Fiercer than Sasha, More Disturbed than Rihanna; Janelle Monáe Is R&B’s Radiant Child

PAPER - Summer 2009

Janelle Monáe at SXSW

Sometime in summer ‘08 I wrote a piece for VEGAS about Janelle Monáe* wherein I stated that she (along with English songbird Estelle) was the “new star of crossover soul” – and it seems that people took notice.

Since then I’ve seen her grace the cover of the ever-au currant pop-cult bible PAPER, last summer, and heard amazing stories about the way she rocked the famed stage at Stubb’s Bar-B-Q during last year’s SXSW festival in Austin, TX.  As for visual confirmation – that’s what YouTube is for…

"Tightrope"

"Cold War"

Now, after garnering a 2009 Grammy nomination for Best Urban/Alternative Performance (for “Many Moons” from her EP Metropolis Suite I of IV: The Chase), Monáe is back with The ArchAndroid.  A full length album being release on May 18th, The ArchAndroid will incorporate the second and third suites from Metropolis.  The first two singles, “Tightrope” and “Cold War” are causing a cyber-frenzy, and I’m delighted to report that there’s more deliciousness packed in these two ditties than I’ve heard in a long while.  (With its infectious dance groove, "Tightrope" is 10 pounds of sassy in a 5-pound sack.  That said, I’m especially fond of "Cold War," which is downloadable now, on i-Tunes.)

Janelle Monáe - Lord, have mercy!

I’m not the first guy to report on the wonder that is Janelle Monáe.  Lord knows, I won’t be the last.  And while Miss Monáe preaches peace, I  wonder if it’s not fair to mischievously espouse that she’s fiercer than Sasha and more disturbed than Rihanna?  (Because she is…)

Watch, listen, and learn, People; because sometimes, it’s just that easy.  

Get into Janelle Monáe, at Joe’s Pub in NYC on April 9^th and 10th; and in the meantime, check out her newest video for “Tightrope,” from her upcoming album The ArchAndroid, below. 

* Excerpt from “Fresh Sounds: Estelle and Janelle Monáe Are the New Stars of Crossover Soul” by Michael Shulman – VEGAS Magazine; September 2008

Janelle Monáe is an original through and through.  With Metropolis: The Chase Suite (Special Edition), she has created a concept album that has less to do with following a theme (such as 1995’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins) and is more akin to albums that take a narrative story and run with it from beginning to end (like 1983’s Killroy Was Here by Styx or, better still, 1972’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars by David Bowie). A protégée of Outkast’s Big Boi, Monáe puts the appropriate stank on her soul, giving it a fresh funk sound that pulls listeners in and holds them with both her music and her storyline—in this case, a tale of interracial love spun with shades of Blade Runner and Cowboy Bebop about a “cyber-girl” named Cindi Mayweather who falls in love with a human named Anthony Greenbaum. 

And about that music—the Outkast influence is apparent (think André 3000 as a woman), but one also ticks up on the intergalactic goofiness of Jamiroquai, the syrupy trip-hop of Morcheeba and Massive Attack, and the booty-shakin’, neck-rolling “Oh no, she di’int!” soulful fierceness of Rihanna, delivered with the confident force of an Evita-era Patti LuPone.  The breakout track, “Violet Stars Happy Hunting!,” is already being played with aplomb by DJ Mighty Mi, resident DJ of Blush nightclub at Wynn Las Vegas, who cites Monáe’s “undeniable energy.”  With drums reminiscent of 2003’s “Hey Ya,” the song features a vocal back-back-forth-and-forth with The Skunks. The second single from the EP, “Sincerely, Jane,” takes a sound reminiscent of the theme from a Bond flick and gives it the proto-funk of Cameo and the harajuku modernity of Gwen Stefani, as delivered by a latter-day Judy Garland. 

Sean “Diddy” Combs has described this “out of this world” vocalist as “a gift” the likes of which he hasn’t come across since Mary J. Blige. As Monáe declares, “Lord, have mercy!”