police brutality, with lyrics such as "Walter Scott, say his name. Jerame Reid, say his name. Philip White, say his name...Eric Garner, say his name. Trayvon Martin, say his name…. Sandra Bland, say her name. Sharondra Singleton, say her name." She also gave a speech about police brutality after her performance on NBC's Today Show, "Yes Lord! God bless America! God bless all the lost lives to police brutality. We want white America to know that we stand tall today. We want black America to know we stand tall today. We will not be silenced…"
By March 15, 2016, First Lady Michelle Obama proclaimed that she had assembled a collaborative track featuring vocals from Monáe, Kelly Clarkson, Zendaya and Missy Elliott, alongside production credit from pop songwriter Diane Warren and Elliott, titled "This Is for My Girls". The iTunes-exclusive record was used to both coincide with Obama's Texan SXSW speech and to promote the First Lady's third-world educational initiative Let Girls Learn. In October 2016, Monáe made her big screen acting debut in the critically acclaimed film Moonlight, alongside Naomie Harris, André Holland, and Mahershala Ali.[71][72] Monáe also starred in the film Hidden Figures, alongside actresses Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer; the film was released in December 2016.
While filming her two movie roles, Monáe remained active in music with features on Grimes' "Venus Fly" from her Art Angels album and also the soundtrack for the Netflix series The Get Down with a song titled, "Hum Along and Dance (Gotta Get Down)". She was also on the tracks "Isn't This the World" and "Jalapeño" for the Hidden Figures soundtrack.
In an interview with People, Monáe revealed that she was already working on her third studio album when she received the scripts for her two first acting roles; therefore, she put the album on hold. She also revealed in the interview that she would be releasing new music sometime in 2017, although by the end of the year no album or single was announced. On February 16, 2018, Monáe revealed her third studio album, entitled Dirty Computer, through a teaser video released on YouTube. The album was accompanied by a narrative film project, and the teaser video aired nationwide in select theaters prior to screenings of Black Panther. Monáe recently held a series of "top-secret" listening sessions in Los Angeles and New York in support of the album. On February 22, 2018, Monáe released "Make Me Feel" and "Django Jane" as the first two singles from Dirty Computer, both accompanied by their respective music videos[81] and announced that the album would follow on April 27, 2018. She stated in an interview with BBC Radio 1: "Prince was actually working on the album with me before he passed on to another frequency, and helped me come up with some sounds. And I really miss him, you know, it's hard for me to talk about him. But I do miss him, and his spirit will never leave me."
On April 27, 2018, Monáe released a sci-fi film companion "emotion picture" to her new record Dirty Computer. The album debuted at the number six of the Billboard 200 with 54,000 equivalent units and on the top ten charts of Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland. It was chosen as the best album of the year by three publications: the Associated Press, New York Times, and NPR. The album received the nomination for Album of the Year at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. She also contributed to the soundtrack to the dark comedy film Sorry to Bother You, collaborating with The Coup.
On November 15, 2018, it was announced that Monáe would receive the Trailblazer of the Year award at the 2018 Billboard Women in Music event, which was held on December 6, 2018.[90] Also in 2018, Monáe co-starred in the fantasy drama feature film Welcome to Marwen, by filmmaker and screenwriter Robert Zemeckis alongside Steve Carell and Leslie Mann. On January 3, 2019, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival announced that Monáe will co-headliner the stage with Childish Gambino. Glastonbury Festival also confimed her presence as headlining the West Holts stage of the festival. Four days after the Coachella setlist announcement, Monàe released a new music video for her song "Screwed". The video included the collaboration of actresses Tessa Thompson and Zoë Kravitz, who is also featured in the track. She replaced Julia Roberts in the second season of the Amazon Prime Video series, Homecoming, playing "a tenacious woman who finds herself floating in a canoe, with no memory of how she got there or who she is." Also in 2019, she co-starred in the film Harriet, about abolitionist Harriet Tubman. Monáe will return to the big screen twice in 2020, with her first lead role coming in April 2020 with horror film Antebellum, and another supporting role later in the year with biopic The Glorias.
On February 9, 2020, Monáe opened the 92nd Academy Awards with a performance featuring Billy Porter that highlighted the many films nominated as well as films that were snubbed by the Academy, including Dolemite Is My Name and Midsommar.
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Janelle Monáe's uniqueness was not apparent from the beginning, as heard on Big Boi's second Got Purp compilation. The neo-electro remake of DeBarge's "Time Will Reveal" and the Off the Wall-emulating pop-funk of "Lettin' Go" were standouts -- even amidst nuggets like Konkrete's "Shit Ya Drawers," believe it or not -- but Monáe seemed destined to be one of those artists who appears on a glorified mixtape and either disappears or makes one under-promoted album prior to fleeing the industry. Even after spotlights on OutKast's Idlewild, it could not have been known to many outside Monáe's Atlanta circle that she was much more in line with Nona Hendryx and Afrofuturism than Ciara and 106 & Park. She probably has more time for Octavia Butler than for Perez Hilton. Inspired by Fritz Lang's 1927 science fiction classic, Metropolis, Suite 1: The Chase is the first of four planned releases designed as easily processible EPs detailing the life of a rebellious soul-equipped android who risks disassembly by falling in love with a human. Strip away the concept, the packaging, and the equally entertaining and deep lyrics dealing in class/race, slavery, isolation, and love -- all of that material, as crucial as it is to the whole -- and there remains a handful of magnetic songs transferred through theatrical soul, 21st century new wave, ice-coated opera, and brassy hip-hop funk. The disc's center is made of "Violet Stars Happy Hunting!!!" and "Many Moons," conjoined songs that trump anything on the André 3000 half of OutKast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. "Sincerely, Jane" is dressed up in all the fantastical instrumentation of an otherworldly Broadway production but is as grounded in grim realism as Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues" or 2Pac's "Brenda's Got a Baby," and like those two songs, it is fueled by despair rather than self-righteousness. Monáe's voice is knockout level throughout, likely versatile enough to handle any style with effortlessly expressive ease.
Janelle Monae - Metropolis, The Chase Suite 12'' (flac 171mb)
01 March of the Wolfmasters 1:27
02 Violet Stars Happy Hunting!!! 3:13
03 Many Moons 5:33
04 Cybertronic Purgatory 1:35
05 Sincerely, Jane. 5:36
06 Mr. President 4:59
07 Smile 3:58
08 Violet Stars Happy Hunting!!! (Edit) 3:12
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Any misgivings about Janelle Monáe's Bad Boy deal are nullified by the briefest contact with this, an extravagant 70-minute album involving more imagination, conceptual detail, and stylistic turnabouts than most gatefold prog rock epics. Credit Bad Boy's Diddy for allowing Monáe to fully explore the singularity on display through Metropolis, Suite I: The Chase, and work with her Wondaland crew on a bigger budget. The ArchAndroid not only picks up where The Chase let off, but contains both the second and third Metropolis suites in one shot with no discernible “let’s make some hits now” intervention. The packaging alone -- the elaborate crown, the inspiration listed beside each song, etc. -- provides much to process. Liner notes from the vice-chancellor of the arts asylum at the Palace of the Dogs, Monáe’s residence, outline the (possible) situation fleshed out in the songs. In short, Monáe was genoraped in the 28th century, sent back to the 21st century, and had her organic compounds cloned and re-purposed for the existence of ArchAndroid Cindi Mayweather, whose directive is to liberate Metropolis from a secret society of oppressors. Understanding all this stuff enhances the enjoyment of the album, but it is not required. A few tracks merely push the album along, and a gaudy Of Montreal collaboration is disruptive, but there are numerous highlights that are vastly dissimilar from one another. “Tightrope,” the biggest standout, is funky soul, all locomotive percussion and lyrical prancing to match: “I tip on alligators, and little rattlesnakers/But I’m another flavor, something like a Terminator.” Just beneath that is the burbling synth pop of “Wondaland,” as playful and rhythmically juicy as Tom Tom Club (“So inspired, you touch my wires”); the haunted space-folk of “57821” (titled after Monáe’s patient number); and the conjoined “Faster” and “Locked Inside,” packing bristling energy with a new-wave bounce that morphs into a churning type of desperation worthy of Michael Jackson. Monáe might not have much appeal beyond musical theater geeks, sci-fi nerds, and those who like their genres crossed-up, but no one can deny that very few are on her creative level. She can sing, sang, and scream like hell, too.
Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid (flac 400mb)
01 Suite II Overture 2:31
02 Dance or Die 3:13
03 Faster 3:19
04 Locked Inside 4:17
05 Sir Greendown 2:15
06 Cold War 3:25
07 Tightrope 4:22
08 Neon Gumbo 1:38
09 Oh, Maker 3:47
10 Come Alive (The War of the Roses) 3:23
11 Mushrooms & Roses 5:41
12 Suite III Overture 1:42
13 Neon Valley Street 4:12
14 Make the Bus 3:19
15 Wondaland 3:37
16 57821 3:17
17 Say You'll Go 5:59
18 BabopbyeYa 8:47
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Prince, Erykah Badu, Esperanza Spalding, Solange, and Miguel contribute to the fourth and fifth Metropolis suites, but it's not as if Janelle Monáe and her Wondaland associates were short on creative energy. Equally as detailed and as entertaining as The ArchAndroid, The Electric Lady likewise is a product of overactive imaginations and detailed concept engineering, and it also plays out like a sci-fi opera-slash-variety program with style and era-hopping galore. Suite four is the album's busier and more ostentatious half, more star-studded and less focused, highlighted by the bopping "Dance Apocalyptic" and the strutting Badu duet "Q.U.E.E.N." Suite five is considerably stronger with a handful of firmly R&B-rooted gems. The inspiration for its overture is noted in the liners as "Stevie Wonder listening to Os Mutantes on vinyl (circa 1973)," but shades of Stevie's '70s work are heard later in more obvious ways. "Ghetto Woman" is impeccably layered soul-funk, fluid and robust at once, with chunky percussion and synthesizer lines bounding about as Monáe delivers a performance as proud and as powerful as Stevie's "Black Man." It contains an autobiographical 30-second verse that is probably swift and dense enough to make early supporter Big Boi beam with pride. The enraptured liquid glide of "Dorothy Dandridge Eyes," featuring Spalding, recalls "I Can't Help It," co-written by Stevie for Michael Jackson's Off the Wall. Earlier, on "It's Code," Monáe channels the yearning Jackson 5-era MJ. "Can't Live Without Your Love," presumably a paean to human love interest Anthony Greendown has Monáe -- or Cindi Mayweather, aka Electric Lady Number One -- yearning like never before. The album is sure to astound Monáe's sci-fi/theater-geek following. Its second half cannot be denied by those who simply value creative R&B that owes to the past and sounds fresh. Anyone can appreciate the phenomenal interludes, which are close to 3 Feet High and Rising level. Power-up to the Droid Rebel Alliance and the Get-Free Crew indeed.
Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady (flac 414mb)
01 Suite II Overture 2:31
02 Dance or Die 3:13
03 Faster 3:19
04 Locked Inside 4:17
05 Sir Greendown 2:15
06 Cold War 3:25
07 Tightrope 4:22
08 Neon Gumbo 1:38
09 Oh, Maker 3:47
10 Come Alive (The War of the Roses) 3:23
11 Mushrooms & Roses 5:41
12 Suite III Overture 1:42
13 Neon Valley Street 4:12
14 Make the Bus 3:19
15 Wondaland 3:37
16 57821 3:17
17 Say You'll Go 5:59
18 BabopbyeYa 8:47
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"Yoga" was an ostensibly minor part of the Janelle Monáe discography by the arrival of Dirty Computer. Three years old and outshined by another Wondaland release, Jidenna's "Classic Man," it nevertheless became Monáe's first single to hit the Billboard Hot 100. That Monáe hadn't previously hit the chart as a headliner was further evidence of a flawed industry, given that she and primary collaborators Nate Wonder and Chuck Lightning had been making songs with pop appeal for nearly a decade. "Yoga" did show that Monáe was more open to messing with contemporary trends. Moreover, the song's humanized, sexually uninhibited, and anti-authoritarian qualities -- she was earthbound, celebrating her body, asserting "You cannot police me" -- also indicated the course she has taken with her third album. Oddly enough, "Make Me Feel," the one Dirty Computer track on which Monáe employs a wholly pop songwriting team including Julia Michaels, Justin Tranter, and Mattman & Robin, is the funkiest and friskiest number here, clearly influenced by the late (and uncredited) Prince. Monáe and her trusty Wondaland partners, the album's dominant creative force, colorfully twist and flip new wave-leaning pop with booming bass drums and rattling percussion. They transmit powerful and defiant jubilance in response to "wack ass fuckboys everywhere (from the traphouse to the White House) who make the lives of little brown girls so damn hard," among dozens of other inspirations Monáe acknowledges in the essential liner notes. Almost every track is densely packed with quotables delivered in approaches that shift from easygoing elegance to hard-fought, triumphant conviction. The latter approach yields the album's apex, "Django Jane," in which Monáe raps throughout with inhuman precision, threatening a pussy riot, declaring "We ain't hidden no more," and uplifting the "highly melanated" while dropping some of the set's few sci-fi allusions, "Made a fandroid outta yo' girlfriend" among them. Not to be lost in all the power moves are indirect and direct references to a romantic relationship -- another form of dissent -- referenced and explored throughout, from the glowing "Crazy, Classic, Life" through the fiery "So Afraid," the only moment of emotional fragility. While this is easily the most loaded Monáe album in terms of guests, with Brian Wilson, Stevie Wonder, and Grimes among the contributors, there's no doubt that it's a Wondaland product. It demonstrates that artful resistance and pop music are not mutually exclusive.
Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer (flac 301mb)
01 Dirty Computer 1:59
02 Crazy, Classic, Life 4:46
03 Take a Byte 4:07
04 Jane's Dream 0:18
05 Screwed 5:02
06 Django Jane 3:10
07 Pynk 4:00
08 Make Me Feel 3:14
09 I Got the Juice 3:46
10 I Like That 3:20
11 Don't Judge Me 6:03
12 Stevie's Dream 0:46
13 So Afraid 4:04
14 Americans 4:06
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Today's Artist is a Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, and actor she left her mark on 2010s R&B with an energized retro-futuristic sound wrapped in theatrical science fiction concepts. After she spent years grinding away in the Atlanta underground, she capitalized on support from OutKast's Big Boi and developed into one of the most dynamic artists of her time, fusing soul, funk, hip-hop, and new wave -- among other genres -- with a spirited approach that seemed to treat entertainment and art as indivisible. She and her fellow Wondaland associates likewise stressed singles as much as albums. "Tightrope" and "Django Jane" provided bold jolts, while The ArchAndroid (2010), The Electric Lady (2013), and Dirty Computer (2018), all complex full-lengths, elaborated upon themes of oppression, identity, and liberation as they related to race and sexuality.. . ....... N Joy
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Growing up, Janelle Monáe Robinson felt constrained by the limited resources offered in her greater Kansas City, Kansas environment. When she finished high school, she moved to New York to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy with the intention of pursuing musical theater. After performing in a couple off-Broadway shows and encountering a lack of desirable roles, she opted to try her luck in Atlanta. She soon joined a band and toured the local college circuit, where she eventually got in touch with her future partners in Wondaland Arts Society -- a collective and label that looked to promote experimental arts -- and recorded The Audition, which she financed, released, and distributed in a run of a few hundred copies. OutKast's Big Boi included two of the songs from the set, the Off the Wall-styled "Lettin' Go" and an electro version of DeBarge's "Time Will Reveal," on his 2005 compilation Got Purp?, Vol. 2. Robinson also appeared on OutKast's 2006 soundtrack, Idlewild, and was in the video for "Morris Brown."
In 2007, Monáe released her first solo work, Metropolis. It was originally conceived as a concept album in four parts, or "suites", which were to be released through her website and mp3 download sites. After the release of the first part of the series, Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase) in mid-2007, these plans were altered following her signing with Sean Combs's label, Bad Boy Records, later in the year. The label gave an official and physical release to the first suite in August 2008, which was retitled Metropolis: The Chase Suite (Special Edition) and included two new tracks. The EP was critically acclaimed, garnering Monáe a 51st Annual Grammy Awards Grammy nomination for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for her single "Many Moons",[24] festival appearances and opening slots for indie pop band of Montreal. Monáe also toured as the opening act for band No Doubt on their summer 2009 tour. Her single "Open Happiness" was featured in the 2009 season finale of American Idol. Monáe told MTV about her concept for her new album and also discussed her alter-ego named Cindi Mayweather, she said:
Cindi is an android and I love speaking about the android because they are the new "other". People are afraid of the other and I believe we're going to live in a world with androids because of technology and the way it advances. The first album she was running because she had fallen in love with a human and she was being disassembled for that.
In a November 2009 interview, Monáe revealed the title and concept behind her album, The ArchAndroid. The album was released on May 18, 2010. The second and third suites of Metropolis are combined into this full-length release, in which Monáe's alter-ego, Cindi Mayweather – also the protagonist of Metropolis: The Chase Suite – becomes a messianic figure to the android community of Metropolis. Monáe noted that she plans to shoot a video for each song on The ArchAndroid and create a film, graphic novel and a touring Broadway musical based on the album.[29] The Metropolis concept series draws inspiration from a wide range of musical, cinematic and other sources, ranging from Alfred Hitchcock to Debussy to Philip K. Dick. However, the series puts Fritz Lang's 1927 silent film Metropolis, which Monáe referred to as "the godfather of science-fiction movies", in special regard. Aside from sharing a name, they also share visual styles (the cover for The ArchAndroid is inspired by the iconic poster for Metropolis), conceptual themes and political goals, using expressionistic future scenarios to examine and explore contemporary ideas of prejudice and class. Both also include a performing female android, though to very different effect. Where Metropolis android Maria is the evil, havoc-sowing double of the messianic figure to the city's strictly segregated working class, Monáe's messianic android muse Cindi Mayweather represents an interpretation of androids as that segregated minority, which Monáe describes as "... the Other. And I feel like all of us, whether in the majority or the minority, felt like the Other at some point."
Monáe received the Vanguard Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers at the Rhythm & Soul Music Awards in 2010. Monáe covered Charlie Chaplin's Smile on Billboard.com in June 2010. In an NPR interview in September 2010, Monáe stated that she is a believer in, and a proponent of, time travel. Monáe performed "Tightrope" during the second elimination episode of the 11th Season of Dancing with the Stars on September 28, 2010. Monáe performed at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2011 alongside artists Bruno Mars and B.o.B; She performed the synth section of B.o.B's song "Nothin' on You" and she then performed her track "Cold War" with B.o.B on the guitar and Mars on the drums. The performance received a standing ovation.[36] Monáe's single "Tightrope" was also featured on the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2011, performed by Pia Toscano, Haley Reinhart, Naima Adedapo, and Thia Megia.
In September 2011, Monáe was featured as a guest vocalist on fun.'s single, "We Are Young", which achieved major commercial success, topping the charts of over ten countries and selling more than ten million units worldwide. The song garnered Monáe three Grammy nominations at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year. Nate Ruess, the lead singer of fun., performed an acoustic version of "We Are Young" with Monáe
Monáe was also featured on "Do My Thing" for Estelle's studio album, All of Me. In June 2012, Monáe performed two new songs, "Electric Lady" and "Dorothy Dandridge Eyes" – from her then-upcoming sophomore studio album, The Electric Lady – at the Toronto Jazz Festival. In July 2012, for the second year in a row, she appeared at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Europe as well as in the 46th edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland on the 14th.
In August 2012, Monáe was chosen as CoverGirl's newest spokeswoman. In September 2012, Monáe performed at CarolinaFest in support of President Obama, just before the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.[42] In October 2012, Monáe starred in a commercial for the Sonos Wireless HiFi home audio system, and appeared in a Sonos commercial in 2012 with Deep Cotton. Boston City Council named October 16, 2013 "Janelle Monáe Day" in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, in recognition of her artistry and social leadership.
Monáe's first single from The Electric Lady, "Q.U.E.E.N.", featuring Erykah Badu, premiered on SoundCloud and made available for download purchase at the iTunes Store on April 23, 2013. "Q.U.E.E.N." garnered 31,000 digital sales according to Nielsen Soundscan with the accompanying music video gaining four million YouTube views within its first week of release. In her 2013 interview with fuse, Monáe states that "Q.U.E.E.N." was inspired by conversations she shared with Erykah Badu about the treatment of marginalized people, especially African-American women, and the title is an acronym "for those who are marginalized"; Q standing for the queer community, U standing for the "untouchables", the first E standing for "emigrants", the latter standing for "excommunicated" and N standing for "negroid". Thematically, The Electric Lady continues the utopian cyborg concepts of its predecessors, while presenting itself in more plainspoken, introspective territory in addition to experimenting with genres beyond conventional funk and soul such as jazz ("Dorothy Dandridge Eyes"), pop-punk ("Dance Apocalyptic"), gospel ("Victory") and woozy, sensual vocal ballads ("PrimeTime", featuring Miguel). The album features guest appearances by Prince, Solange Knowles, aforementioned Miguel and Esperanza Spalding[45] with production from previous collaborator Deep Cotton (a psychedelic punk act) and Roman GianArthur (a soul music composer), and was released to critical acclaim on September 10, 2013.
On September 14, 2013, Monáe performed along with Chic at the iTunes Festival in London. On September 28, Monáe performed at the Global Citizens Festival in Central Park alongside Stevie Wonder. Monáe performed as the featured musical guest on Saturday Night Live October 26 with host Edward Norton. Her voice is heard as veterinarian Dr. Monáe in the movie Rio 2, released in the U.S. on April 11, 2014, and her song "What Is Love" was featured on the soundtrack In April 2014, Monáe was invited to perform along with Tessanne Chin, Patti LaBelle, Aretha Franklin, Jill Scott, Ariana Grande, and Melissa Etheridge at the White House as a part of their PBS-broadcast "Women of Soul" event, which celebrated American women artists whose work has left an indelible and profound impact on American national musical culture. She performed "Goldfinger", "Tightrope", and joined in on the all-inclusive performance of "Proud Mary".
On April 14, 2014, Monáe was the recipient of the inaugural Harvard College Women's Center Award for Achievement in Arts and Media for her achievements as an artist, advocate and feminist. She tweeted earlier that day, "Headed to #Harvard to meet the beautiful ladies in the Women's Center. Can't believe I'm the honoree today. Just So thankful".[55] She was also recognized as the 2014 Woman of the Year by the Harvard College Black Men's Forum at their annual Celebration of Black Women gala. In mid-2014, Monáe had an interview with Fuse where she teased a follow up to The Electric Lady. "I'm working on a new, cool creative project called 'Eephus'", she said. "It's a big concept and you're not going to see it coming. It'll just land." Later in 2014, Monáe was featured on Sérgio Mendes' album, Magic. She sings on the track titled "Visions of You".
In late March 2015, Monáe released the single "Yoga" from the album The Eephus. The album debuted at number 22 of the Billboard 200 and at number 5 of the top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums with an equivalent album sales of 47,000 units. In mid-2015 Monáe attended various fashion events including London Fashion Week and the 2015 Met Gala. She began collaborating with Nile Rodgers for a new Chic album and Duran Duran for the album Paper Gods, their first album in over five years, and their single called "Pressure Off".
On August 14, 2015, Monáe, alongside the body of her Atlanta-based Wondaland Arts Society collective, performed her protest song "Hell You Talmbout", that raised awareness of the many black lives that were taken as a result of police brutality, with lyrics such as "Walter Scott, say his name. Jerame Reid, say his name. Philip White, say his name...Eric Garner, say his name. Trayvon Martin, say his name…. Sandra Bland, say her name. Sharondra Singleton, say her name." She also gave a speech about police brutality after her performance on NBC's Today Show, "Yes Lord! God bless America! God bless all the lost lives to police brutality. We want white America to know that we stand tall today. We want black America to know we stand tall today. We will not be silenced…"
By March 15, 2016, First Lady Michelle Obama proclaimed that she had assembled a collaborative track featuring vocals from Monáe, Kelly Clarkson, Zendaya and Missy Elliott, alongside production credit from pop songwriter Diane Warren and Elliott, titled "This Is for My Girls". The iTunes-exclusive record was used to both coincide with Obama's Texan SXSW speech and to promote the First Lady's third-world educational initiative Let Girls Learn. In October 2016, Monáe made her big screen acting debut in the critically acclaimed film Moonlight, alongside Naomie Harris, André Holland, and Mahershala Ali.[71][72] Monáe also starred in the film Hidden Figures, alongside actresses Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer; the film was released in December 2016.
While filming her two movie roles, Monáe remained active in music with features on Grimes' "Venus Fly" from her Art Angels album and also the soundtrack for the Netflix series The Get Down with a song titled, "Hum Along and Dance (Gotta Get Down)". She was also on the tracks "Isn't This the World" and "Jalapeño" for the Hidden Figures soundtrack.
In an interview with People, Monáe revealed that she was already working on her third studio album when she received the scripts for her two first acting roles; therefore, she put the album on hold. She also revealed in the interview that she would be releasing new music sometime in 2017, although by the end of the year no album or single was announced. On February 16, 2018, Monáe revealed her third studio album, entitled Dirty Computer, through a teaser video released on YouTube. The album was accompanied by a narrative film project, and the teaser video aired nationwide in select theaters prior to screenings of Black Panther. Monáe recently held a series of "top-secret" listening sessions in Los Angeles and New York in support of the album. On February 22, 2018, Monáe released "Make Me Feel" and "Django Jane" as the first two singles from Dirty Computer, both accompanied by their respective music videos[81] and announced that the album would follow on April 27, 2018. She stated in an interview with BBC Radio 1: "Prince was actually working on the album with me before he passed on to another frequency, and helped me come up with some sounds. And I really miss him, you know, it's hard for me to talk about him. But I do miss him, and his spirit will never leave me."
On April 27, 2018, Monáe released a sci-fi film companion "emotion picture" to her new record Dirty Computer. The album debuted at the number six of the Billboard 200 with 54,000 equivalent units and on the top ten charts of Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland. It was chosen as the best album of the year by three publications: the Associated Press, New York Times, and NPR. The album received the nomination for Album of the Year at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. She also contributed to the soundtrack to the dark comedy film Sorry to Bother You, collaborating with The Coup.
On November 15, 2018, it was announced that Monáe would receive the Trailblazer of the Year award at the 2018 Billboard Women in Music event, which was held on December 6, 2018.[90] Also in 2018, Monáe co-starred in the fantasy drama feature film Welcome to Marwen, by filmmaker and screenwriter Robert Zemeckis alongside Steve Carell and Leslie Mann. On January 3, 2019, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival announced that Monáe will co-headliner the stage with Childish Gambino. Glastonbury Festival also confimed her presence as headlining the West Holts stage of the festival. Four days after the Coachella setlist announcement, Monàe released a new music video for her song "Screwed". The video included the collaboration of actresses Tessa Thompson and Zoë Kravitz, who is also featured in the track. She replaced Julia Roberts in the second season of the Amazon Prime Video series, Homecoming, playing "a tenacious woman who finds herself floating in a canoe, with no memory of how she got there or who she is." Also in 2019, she co-starred in the film Harriet, about abolitionist Harriet Tubman. Monáe will return to the big screen twice in 2020, with her first lead role coming in April 2020 with horror film Antebellum, and another supporting role later in the year with biopic The Glorias.
On February 9, 2020, Monáe opened the 92nd Academy Awards with a performance featuring Billy Porter that highlighted the many films nominated as well as films that were snubbed by the Academy, including Dolemite Is My Name and Midsommar.
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Janelle Monáe's uniqueness was not apparent from the beginning, as heard on Big Boi's second Got Purp compilation. The neo-electro remake of DeBarge's "Time Will Reveal" and the Off the Wall-emulating pop-funk of "Lettin' Go" were standouts -- even amidst nuggets like Konkrete's "Shit Ya Drawers," believe it or not -- but Monáe seemed destined to be one of those artists who appears on a glorified mixtape and either disappears or makes one under-promoted album prior to fleeing the industry. Even after spotlights on OutKast's Idlewild, it could not have been known to many outside Monáe's Atlanta circle that she was much more in line with Nona Hendryx and Afrofuturism than Ciara and 106 & Park. She probably has more time for Octavia Butler than for Perez Hilton. Inspired by Fritz Lang's 1927 science fiction classic, Metropolis, Suite 1: The Chase is the first of four planned releases designed as easily processible EPs detailing the life of a rebellious soul-equipped android who risks disassembly by falling in love with a human. Strip away the concept, the packaging, and the equally entertaining and deep lyrics dealing in class/race, slavery, isolation, and love -- all of that material, as crucial as it is to the whole -- and there remains a handful of magnetic songs transferred through theatrical soul, 21st century new wave, ice-coated opera, and brassy hip-hop funk. The disc's center is made of "Violet Stars Happy Hunting!!!" and "Many Moons," conjoined songs that trump anything on the André 3000 half of OutKast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. "Sincerely, Jane" is dressed up in all the fantastical instrumentation of an otherworldly Broadway production but is as grounded in grim realism as Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues" or 2Pac's "Brenda's Got a Baby," and like those two songs, it is fueled by despair rather than self-righteousness. Monáe's voice is knockout level throughout, likely versatile enough to handle any style with effortlessly expressive ease.
Janelle Monae - Metropolis, The Chase Suite 12'' (flac 171mb)
01 March of the Wolfmasters 1:27
02 Violet Stars Happy Hunting!!! 3:13
03 Many Moons 5:33
04 Cybertronic Purgatory 1:35
05 Sincerely, Jane. 5:36
06 Mr. President 4:59
07 Smile 3:58
08 Violet Stars Happy Hunting!!! (Edit) 3:12
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Any misgivings about Janelle Monáe's Bad Boy deal are nullified by the briefest contact with this, an extravagant 70-minute album involving more imagination, conceptual detail, and stylistic turnabouts than most gatefold prog rock epics. Credit Bad Boy's Diddy for allowing Monáe to fully explore the singularity on display through Metropolis, Suite I: The Chase, and work with her Wondaland crew on a bigger budget. The ArchAndroid not only picks up where The Chase let off, but contains both the second and third Metropolis suites in one shot with no discernible “let’s make some hits now” intervention. The packaging alone -- the elaborate crown, the inspiration listed beside each song, etc. -- provides much to process. Liner notes from the vice-chancellor of the arts asylum at the Palace of the Dogs, Monáe’s residence, outline the (possible) situation fleshed out in the songs. In short, Monáe was genoraped in the 28th century, sent back to the 21st century, and had her organic compounds cloned and re-purposed for the existence of ArchAndroid Cindi Mayweather, whose directive is to liberate Metropolis from a secret society of oppressors. Understanding all this stuff enhances the enjoyment of the album, but it is not required. A few tracks merely push the album along, and a gaudy Of Montreal collaboration is disruptive, but there are numerous highlights that are vastly dissimilar from one another. “Tightrope,” the biggest standout, is funky soul, all locomotive percussion and lyrical prancing to match: “I tip on alligators, and little rattlesnakers/But I’m another flavor, something like a Terminator.” Just beneath that is the burbling synth pop of “Wondaland,” as playful and rhythmically juicy as Tom Tom Club (“So inspired, you touch my wires”); the haunted space-folk of “57821” (titled after Monáe’s patient number); and the conjoined “Faster” and “Locked Inside,” packing bristling energy with a new-wave bounce that morphs into a churning type of desperation worthy of Michael Jackson. Monáe might not have much appeal beyond musical theater geeks, sci-fi nerds, and those who like their genres crossed-up, but no one can deny that very few are on her creative level. She can sing, sang, and scream like hell, too.
Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid (flac 400mb)
01 Suite II Overture 2:31
02 Dance or Die 3:13
03 Faster 3:19
04 Locked Inside 4:17
05 Sir Greendown 2:15
06 Cold War 3:25
07 Tightrope 4:22
08 Neon Gumbo 1:38
09 Oh, Maker 3:47
10 Come Alive (The War of the Roses) 3:23
11 Mushrooms & Roses 5:41
12 Suite III Overture 1:42
13 Neon Valley Street 4:12
14 Make the Bus 3:19
15 Wondaland 3:37
16 57821 3:17
17 Say You'll Go 5:59
18 BabopbyeYa 8:47
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Prince, Erykah Badu, Esperanza Spalding, Solange, and Miguel contribute to the fourth and fifth Metropolis suites, but it's not as if Janelle Monáe and her Wondaland associates were short on creative energy. Equally as detailed and as entertaining as The ArchAndroid, The Electric Lady likewise is a product of overactive imaginations and detailed concept engineering, and it also plays out like a sci-fi opera-slash-variety program with style and era-hopping galore. Suite four is the album's busier and more ostentatious half, more star-studded and less focused, highlighted by the bopping "Dance Apocalyptic" and the strutting Badu duet "Q.U.E.E.N." Suite five is considerably stronger with a handful of firmly R&B-rooted gems. The inspiration for its overture is noted in the liners as "Stevie Wonder listening to Os Mutantes on vinyl (circa 1973)," but shades of Stevie's '70s work are heard later in more obvious ways. "Ghetto Woman" is impeccably layered soul-funk, fluid and robust at once, with chunky percussion and synthesizer lines bounding about as Monáe delivers a performance as proud and as powerful as Stevie's "Black Man." It contains an autobiographical 30-second verse that is probably swift and dense enough to make early supporter Big Boi beam with pride. The enraptured liquid glide of "Dorothy Dandridge Eyes," featuring Spalding, recalls "I Can't Help It," co-written by Stevie for Michael Jackson's Off the Wall. Earlier, on "It's Code," Monáe channels the yearning Jackson 5-era MJ. "Can't Live Without Your Love," presumably a paean to human love interest Anthony Greendown has Monáe -- or Cindi Mayweather, aka Electric Lady Number One -- yearning like never before. The album is sure to astound Monáe's sci-fi/theater-geek following. Its second half cannot be denied by those who simply value creative R&B that owes to the past and sounds fresh. Anyone can appreciate the phenomenal interludes, which are close to 3 Feet High and Rising level. Power-up to the Droid Rebel Alliance and the Get-Free Crew indeed.
Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady (flac 414mb)
01 Suite II Overture 2:31
02 Dance or Die 3:13
03 Faster 3:19
04 Locked Inside 4:17
05 Sir Greendown 2:15
06 Cold War 3:25
07 Tightrope 4:22
08 Neon Gumbo 1:38
09 Oh, Maker 3:47
10 Come Alive (The War of the Roses) 3:23
11 Mushrooms & Roses 5:41
12 Suite III Overture 1:42
13 Neon Valley Street 4:12
14 Make the Bus 3:19
15 Wondaland 3:37
16 57821 3:17
17 Say You'll Go 5:59
18 BabopbyeYa 8:47
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"Yoga" was an ostensibly minor part of the Janelle Monáe discography by the arrival of Dirty Computer. Three years old and outshined by another Wondaland release, Jidenna's "Classic Man," it nevertheless became Monáe's first single to hit the Billboard Hot 100. That Monáe hadn't previously hit the chart as a headliner was further evidence of a flawed industry, given that she and primary collaborators Nate Wonder and Chuck Lightning had been making songs with pop appeal for nearly a decade. "Yoga" did show that Monáe was more open to messing with contemporary trends. Moreover, the song's humanized, sexually uninhibited, and anti-authoritarian qualities -- she was earthbound, celebrating her body, asserting "You cannot police me" -- also indicated the course she has taken with her third album. Oddly enough, "Make Me Feel," the one Dirty Computer track on which Monáe employs a wholly pop songwriting team including Julia Michaels, Justin Tranter, and Mattman & Robin, is the funkiest and friskiest number here, clearly influenced by the late (and uncredited) Prince. Monáe and her trusty Wondaland partners, the album's dominant creative force, colorfully twist and flip new wave-leaning pop with booming bass drums and rattling percussion. They transmit powerful and defiant jubilance in response to "wack ass fuckboys everywhere (from the traphouse to the White House) who make the lives of little brown girls so damn hard," among dozens of other inspirations Monáe acknowledges in the essential liner notes. Almost every track is densely packed with quotables delivered in approaches that shift from easygoing elegance to hard-fought, triumphant conviction. The latter approach yields the album's apex, "Django Jane," in which Monáe raps throughout with inhuman precision, threatening a pussy riot, declaring "We ain't hidden no more," and uplifting the "highly melanated" while dropping some of the set's few sci-fi allusions, "Made a fandroid outta yo' girlfriend" among them. Not to be lost in all the power moves are indirect and direct references to a romantic relationship -- another form of dissent -- referenced and explored throughout, from the glowing "Crazy, Classic, Life" through the fiery "So Afraid," the only moment of emotional fragility. While this is easily the most loaded Monáe album in terms of guests, with Brian Wilson, Stevie Wonder, and Grimes among the contributors, there's no doubt that it's a Wondaland product. It demonstrates that artful resistance and pop music are not mutually exclusive.
Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer (flac 301mb)
01 Dirty Computer 1:59
02 Crazy, Classic, Life 4:46
03 Take a Byte 4:07
04 Jane's Dream 0:18
05 Screwed 5:02
06 Django Jane 3:10
07 Pynk 4:00
08 Make Me Feel 3:14
09 I Got the Juice 3:46
10 I Like That 3:20
11 Don't Judge Me 6:03
12 Stevie's Dream 0:46
13 So Afraid 4:04
14 Americans 4:06
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