Janelle Monae

"I want a queer R&B canon so established that it has its own stereotypes, that the next generation of queer brown kids can scoff at and take for granted the way queer white kids often do with the Indigo Girls and Melissa Etheridge"

lol – excellent

i like the last song

Man, if her albums could sound even remotely as electrifying as she does live, there would be no question about who rules all. She's astonishing in concert!

i agree - must as said up there "Many Moons" might be the best case

forks, where is "letting go" from?

i like the last song

― rap steve gadd (D-40), Friday, October 11, 2013 10:58 AM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark

best track

lettin' go was on monae's (self published i think?) debut ep but first made the rounds on the purple ribbon all-stars second mixtape which is fucking great.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Got_Purp%3F_Vol._2

I love "Prime Time" now. Unconditionally.

From the same debut/Got Purp, I highly recommend her cover of DeBarge's Time Will Reveal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-ffFtQrCnY

i like the last song

― rap steve gadd (D-40), Friday, October 11, 2013 10:58 AM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark

best track

What even

Interesting that Miguel is the only one of the collaborators on this album with a cowriting credit.

I was a bit disappointed how superficial the Prince collab is; he only sings on one verse and does a bit of backing vocals and some extra guitar lines. The song is not bad, but it doesn't sound like a true Prince/Monae collaboration, more like Prince wanted to be on the album, but for whatever reason he couldn't really work with JM on a new tune, so they added his contributions to a pre-existing one. (And since he doesn't get a cowriting credit, the truth is probably not far from that.)

The last song is a jam, yeah. Reminds me of the best tune from the previous album, "Wondaland". I wish the new one would've had more synth-drive android dance tracks like that one, and less tunes with traditional instruments and arrangements. I don't think trad soul is where Janelle Monae's true strengths lie.

naw, the best songs on this album are the gritty funk jams, including the Prince one. I for one am glad he subsumes himself to her whim rather than vice versa. That's actually prob my favorite song on the album.

It's all about "Ghetto Woman" for me.

the denouement of "Givin' Em What They Love" is what pushes it completely over the top for me.

yes yes yes

Prince is ideal: he doesn't steal the song so much as sneak in and get comfortable on the couch and slips out when Monae has her erotic breakdown.

otm

still never listened to this :(

"primetime" is pretty incredible

^^ agreed. This and "Give'em What They Love" are what I kept, and whenever "Primetime" pops up I don't change it."

i think "Sally Ride" is the sleeper

She retained more of her Pazz & Jop dominance than I thought she would, I figured she'd quietly place outside the top ten

prophetic

Oscar winner Helen Mirren has been honored as woman of the year by Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals, twerking as part of the traditional spoof roast.
Mirren at first tried to sign the word "twerk," then let slip a curse word, opting to dance instead. She said she's tried to twerk privately in her bedroom and having to do it in public was humiliating.
"I've tried in my bedroom in private, in front of the mirror, very unsuccessfully, so absolutely humiliating to have to do it in public in front of a whole load of people.

it was definitely peculiar

http://pitchfork.com/news/54622-listen-to-janelle-monaes-cover-of-david-bowies-heroes/

well that wasn't very good

free concert in bk was nuts. way more people than they'd let into the bandshell. waited in line two hours, then they closed the doors. hung out at the gates and danced a while. crowd ate up the want you back cover and tightrope was wild af.

Well, I'm glad to know she's alive and well. She cancelled her entire Australian tour because she was hospitalised, and there's been no personal tweets from her since 14 May. Been no info at all as to what was wrong with her, but to cancel a tour spread out over multiple weeks, it must have been pretty bad.

yikes, sounds like it's good i stayed out

well this is a surprising move
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OkB6p_FZAw

That's kind of horrible.

We weren't fans either.

i've no idea what's meant to be so awful about this song. OH NO SHE MADE A REASONABLY PROFICIENT MAINSTREAM-SOUNDING SONG

stop being so invested in ~weirdness

it pairs well with jidenna's own single

Jeez, I just think it's corny and irritating and actually TOO kooky if anything.

The production is certainly proficient, I will agree with you there.

i've no idea what's meant to be so awful about this song. OH NO SHE MADE A REASONABLY PROFICIENT MAINSTREAM-SOUNDING SONG

― lex pretend,

she totally did this with "Primetime."

And "Tightrope."

Also Tightrope is not exactly avant-noise.

xp

I'm with Lex. This is a step in the right direction. The retro has been smothering her futurism for a while now.

I wouldn't call this futurism.

"Yoga pants are sexy" is pretty of-the-moment tbh.

i really like this and was surprised by the lukewarm reaction on TSJ

reminds me more than anything of "7/11" and i recall people being a bit "what is this basic mess" when that premiered too

http://f.tqn.com/y/yoga/1/L/u/6/hydemens.jpg

(゜-゜) @ the persistant myth she ever had any talent anyway

(゜-゜) @ that idea she hasn't always been a fraud

(゜-゜) @ it finally all being exposed in a song about bending over doing yoga exposing your ass

what's it like exposing yourself as an ass?

She's always been a derivative fraudulent leech so this comes as no surprise and may be the current nadir of western appropriation of a spiritual meditation practice. Fuck that, look how great your ass looks.

"get off my areola"...hah

xp I'll take this song over goddamned "eat pray love", thanks