Janelle Monáe

[Jorge]

I had to check The Electric Lady after reading all the praise here.

I have to say, after listening it two times that when it comes to modern RnB artists, I find e.g. Solange, Erykah Badu, D'Angelo and Maxwell far more interesting. I guess she's not really RnB though, her sound seems to lean more towards pop, or at least more towards "commercial" RnB. So maybe I am approaching her music from the wrong perspective.

Whether she's some sort of pop music innovator, I don't know. Nothing really stood out for me as something special or radically new, but then again I am not an expert when it comes to modern day pop music. The last pop artist that really got me excited, and what I though was something refreshingly new, was Knower.

I was never quite up there with Lament's claim about JM revolutionizing pop music.

I think she's an incredibly talented songwriter, arranger, singer and performer, with a remarkably wide-ranging catalogue for such a short discography. I really like the way she channels her influences (from jazz to r'n'b to Prince pop to synthpop to Motown and funk and Baroque classical) to make really vivid, exciting pop music.

I'll say Electric Lady is much more accessible and immediate than the Arch Android, which I still think is her masterpiece. That one leans a lot more heavily into her avant-garde side.

[chewm]

I like The Electric Lady ok but The ArchAndroid is much, much better.

[evenslow]

Yes if you're looking for mastery, choose ArchAndroid.
If you're looking for accessibility, choose Electric Lady.
Or better yet, go see her live.

[VinylGuy]

She is hot, ill give you that.

[run2death]

I'm not crazy about the new one.

The "influence" on this one lacks her special stamp of weirdness.

[Jorge]

I wasn't convinced at first but found it gets really good halfway through. "So Afraid" is sick. I'll be spending some time with this one.

[Jorge]

"Make Me Feel" is an insanely great song, not just on this album but her career overall. Its play with tension and release, the descending chromaticism in the pre-chorus, that crazy beat in the bridge. It's not a sweeping baroque suite but it's one of the most effective pop songs she's ever done.

[chewm]

"Make Me Feel" is an insanely great song, not just on this album but her career overall. Its play with tension and release, the descending chromaticism in the pre-chorus, that crazy beat in the bridge. It's not a sweeping baroque suite but it's one of the most effective pop songs she's ever done.

I agree. Probably my favorite here.

I honestly love the new one. I enjoyed the suites, but this one feels more honest and direct. And those are some masterfully written pop songs.

[run2death]

I do appreciate the songwriting on the album, but again, I think this one's kinda missing her stamp of individuality.

The last two albums have blended soul and funk with her own tweaks.

I feel like the influences are soooo prominent on this one. "Make Me Feel" is great, but all I hear is Prince, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[tragabigzanda]

I do appreciate the songwriting on the album, but again, I think this one's kinda missing her stamp of individuality.

The last two albums have blended soul and funk with her own tweaks.

I feel like the influences are soooo prominent on this one. "Make Me Feel" is great, but all I hear is Prince, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

With one exception, every song immediately reminds me of a other artist.

Dirty Computer = Beach Boys
Crazy Classic = generic modern pop
Take a Byte = Daft Punk
Screwed = generic modern pop
Django Jane = Nicki Minaj, Wiz Khalifa
Pynk = generic modern pop
Make Me Feel = Prince
I Got the Juice = Rihanna
I Like That = generic modern pop
Don't Judge Me = (ok, this one is pretty good and unique)
So Afraid = Pink
Americans = generic modern pop

[chewm]

generic modern pop is my favorite artist.

[bodysnatcher]

I do appreciate the songwriting on the album, but again, I think this one's kinda missing her stamp of individuality.

The last two albums have blended soul and funk with her own tweaks.

I feel like the influences are soooo prominent on this one. "Make Me Feel" is great, but all I hear is Prince, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

With one exception, every song immediately reminds me of a other artist.

Dirty Computer = Beach Boys
Crazy Classic = generic modern pop
Take a Byte = Daft Punk
Screwed = generic modern pop
Django Jane = Nicki Minaj, Wiz Khalifa
Pynk = generic modern pop
Make Me Feel = Prince
I Got the Juice = Rihanna
I Like That = generic modern pop
Don't Judge Me = (ok, this one is pretty good and unique)
So Afraid = Pink
Americans = generic modern pop

Wow, this reads like the female Bruno Mars

[tragabigzanda]

I do appreciate the songwriting on the album, but again, I think this one's kinda missing her stamp of individuality.

The last two albums have blended soul and funk with her own tweaks.

I feel like the influences are soooo prominent on this one. "Make Me Feel" is great, but all I hear is Prince, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

With one exception, every song immediately reminds me of a other artist.

Dirty Computer = Beach Boys
Crazy Classic = generic modern pop
Take a Byte = Daft Punk
Screwed = generic modern pop
Django Jane = Nicki Minaj, Wiz Khalifa
Pynk = generic modern pop
Make Me Feel = Prince
I Got the Juice = Rihanna
I Like That = generic modern pop
Don't Judge Me = (ok, this one is pretty good and unique)
So Afraid = Pink
Americans = generic modern pop

Wow, this reads like the female Bruno Mars

Yeah, it's a disappointing swing for the charts. Though she'll probably have like six massive hits on the album and finally hit the big time like she deserves, so what do I know.

[Jorge]

I do appreciate the songwriting on the album, but again, I think this one's kinda missing her stamp of individuality.

The last two albums have blended soul and funk with her own tweaks.

I feel like the influences are soooo prominent on this one. "Make Me Feel" is great, but all I hear is Prince, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

With one exception, every song immediately reminds me of a other artist.

Dirty Computer = Beach Boys
Crazy Classic = generic modern pop
Take a Byte = Daft Punk
Screwed = generic modern pop
Django Jane = Nicki Minaj, Wiz Khalifa
Pynk = generic modern pop
Make Me Feel = Prince
I Got the Juice = Rihanna
I Like That = generic modern pop
Don't Judge Me = (ok, this one is pretty good and unique)
So Afraid = Pink
Americans = generic modern pop

I see some of what you're saying, but there are also some real head-scratchers in this breakdown (I object to each one of your uses of "generic modern pop", for instance). Others seem designed as homages or allude to the artists in question. "Dirty Computer = Beach Boys", yeah, the intro was written that way, that is literally Brian Wilson doing background harmonies; other than that section, the song sounds nothing like the Beach Boys. "Take a Byte = Daft Punk", yup, it's got that future-disco sound, and she literally name-checks them in the lyrics. "Make Me Feel= Prince", yup, he worked on it too, and Janelle is no stranger to the Prince influence on earlier albums (listen to "Givin 'Em What They Love", another Janelle track featuring prince. It is essentially a Prince song). Other stuff is just puzzling-- "So Afraid= Pink"? Really? Why? Pink isn't the only female who does guitar-based emotional power ballads about helplessness. "I Got the Juice = Rihanna" is just completely off the mark unless you are specifically referring to "Pon de Replay", and even that is a stretch.

Janelle's stamp is all over this thing, both musically and lyrically. I understand and agree that it operates under a more rigid pop framework than the first two albums, but it is still filtered through her musical sensibilities. Listen to the background harmonies in the aforementioned "So Afraid", they are straight-up out of The Archandroid; "Django Jane" is like a song-length version of the rap at the end of "Q.U.E.E.N"; as Trag rightly points out, "Don't Judge Me" sounds like something nobody else could have written. "I Like That" uses a trap beat and places it against a dreamy synth line that sounds like the sequel to "Oh Maker". Also thematically, this is 100% Janelle Monáe; it's sci-fi take on black identity and the fluidity of desire. It's not as unwieldy or ambitious as her earlier stuff -- The ArchAndroid remains her masterpiece -- but she delivered a really solid, soulful, and (crucially) emotional pop album, and she did that by chipping away at the layers of artifice. It may be her most commercial release yet, but it also feels like the most personal.

[tragabigzanda]

Thanks for this. You're certainly listening more closely than I was, and are obviously more familiar with her previous works. Also, lyrics are always the last thing I pay attention to. Mine was a hot-take based on a single half-listening spin of the record, but all those comparisons were so immediate that the overall effect was one of unoriginality, or perhaps intentional homage.

Your "sci-fi take on black identity and the fluidity of desire" is the most compelling thing in your post for me, and it actually makes me want to listen again. I'll give it another spin and see if I can't find more depth to it.

[VinylGuy]

Also, she is hot.

[bodysnatcher]

[VinylGuy]

[Jorge]

What a legend

[VinylGuy]

Maybe she is working in a new concept album about Batman Forever?