FEATURE:
Modern Heroines
Part Thirteen: Janelle Monáe
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THERE are so many incredible women in music right now…
PHOTO CREDIT: Matt Jones for Rolling Stone
who have the promise to go down as legends; who are legends already! One of the absolute best artists out in the world is Janelle Monáe. Although she did not put an album this year, she has been busy touring and has conducted a few fantastic interviews. I really love her music, and, with each album, she seems to take a big step forward. When thinking of Monáe, one is blown away by her fierceness and power; there is seductiveness and sexiness; there is something David Bowie-esque and funky like Prince. Above everything is this incredibly determined and original artist who is conquering the music world. Before I go on, I wanted to bring in some biographical information that tells you more about Janelle Monáe:
“With comparisons merging between Lauryn Hill, Annie Lennox, James Brown, David Bowie and Andre 3000, multi Grammy nominee neo-soul singer Janelle Monáe (born 1 December 1985) from Kansas, US also known as her android counterpart Cindi Mayweather has collaborated with the likes of Estelle and Fun adding her unique touch.
It was her move to Georgia, US after studying at drama school that her career really kicked off. Meeting Bad Boi of Outkast in 2001, together they created the Wondaland Art Society with like-minded individuals. Describing her genre as bending, Monáe meanders through elements of psychedelic soul, jazz and old school R&B while remaining a conceptualist through and through. Using the alter ego of android Cindi Mayweather from the year 2719 who is on the run from her home planet of Metropolis for breaking the law and finds herself on earth falling in love with human Anthony Green, a storyline which provided the backbone of her debut self EP “The Audition” in 2003.
With a little nudge from friend Big Boi, Sean Combes aka P. Diddy and CEO of Bad Boy Records checked out Monáe’s Myspace page and was mesmerised. In 2007 she signed with his label and released her second EP “Metropolis: The Chase Suite” the following year, a continuation of the Mayweather saga. The EP earned her a nomination at that year’s Grammy’s with the single “Many Moons” for “Best Urban/Alternative Performance”.
Whilst Monáe put out E.P.s prior to her debut album I think that album, The ArchAndroid, is the best place to start. I recently wrote an article on the album, as it is a work of true brilliance. Released in 2010, it is one of the finest albums of this decade and introduced to many this unique and tremendous artist. Production took place at Wondaland Studios in Atlanta and was taken care of by Monáe, Nate ‘Rocket’ Wonder and Chuck Lightning. So many artists would come in with a debut that is confident yet lacks any real selling point or anything that differs from what is around. Monáe delivered an album jammed with terrific songs, but there was also this concept and central figure. The ArchAndroid continued Monáe’s fictional tale of a messianic android and brought together Afrofuturism and science fiction like never before – if at all! With themes of love and self-realisation siting in the blend, this was no ordinary album.
As Monáe was portraying a character and had created this wonderful world, comparisons with Prince and David Bowie were inevitable. In fact, Monáe worked with Prince shortly before his death in 2016 and she holds huge affection for him. I can see why people were making those Bowie links. Maybe they saw Monáe’s ArchAndroid as a Ziggy Stardust character or a mix of that and some other personas Bowie adopted through his career. It is a shame both Prince and Bowie died in 2016, as one can imagine Monáe working with both of them; perhaps taking to the stage and performing alongside each other. Whilst the aesthetic and conceptual arc of The ArchAndroid is very different and bespoke, the sonic palette is eye-opening. Monáe has a love of film scores, and one can hear James Bond themes sat alongside elements of Stevie Wonder and Hip-Hop. Monáe channels OutKast and touches on genres such as Neo-Soul and Glam Rock. If the futuristic elements seemed rooted in Science Fiction novels and films, the messages of self-empowerment and breaking chains was very much rooted in the present…and past for that matter. Black artists have been struggling for a voice for decades, so Monáe’s debut album was yet another example of a tremendous black artist singing loud. Whilst there is still racial inequality, artists like Janelle Monáe are leading a fight and helping to affect change. The ArchAndroid is a heady and sumptuous album, overrunning with so many scents, scenes and styles. It is a record that everyone needs to investigate and cherish.
The reviews for Monáe’s debut album were hugely positive. This is what AllMusic had to offer:
“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”.
PHOTO CREDIT: Colette Aboussouan
I have heard few artists come out of the gates so impassioned and confident. I know Monáe had released material prior to 2010, yet this was her first full-length effort. Not only did Monáe sound completely different to anyone out there, she did that whilst creating an album that is universal and easily accessible. One can identify with what she says throughout and bond with the subject matter and sounds. It is an album to make you think and get lost inside. The Guardian were full of praise when they reviewed The ArchAndroid:
“Janelle Monáe is not like other pop stars. The ArchAndroid, her debut album, is an 18-track, 70-minute conceptual opus, split into two suites, each one separated by ludicrously extravagant Overtures. To say it's ambitious feels like damning with faint praise; its sheer musical scope – from the James Brown funk of Tightrope to the English pastoral folk of Oh, Maker – is spellbinding. So, the excellent Cold War is new wave with lashings of sci-fi, Locked Inside takes in Off the Wall-era Michael Jackson, while Come Alive (War of the Roses) finds the 24-year-old screaming herself hoarse over squealing guitars. Influences are treated as stepping stones rather than laboured over, with only Make the Bus (a collaboration with Of Montreal) shifting the focus away from the star. The album ends with the eight-minute, string-drenched BaBopBye Ya, a song that teeters on the brink of ridiculousness yet, as with the album as a whole, somehow reins itself in with great aplomb. Behold, pop music has found its latest superstar”.
PHOTO CREDIT: Baptiste Monáe
I love the fact Monáe was seen as this alien-like artist who was from another planet. Not that it was an insult at all: she was such a breath of fresh air and extraordinary that many did not quite know what to make of her. Again, one can think of David Bowie at his most bedazzling and extra-terrestrial. I am interested in Monáe’s working method and how her debut came together. It is a hugely impressive debut and one that covers so much ground! I cannot think of any artist since her that has produced a debut that hits so hard and lasts in the memory so long. Of course, with a bold and truly brilliant album out in the world, Monáe captured the attention and affections of the media. I am going to bring in a few interviews through this piece. I wanted to quote from an interview from The Guardian, where we learn about Monáe’s path into music:
“Whatever rules Monáe imposes on herself seem to be working. Only a singularly self-possessed individual could have pulled off the artistic high-wire act of her hugely acclaimed album, The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III). This 18-song opus, the most praised album of the year according to the review-aggregating website Metacritic, by turns recalls Prince, OutKast, Erykah Badu, James Brown, Grace Jones, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Bernard Herrmann, Funkadelic and the Incredible String Band, and establishes its creator as the most compelling new character in pop.
As vivid and varied as the music are the ideas behind it. The tracklisting cites such influences as "the blue of Luke's lightsaber" and "the atomic bombs in Muhammad Ali's fists". The sleevenotes, allegedly written by the vice chancellor of the Palace of the Dogs Art Asylum, explain that Monáe is an inmate who claims to be a time-traveller from 2719, and whose stolen DNA has been used to clone an android freedom fighter called Cindi Mayweather. "Most of the story does not bear logical sense," the writer drily notes.
She moved to New York to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, where she was the only black woman in her classes. "I felt like that was a home but I wanted to write my own musicals. I didn't want to have to live vicariously through a character that had been played thousands of times – in a line with everybody wanting to play the same person."
So she dropped out and moved to Atlanta, where she lived in a boarding house with five other women and worked at Office Depot. It was while selling her self-funded debut CD The Audition and touring black colleges that she met songwriters and producers Chuck Lightning and Nate Wonder, with whom she formed Wondaland. "It was a Matrix moment where we all locked eyes and it was almost like we were meant to be on the same team. We wanted to create a different blueprint." Lettin' Go, a song about being fired from Office Depot for going online to answer emails from fans, attracted the attention of OutKast, who invited her to sing on their 2006 album, Idlewild.
Apart from sci-fi, Monáe's main reading seems to be business manuals; she enthusiastically endorses Seth Godin's Purple Cow: Transform Your Business By Being Remarkable. Hence, perhaps, her willingness to conduct her own business – after several potential record labels suggested changes to her debut mini-album, 2007's Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase), Wondaland decided to sell it themselves online. "The record execs were not connected to the people," she says sternly. "They didn't know, they still don't know, what the people want." For this new album, Sean Combs provided clout and contacts and left everything else to Wondaland, whose online manifesto declares: "We believe songs are spaceships. We believe music is the weapon of the future. We believe books are stars".
After such an important and loved debut album, there was a lot of touring demand and press interest. Monáe had gone from this artist with a dedicated-if-modest following to someone who was picking up new fans at the rate of knots. The Electric Lady arrived in 2013 and, whilst different to her debut in many ways, it did conclude her Metropolis concept series – this was the fourth and fifth instalments. If there are notable differences regarding sound and tone, Monáe continues on the theme of dystopic cyborgs and futuristic visions. I think The Electric Lady is a little less eclectic and more personal than The ArchAndroid, yet it does incorporate new experimentations and genres – Monáe steps into ballad territory and brings in Pop Punk and Jazz. Monáe stated in interviews how The Electric Lady is a prequel to The ArchAndroid and features guest spots from Solange, Erykah Badu and Prince.
PHOTO CREDIT: Fault Magazine
Such an impressive pedigree of collaborators show what respect there was for Monáe and how incredible her music was/is. Few were unaware of Monáe by 2013, as her songs were getting a load of radio-play and The Electric Lady took her to new heights. I think my first taste of Monáe was when I heard The Electric Lady shortly after 2013. Like her debut, there was a lot of love for The Electric Lady, if not quite on the same level as The ArchAndroid. I am casting my mind back to 2013 and the albums that were around then. (I think Arcade Fire put Reflektor out then, and Kanye West was busy). There was still nobody like Janelle Monáe! Although there was a three-year gap between releases, it was definitely worth the wait for The Electric Lady. I want to bring in a review, because it is a good example of how the press reacted to Monáe’s sensational second album. In this review, The Telegraph were keen to heap praise on Janelle Monáe:
“What a wild and wonderful listening experience this is: bristling with ideas, constantly shooting off at different angles but always replete with earworm melodies, plush with glittering sounds, charged with intelligent and emotional lyrics and underpinned by a syncopated rhythm section that shifts gears effortlessly from tightly coiled to blazingly expansive. Atlanta r&b maverick Janelle Monáe was critically acclaimed for her quirky, sci-fi-styled debut The ArchAndroid in 2010, firming up her reputation with punchy live performances in which she led her ensemble with the drillmaster precision of a latter-day James Brown. Now this dazzling, daring, psychedelic funk pop opus puts Monáe firmly in the front rank of 21st-century stars.
In its mix of pop melodies, offbeat arrangements and ultra-slick band playing, it is reminiscent of Prince in his Eighties pomp, achieving the kind of cosmic funk grandeur he aspired to on Sign o’ the Times. And, sure enough, the Minneapolis wonder makes a telling appearance, his clipped guitar and falsetto vocals powering the compressed blues funk of Given Em All My Love. When he lets rip with an echoey solo and the horns kick in, it is almost as if he is bestowing his graces on a righteous heir.
The Electric Lady proved Monáe was one of the most exciting talents on the scene and, with two remarkable albums in her pocket, there was no stopping her! I want to introduce an interview she gave in 2013 but, just before, one more review that highlights an incredible album:
“Attention to detail is nothing new for the admittedly obsessive Monáe, but man, there are some knockout details here: the rusty poking bedspring of a guitar that powers "Q.U.E.E.N."; the percussion loops on "Electric Lady"; the manic clean-toned jazz guitar skittering behind the vocal breakdown on "Ghetto Woman". The strings carry some of the most heart-tugging melodies, and the most beautiful moments come when songs melt from an amped-up funk groove into a glimmering, soul-revue orchestra, like "We Were Rock and Roll", "Give Em What You Love", and "Q.U.E.E.N". Gorgeous soul ballads like "Can't Live Without Your Love" are built on the kind of rich, finely managed melodies and jazzy modulations that haven't been the sound of the radio since the late 70s
Taken as a whole, The E**lectric Lady is a convincing argument for the virtues of micromanagement, but some of the most powerful, tender moments come from acknowledging limits. On "Sally Ride," she admits defeat, of sorts, declaring she's "packing my spacesuit, and I'm taking my shit up to the moon." On "Victory," Monáe offers, "I'll just keep singing until the pain goes," and there's something humbly stoic in her voice. She's not singing to exorcise pain, which will hang around until it's good and ready to go, she's just passing the time until it does doing the thing she does best”.
Could one call Monáe a modern treasure after only two albums?! Could we see her as an icon of the future?! Maybe some would feel that a little rash, I think Monáe was a definite star in 2013. She had managed to win acclaim across the board and was making music that sounded so original yet was familiar. It is hard to describe the essence of Janelle Monáe and just why she is so brilliant. I did mention how there was a lot of media interest in Monáe. Unlike many other artists, Monáe had a story to tell and she captivated easily. I will bring in the odd interview before wrapping up, but I did want to bring in an interview with The Guardian from June 2013.
“We're very quick to make stars these days, partly because of the speed with which we move on, partly because we're afraid the big characters of rock'n'roll might be a thing of the past. It's possible to be the Saviour of Pop (and a fashion icon) while most people still don't have a clue who you are, and Monáe occupies this position with great poise. Born in 1985 in Kansas, she didn't know much about David Bowie till the parallels were drawn by journalists. Like Gaga, she accepts the comparisons seriously, academically. And like Bowie, she is literally making herself up as she goes along.
Perhaps music is still the best way to deliver a political message?
"Sometimes when a child has to take medicine it must be delivered inside his favourite food," she says. "You have to figure out how you can make your message palatable for those who may not want to hear. I consider myself a wordsmith, and everything created through me is meant to provoke thought. And sometimes it's not – it's just meant to jam."
She has clearly decided it's time to tease her audience with talk of romantic love. On the new album, Primetime is a smooth boy-girl duet with Miguel; We Rock and Roll, is "about a relationship I had…" She is a lesbian icon, but when asked about love in the past she has replied that she only dates androids. Perhaps the key to longevity as a pop icon is revealing the real life inch by inch.
"As an artist, you highlight the things that you want people to know about you," she says. "Of course there are things that are not highlighted, which my family are privy to. Does the world and everybody have all of me? No – even I don't have all of me. Janelle Monáe is evolving constantly, and she is blossoming. You get the real me in real time – and that's as real it's going to get".
This sort of leads us to Janelle Monáe’s latest album, Dirty Computer, of 2018. Although there was another gap between releases (five years), Monáe was busy touring and working on new songs. I feel artists are rushed into releasing albums close together, as labels try and capitalise on success and feel, if someone leaves it too long to release another album, they will be forgotten about.
There was no chance of anyone forgetting Monáe, given the epic material she released prior to 2018. In 2016, Monáe appeared in the feature-length film, Moonlight. She also appeared in Hidden Figures and, between the two films, acted alongside Naomie Harris and Octavia Spencer. Monáe also contributed to a couple of albums – including the soundtrack of the Netflix series, The Get Down – and was already working on Dirty Computer when scripts started to come through. I can understand that there would have been pressure and expectation for Monáe to release a third album. I can also understand why people were knocking down her door and wanted her to appear in film. After the success of The Electric Lady, Monáe was a true superstar and an artist who was inspiring many others. When Dirty Computer arrived on 27th April, 2018, fans and critics were keen to listen and have their say. I think Dirty Computer was one of the best albums of 2018 and, from the very first listen, you could tell it was very much business as usual. Gone were the same concepts and themes as heard on Monáe’s first two albums; instead, here was a record that sounded like a new chapter. Although my favourite album from Monáe is The ArchAndroid, I have a lot of love and respect for Dirty Computer. When she spoke with Rolling Stone, we learn more about the albums recording; Monáe was also asked what it was like not being able to speak with Prince – as he died in 2016:
“Monáe recorded most of Dirty Computer here, in a small studio with Havana-inspired decor. Guests and collaborators ranged from Grimes to Brian Wilson, who added harmonies to the title track. The album’s liner notes cite Bible verses and a recent Quincy Jones interview alongside Monica Sjöö’s The Great Cosmic Mother and Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther.
Rumors spread that Prince co-wrote the single “Make Me Feel,” which features a “Kiss”-like guitar riff. “Prince did not write that song,” says Monáe, who sorely missed his advice during the production process. “It was very difficult writing this album without him.” Prince was the first person to get a physical copy of The ArchAndroid – she presented the CD to him with a flower and the titles written out by hand. “As we were writing songs, I was like, ‘What would Prince think?’ And I could not call him. It’s a difficult thing to lose your mentor in the middle of a journey they had been a part of”.
2016 was a strong year for music, yet very few albums matched the same levels and peaks as Dirty Computer. A lot had changed in Monáe’s life since 2013, but she remained this truly incredible artist with a sound and passion like nobody else. My first taste of Dirty Computer was the single, Make Me Feel. It is one of those songs - like Tightrope from The ArchAndroid - that bounces around the head and has that instant brilliance. Each track on Dirty Computer is packed with detail and delight. One can tell how hard Monáe had worked since 2013. One can feel the effort, love and energy in every beat and chorus. In their review, this is what AllMusic had to say:
“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”.
A lot of people have compiled a list of their favourite albums from this decade. I know The ArchAndroid is included on many lists, and I do feel a special place needs to be reserved for Dirty Computer. In any case, Janelle Monáe crafted a masterpiece in Dirty Computer. Looking at the glowing reviews for Dirty Computer, one is blown by the affection for the Kansas-born songwriter. NME offered their perspective on Dirty Computer:
“The “celebration of creation, self-love and pussy power” of majestic Grimes collab ‘Pynk’ is the album’s centrepiece, showcasing her knack of letting go while declaring total control. Among the wailing guitar heroics of ‘Screwed’ ft. Zoe Kravitz, she preaches: “Everything is sex, except sex – which is power. You screw me and I’ll screw you too – you know power is just sex? Now ask yourself who’s screwing who”. Elsewhere, the bouncing bomb pop-banger ‘I Got The Juice’ (with Pharrell Williams) pulses with sexuality while sending a clear warning to any objectifiers living in the shadow of a certain tiny-handed bastard: “If you try to grab my pussycat, this puss will grab you back.”
“His spirit will never leave me,” Monáe has said of her friend and collaborator Prince, who had helped her with sounds for the album “before he passed on to another frequency”. Sure, he lent a synth-line to the undeniable behemoth of ‘Make Me Feel’ (the greatest of her hits to date), and the gospel-funk power ballad of closer ‘American’ is the politicised blood descendent of ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ – but this record isn’t a monument to His Royal Badness. It’s one of the greatest artists of our time carrying Prince’s baton into the new world”.
Of course, with every album release, there was this press interest. Each interview reveals something new about Monáe. I guess, since the start of her career, Monáe faced speculation regarding her sexuality. Although it is not really relevant to the music, there was a lot of intrigue building; so many people were asking the question. I have read a few interviews from 2018, where Monáe was promoting Dirty Computer and talking about her progress over the past few years. I will end the feature soon but, right now, my eye has been caught by an interview in The Guardian from 2018 where Monáe was asked about politics and sexuality:
“Rumours have long been whispered about her sexuality, but Monáe has thus far resisted publicly defining it; she characterises herself again as “sexually liberated” and she declines to frame Make Me Feel in literal terms. “It’s a celebratory song,” she says. “I hope that comes across. That people feel more free, no matter where they are in their lives, that they feel celebrated. Because I’m about women’s empowerment. I’m about agency. I’m about being in control of your narrative and your body. That was personal for me to even talk about: to let people know you don’t own or control me and you will not use my image to defame or denounce other women.”
It’s an ugly phenomenon she has glimpsed on social media. “I see how people try to pit women against each other,” she says. “There are people who have used my image to slut-shame other women: ‘Janelle, we really appreciate that you don’t show your body.’ That’s something I’m not cool with. I have worn a tuxedo, but I have never covered up for respectability politics or to shame other women”.
It has been a hell of a career for Janelle Monáe. From her early E.P.s to her latest album, she has come a long way. This year has hardly been a quiet one. She performed at a number of festivals, including Primavera Sound and Glastonbury. I have not really mentioned Monáe as a live performer and how electric she is. I have not seen her up-close, but I have read a lot of reviews and seen performances she has given. There are artists who are spellbinding in the studio and sort of good when they hit the stage; for others, the reverse is true. When it comes to Monáe, she is world-class in both arenas. Her Primavera Sound set was truly exhilarating. NME reacted to her set:
“But it’s also for herself. Gliding effortlessly from ‘Crazy Classic Life’, of which her vocals are sadly too low in the mix, into the joyful funk blasts of fellow ‘Dirty Computer’ song ‘Screwed’, Monae flips the tone for another one of her latest album cuts, ‘Django Jane’. In her red and white plastic suit, she swaps a peaked cap for a bejewelled Egyptian headdress and ascends the stage’s white, stepped pyramid to sit on its throne. Monae takes ownership of the political issues she litters her show with with – blackness, queer identity, feminism, the working classes – spitting bars from atop the imaginary palace that her dancers flank. The lyric, “Black girl magic / y’all can’t stand it” may as well have been left to the audience to rap; likewise with, “Let the vagina have a monologue,” which fans bellow to the high heavens. Monae deadpans at the song’s close, though her attempts to disguise a smile don’t go unnoticed.
What’s striking about tonight’s show is just how much Monae is enjoying herself. Be it synchronised jolts with her uniformed dancers, drop-kicking the air, changing costumes or sending big political fuck you’s (“as a queer black woman in America, I hate what Trump is doing”), Monae exhausts every note, move and expression as if it was the last show on earth”.
When playing the West Holts Stage at this year’s Glastonbury, Janelle Monáe wowed the crowds! In a year where there were some especially memorable sets, Monáe was very close to the absolute best. Her set was full of huge songs and big messages. When reviewing her performance, The Independent made some observations:
“After “Make Me Feel”, which is all clicks and clucks and funky staccato guitar and which she ends by falling to her knees, she makes an announcement. “We must fight for the rights of immigrants. We must fight for the rights of LGBTQIA people, of black people, of women. And we must impeach Donald Trump.”
It seems as though the set is over. The crowd begin to pour away. But before long, Monae returns, for a gloriously frenetic rendition of ArchAndroid track “Come Alive (The War of the Roses)”. She did this at this festival eight years ago, stepping one foot over the barrier between her and the crowd as a security guard clung onto her.
Tonight, she goes several steps further, wading far into the crowd, further than I have seen anyone venture into a crowd this size, and participating in an enormous mosh. She emerges unscathed. This truly is a safe space. “What you just saw you will never see again,” she yells at the top of her lungs, straight into the camera. There's little doubting that”.
Who knows what 2020 holds for Janelle Monáe. I think there will be more tour dates but, in terms of another album, we might yet have to wait a couple of years more. There are articles out there marking Monáe as a revolutionary figure, whilst others cannot get enough of her live performances. Even after three albums, I get the feeling Janelle Monáe is a leader; someone who will transition to iconic status before too long. Her words inspire and move whilst her music makes you think and moves the body. It is not an exaggeration to compare her with artists like Prince and David Bowie – I am sure she would not mind the comparisons! Monáe is a wonderful artist who will reign and amaze for many years to come. No matter what mood you are in, you can put on a Janelle Monáe song or album and feel revived, transported and stunned. She is an artist who…
MAKES us all feel something.