Janelle Monae

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

I love Janelle but don't really like this single at all. Sounds way too close to Dark Horse for me.

No this isn't futurism. But at least she sounds present.

she sounds in line with current r&b/pop trends from "7/11" to rnbass and does a decent job at it; maybe this isn't world-stoppingly great but if you really need the smelling salts for it, it does reveal how much of monáe's original retro appeal was defined against "other/mainstream r&b singers"

Lex otm

My favorite Monae track was a straight up "Golden Lady" rip, so there's probably some meat on that argument.

she sounds in line with current r&b/pop trends

this is a large part of what I find boring about this song

she still sounds great, mind you

also I flat-out hated "Dance Apocalyptic" until I saw the Letterman performance of it so I now know to reserve judgment on her singles until I see her perform them live

xxp - which song is this?

"Locked Inside"

i only think this is bad relative to the jidenna single that came first, which is more awesome & in the same style

i don't have a problem w/ this song but it is kinda hilarious. the phrase "let me see you do that yoga," which doesn't really make sense, doesn't really help this feel natural. like "7/11" it has the faint whiff of lonely island to me.

also donmonique "pilates" did the concept 100x better at the same time, and that kinda nags at me

she sounds in line with current r&b/pop trends

this is a large part of what I find boring about this song

― DJP, Tuesday, April 28, 2015 3:03 PM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yes but i like current r&b/pop trends, or these ones at any rate, and i don't think current r&b/pop trends as either practiced here or as a concept generally are objectionable

i would agree that the jidenna single is better - hard to stan for "yoga" especially, but there's just been a lot of negative overreaction

ill agree with that

I like current R&B/pop trends but her voice is too shrill for this shit. She works better with more dynamic melodies.

Much as I like it "Primetime" is redolent of this; Miguel seduces while she puts you on edge. Her voice just doesn't do sensuality all that well.

"Classic Man" is the most awful song

how so

it sounds bad. like an offbrand knockoff of something popular. i thought it was some shit independent thing that a local radio station was trying to make happen the first couple times i heard it.

or, like, the return of Ron Browz's rap-singing career or something.

this is a seriously goofy record, and that's the best thing about it i think

idk i like 'classic man,' such a strange record, good melody, i like how the lyrics are like an inkblot test

'yoga' is weird bc janelle sounds so poised

Proficient is the word. Boring song that barely sounds like her. Obviously Lex celebrates it as a blow against "weirdness", ie interesting ideas and a distinct personality.

it does not sound that good to me, but it comes across even worse somehow just like all wrong. the vid needs more papyrus font to emphasize how yoga it is.

like it's in a uncanny valley between goofy and actual pop music

yeah they're kinda doing a Macklemore-style facsimile of club records that tell you how much classier and smarter they are than other club records

or maybe they're people who just like yoga & dandy culture who are telling u they also like club records

idk my Monae problem is she always sounds too poised.

she's also not a good songwriter

Modern Euro dance music influence on corporate black pop music is the worst thing that ever happened in music.

Lex Pretend is a self parody and completely humdrum predictable. Lex called Kendrick's "For Free" "misogynistic" xD xD

Modern Euro dance music influence on corporate black pop music is the worst thing that ever happened in music.

There is a grain of truth in this particular internet hardmanism.

Obviously Lex celebrates it as a blow against "weirdness", ie interesting ideas and a distinct personality.

― Continue your brooding monologue (Re-Make/Re-Model), Tuesday, April 28, 2015 5:31 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i don't think making a song in line with current pop/r&b sounds obviates interesting ideas or a distinct personality but i get the impression a lot of monáe fans do

Haaaaa I thought I figured out who Tanuki is for a second but then I remembered the person in question isn't British even though I thought he was until he said otherwise.

it sounds bad. like an offbrand knockoff of something popular. i thought it was some shit independent thing that a local radio station was trying to make happen the first couple times i heard it.

― some dude, Tuesday, April 28, 2015 1:07 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

she's also not a good songwriter

this is my issue too

in the end, she's all about making money. she's not in this for music or art.

you don't say

say do i

in the end, she's all about making money.

just like her hero James Brown

im really trying to believe arctic noon auk is a sincere KTTeen, but i'm really struggling

janelle money amirite

Just looked up the lyrics, it's "break you in" not "breaking wind", which would have been better for a song nominally about yoga

xp I just don't hear anything interesting here Lex. I don't automatically prefer outre stuff to straightforward club jams - it depends on the song - but to go from one to the other so drastically, and so feebly, is depressing. Re: Monae's fans, I was listening to Blackheart this morning - isn't Dawn Richard's appeal similarly based on "weirdness"/originality/big ideas?

stop being so invested in ~weirdness

never.

xp dawn richard has mainstream-trend songs on all her albums. different situation sure - not lead singles, v much the exceptions - but no one's reacted harshly to "faith", "riot" or "phoenix" simply because of the style she employs

i guess i don't hear how this is a particularly feeble example of rnbass-ish sounds...i'm sure we can all name rnbass songs this year which are much better at conveying interesting ideas/distinct personalities (starting right here with jidenna's own song!) (and peaking with HONEY COCAINE <33333333) but this is fine to me, obviously it's no "q.u.e.e.n." but i prefer it to the majority of her album trax. maybe because i had lower expectations because as many have pointed out, songwriting hasn't been her forte so any sort of hook i remember is a step up?

janelle's album trax aren't that "weird"

they're mostly all stylistic exercises

where did this "Janelle Monae is a bad songwriter" delusion come from