Janelle Monae

NYT on it all

“I started falling in love with the Drake album and the Kanye album, and I thought, that’s really theatrical, and it’s hip-hop music, and I make really theatrical music,” Mr. Ruess said. “Why can’t I add a hip-hop element?” He said his idea was “to take that ’70s songwriting style but modernize it a little bit more.”

when I read the story this morning and that quote, I thought, "Wait, is this a Ryan Tedder story?"

The spike in popularity is even more rare for an alternative rock outfit: It has been more than a decade since a rock band had a song enter the pop chart in the top spot. (Nickelback did it in December 2001 with “How You Remind Me.”)

wow NYT really badly mangled the factoid that fun. are the first rock band to hit #1 with their first Hot 100 hit

hilarious that his idea of HARNESSING THE POWER OF HIP HOP is to hunt down the token white guy on Kanye's production team

It's prom night in America.

nah this song will be inescapable in May because of graduation ceremonies, not proms

Showing my ignorance of the rituals of American youth there, but I'd have thought it works in both cases. Wherever young people feel a bit happy, a bit sad, a bit nervous, a bit drunk.

Janelle's wasted on it though. She just sort of glides by. I was expecting more of a turn.

singles jukebox review
http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=5019

the token white guy on Kanye's production team

um, what about Mike Dean?

i guess dean's in the mix, but not as much as bhasker, no i.d., etc.

Its about a girl losing her virginity. The peeling of the apple is the foreplay, but then when the moment comes she gets nervous. And when she cuts herself thats the cherry popping and when she puts the blood on her lips it shows shes not an innocent little girl anymore. Look at her facial expressions
FootballFanatic141 16 hours ago 63

Why does she say confusion is a walrus?

Can't wait for the Janelle Monae Wars 2012 edition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTP53kCgVkU

http://www.jmonae.com/sites/jmonae.wmg-gardens.com/files/styles/photo_detail_large/public/201304/jm_annoucement_0.gif

Ooooh!

that's a very specific time

https://soundcloud.com/atlanticrecords/queen-feat-erykah-badu/

into it

I kind of dig it. Unfortunately, if I let it go to the next song on Atlantic, I get reminded that Twenty One Pilots is a thing.

it's enjoyably corny

is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror? is it peculiar that she twerk in the mirror?

rap at the end is a bit too extra tho :/

haha the extra-ness of the rap was what brought me round to this

(which i like, but i've been too busy looping quadron and kelis to give it my full attention)

"oh no/the booty don't lie"

love the deep groove w/ horns ~4 min in.

the rap is pretty great in its own way too. like not many performers can keep it that posi without just inducing eyerolls.

new quadron?

okay this is fantastic

quadron

in here rev, and be sure to watch the video

ugh this shit is endless, i'm very sorely tempted to turn it off at the 2:30 mark

oh well second half is better at least

erykah kills it and the bit at the end was pretty exciting.

keen for this album, the last one was a real mess of ideas but a lot of them stuck

Yeah, I'm hoping the new one will be shorter and more concise. New song is cool, probably a grower.

Can't. Stop. Playing. This.
So many fresh new tunes this week. And it's only Tuesday.

oh no, the booty don't lie.

Maybe I'm just in the wrong mood, but Q.U.E.E.N. is totally boring to me.

7/10 for the first half, 9/10 for the second half!

The first half is a nightmare. I'm actually hoping Badu goes in her half's direction.

new video is hot. the poodle is a great touch.

realized also that the first part reminds me of "all i need"

Song gets better with each listen. Song + video increases its betterness to the power of 10.

(And not to be creepin, but Janelle in that mod wig and stripey dress is killing me dead.)

otm cool video

really like this song

at her red bull talk badu was gushing about monae... i think she said something like "she understands my heart more than anyone"

This is fantastic! Great song and video. Hope the album is coming real soon.

Love the strings under the rap at the end, very Curtis.

badu's part is great, the way the blunt keyboards slide away leaving jazzy impressions and she just weaves in and out of them

unfortunately her delivery kind of emphasizes how dull monae's is

but then this is the least i've been bored by a monae track since "many moons," so that's something

yeah never been a big fan of hers either but this song sticks out for me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEddixS-UoU

Whoops, meant to post this one, although, now that I look, the video wasn't in here yet anyway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6B5nqy_MwwE

Janelle looks really hot in the short wig.