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
― deej loaf (D-40), Tuesday, 28 April 2015 17:17 (nine years ago) link
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.
― Continue your brooding monologue (Re-Make/Re-Model), Tuesday, 28 April 2015 17:31 (nine years ago) link
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.
― irl sweatpants (Hunt3r), Tuesday, 28 April 2015 17:33 (nine years ago) link
like it's in a uncanny valley between goofy and actual pop music
― irl sweatpants (Hunt3r), Tuesday, 28 April 2015 17:36 (nine years ago) link
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
― some dude, Tuesday, 28 April 2015 17:44 (nine years ago) link
or maybe they're people who just like yoga & dandy culture who are telling u they also like club records
― deej loaf (D-40), Tuesday, 28 April 2015 17:47 (nine years ago) link
idk my Monae problem is she always sounds too poised.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 28 April 2015 17:51 (nine years ago) link
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
― Arctic Noon Auk, Tuesday, 28 April 2015 17:58 (nine years ago) link
There is a grain of truth in this particular internet hardmanism.
― the joke should be over once the kid is eaten. (chap), Tuesday, 28 April 2015 18:41 (nine years ago) link
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
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 29 April 2015 10:49 (nine years ago) link
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.
― The Reverend, Wednesday, 29 April 2015 16:18 (nine years ago) link
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
― katherine, Wednesday, 29 April 2015 17:06 (nine years ago) link
this is my issue too
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 29 April 2015 17:15 (nine years ago) link
in the end, she's all about making money. she's not in this for music or art.
― Arctic Noon Auk, Wednesday, 29 April 2015 17:53 (nine years ago) link
you don't say
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 29 April 2015 17:54 (nine years ago) link
say do i
― Arctic Noon Auk, Wednesday, 29 April 2015 17:55 (nine years ago) link
in the end, she's all about making money.
just like her hero James Brown
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 29 April 2015 17:56 (nine years ago) link
im really trying to believe arctic noon auk is a sincere KTTeen, but i'm really struggling
― deej loaf (D-40), Wednesday, 29 April 2015 18:12 (nine years ago) link
janelle money amirite
― Arctic Noon Auk, Wednesday, 29 April 2015 18:20 (nine years ago) link
Just looked up the lyrics, it's "break you in" not "breaking wind", which would have been better for a song nominally about yoga
― Leonard Pine, Wednesday, 29 April 2015 18:32 (nine years ago) link
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?
― Continue your brooding monologue (Re-Make/Re-Model), Wednesday, 29 April 2015 19:21 (nine years ago) link
stop being so invested in ~weirdness
never.
― rushomancy, Thursday, 30 April 2015 00:33 (nine years ago) link
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?
― lex pretend, Thursday, 30 April 2015 14:58 (nine years ago) link
janelle's album trax aren't that "weird"
― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Thursday, 30 April 2015 15:30 (nine years ago) link
they're mostly all stylistic exercises
where did this "Janelle Monae is a bad songwriter" delusion come from
― DJP, Thursday, 30 April 2015 15:58 (nine years ago) link
when she hit me across the head w/the blackjack called The ArchAndroid.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 30 April 2015 16:05 (nine years ago) link
yeah I don't understand this, outside of like "Mushrooms and Roses" I don't think she's really 'weird' at all
― frogbs, Thursday, 30 April 2015 16:13 (nine years ago) link
yeah if anything they're too straight imo. which qualifies as bad songwriting
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 30 April 2015 16:34 (nine years ago) link
"Yoga" is growing on me, the lyrical content maybe not so much but the melody in the verse is great as is Monae's delivery!
find this youtube comment p hilarious
and for the people who say don't put her in a box, my response is SHE WAS IN FUCKING BEAUTIFUL DIVERSE UNIQUE BOX!!!!!!
― niels, Thursday, 30 April 2015 16:44 (nine years ago) link
"yoga" becomes her first ever hot 100 entry
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 2 July 2015 16:58 (eight years ago) link
other than the time she was featured on a #1 obv
― some dude, Thursday, 2 July 2015 17:12 (eight years ago) link
sigh
― Nhex, Thursday, 2 July 2015 18:53 (eight years ago) link
― some dude, Thursday, July 2, 2015 1:12 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark
right, yes
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 2 July 2015 19:24 (eight years ago) link
Still can't decide what I think of "Yoga"
― curmudgeon, Monday, 6 July 2015 14:11 (eight years ago) link
Likewise. I hate it more in theory than in practice.
― The New Gay Sadness (cryptosicko), Monday, 6 July 2015 14:50 (eight years ago) link
that means you like it
― J0rdan S., Monday, 6 July 2015 15:02 (eight years ago) link
fyiThree days into the whirlwind “Eephus” tour, featuring eight concerts in such cities as Philadelphia, D.C. and Los Angeles, it’s become pretty clear that Monáe and her labelmates are turning the Toyota-sponsored tour into a political roadshow. So far, they’re three for three, leading public protests before each night’s show. The tour stops — and subsequent marches — began in Philadelphia on Wednesday and continued the next day in New York, where the group led a rally against police brutality in Times Square. The group moves on to Chicago on Monday, then Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland, Ore., before wrapping up in Atlanta at the end of the month
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style-blog/wp/2015/08/16/janelle-monae-leads-protest-before-secret-concert-in-washington-d-c/
― curmudgeon, Monday, 17 August 2015 14:05 (eight years ago) link
righteous
― I Am Curious (Dolezal) (DJP), Monday, 17 August 2015 14:35 (eight years ago) link
not righteous: http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/08/janelle-monaes-speaks-out-against-police-brutality-immediatly-cut-off-by-today-show/
― I Am Curious (Dolezal) (DJP), Monday, 17 August 2015 14:43 (eight years ago) link
http://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2015/08/18/385202798/janelle-mon-e-releases-visceral-protest-song-hell-you-talmbout
― The New Gay Sadness (cryptosicko), Wednesday, 19 August 2015 15:00 (eight years ago) link
eh, I'm not a big fan of the implications of that article. not saying it wasn't on purpose but she wasn't "immediately" cut off nor was this something out of the ordinary, performers who stay on to say a few words about whatever routinely get cut off
― frogbs, Wednesday, 19 August 2015 15:15 (eight years ago) link
yeah, i get why people look at that clip and feel mad or disheartened, but a show like that is timed within an inch of its life, they were gonna cut to the next segment when they were gonna cut no matter what. if she's said that stuff over the bridge of the song during their scheduled time, i doubt they would've cut away.
― some dude, Wednesday, 19 August 2015 21:30 (eight years ago) link
daaaamn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dUfv6_Qs24
― sleeve, Thursday, 20 August 2015 05:50 (eight years ago) link
not a great song exactly, but something i can imagine being really great at shows/rallies. and actually its better than some over earnestly political attempt to Say Something about what's happening. could do with a little more colour in the music but its maybe the first time ive heard JM break a sweat vocally too (though i think i prefer her sounding cooler).
― StillAdvance, Thursday, 20 August 2015 09:59 (eight years ago) link
I appreciate "Hell You Talmbout," but I don't think I want to listen to it again. Prince's "Baltimore" is perhaps less angry, but a lot more tuneful.
― The New Gay Sadness (cryptosicko), Thursday, 20 August 2015 11:59 (eight years ago) link
for such a spare track, the drums sound really cold/thin.
― StillAdvance, Thursday, 20 August 2015 12:50 (eight years ago) link
wish she would re-appear with something new
― In a slipshod style (Ross), Monday, 18 December 2017 05:34 (six years ago) link
Have we lost her to Hollywood?
― iCloudius (cryptosicko), Monday, 18 December 2017 05:50 (six years ago) link