I’m a middle-aged white guy living in the suburbs of Seattle, so my late arrival to this particular party should surprise no one. I surely won’t be the last through the door, so to save any of you that embarrassment, I encourage you to explore the amazing talent that is Janelle Monáe.
Many of you will recognize Monáe from the powerful and much-lauded films Hidden Figures and Moonlight, but you may not realize that she has written and performed an admirably robust musical oeuvre spanning nearly two decades.
Although her musical recipes are rich with modern R&B and Hip-Hop flavors, Monáe dishes up wildly diverse and eclectic jams. She wields a range of styles and subject matter like a long-lost lovechild from a ménage à trois between Joan Armatrading, Grace Jones, and Prince.
For a taste check out Cold War from her 2010 album The ArchAndroid:
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Of particular interest to sci-fi fans (which I do hope constitute some sub-set of those currently reading these words), Monáe also stars in the second episode of Electric Dreams., the Phillip K. Dick anthology series from Amazon, in which she plays Alice, the customer service representative from AutoFac. Even more remarkable, her debut EP and subsequent two albums make up an ambitious project called Metropolis – a sci-fi opus featuring an alter-ego android named Cindi Mayweather living in 2719 – earning her a leadership position in the vanguard of Afro-Futurism. Although the threads of story hang pretty loose, the theme of “The Other” resonates throughout her work and her compositions continually surprise and delight.
Best of all. Janelle Monáe has a new album and full-length concept video coming out on April 27. For a peek at the upcoming release sample these:
Dirty Computer (Trailer)
Make Me Feel
Django Jane
And just released today (April 10, 2018) – PYNK:
Enjoy!