Album Gauntlet Episode 11: Optimism, Afrofuturism, and Concept Albums (Janelle Monáe - The ArchAndroid)

Atlantic
Bad Boy
Wondaland Arts Society


    "This is a cold war.  Do you know what you're fighting for?"

                    ~Janelle Monáe, Cold War

    Hello, everyone!  Welcome to episode 11 of my album reviews, as well as part 3 of my reviews of projects headed by Big Boi and/or his protégés. apparently.  First, there was himself and André making their boldest statement to date as OutKast with Stankonia, and after that was Killer Mike (who, if you may remember, started off as a guest feature on one of the tracks from the aforementioned album) and El-P (not a Big Boi protégé) releasing their second outing as Run the Jewels, Run the Jewels 2.  To top off this accidental trilogy of interconnected reviews, we get to take a look at my favorite artist between all three, Janelle Monáe; specifically her 2010 debut album The ArchAndroid.

    Before we even get into the album itself, some backstory is needed for context on both where I stand with her music and her overall ambitions as an artist.  For the former, I actually got into Janelle Monáe around the time her 2018 album Dirty Computer dropped.  I have heard that album in full and really enjoy it to this day (especially the song Make Me Feel), but for some reason, I fell out of her for a little bit.  Luckily, I got back into her within the past year or so, but regardless, I have her to thank for getting me into R&B and soul (though, as we'll get into later, she does way more than just those two genres).  As for the album itself, you may notice on the album cover the words "Suites II and III".  Yes, this is a concept album.  Not only is every single album and EP she's made a concept album, but all except for Dirty Computer tell one overarching narrative that takes place in the far future.   
    
    Starring a robot named Cindi Mayweather, she becomes aware of the subjugation and discrimination of her fellow androids at the hands of their human creators when plans are prepared to disassemble her upon these higher ups' revelations of her falling in love with a human.  Of course, she frees herself from this institution, and while on the lam, she takes on the role of a prophet - a messianic figure to other automatons, becomes the Electric Lady (which is also the name of her next album) and sets out to emancipate the rest of her kind.  Just in the concept alone, there's not only some obvious yet favorable fill-in-the-blank subtext but so much promise and excitement is set up as well.  Sure, stories like this aren't anything new, but at the end of the day, the execution is what matters most.  How is this particular album executed?  Well, it's handled extremely well.

    The tracks each stand out and progress the story but not without detracting from the messages of the song.  The lyrics themselves are about moving on in the face of adversity and fighting to make the world a better place.  It never comes off as preachy, the melodies are astounding and like no other, and Janelle's voice is absolutely out of this world.  She can both rap and sing, but not just that.  Her voice embodies charisma like few others alive.  She can be soulful one minute and energetic the next.  She could go from smooth and buttery rap to melodic and tight singing in an instant and it would sound seamless.  The music follows suit as well.  This album has moments of uptempo rock, sweet serenades, jazzy delights, classical orchestra symphonies, and so many more styles and the musicians pull each style off in accompanying it with whatever style Janelle herself is using.  Overall, if you need some fun and uplifting music or you love concept albums and love to hear a good story, this album gets a strong recommendation from me.

   So, this review is much shorter than my prior reviews, but I'm trying out this more condensed style of writing so I can hopefully pump them out more frequently.  With that being said, what did you think of this review?  Did you like it?  Did you get anything interesting out of it?  Have you heard the album yourself?  If so, what did you think of that?  Be sure to let me know you response to all of this in the comments below, and I will see you in the next review!  Ta-ta!

Rating: 5/5

Favorite tracks:

  1. Tightrope
  2. Come Alive (War of the Roses)
  3. Dance or Die
Least Favorite Track: Neon Gumbo

Next album: Björk - Vespertine

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