Has The Electric Lady lost her spark?
Just over 5 years ago, Janelle Monae released The Electric Lady and now in just a few hours, I get to see her perform her latest album Dirty Computer live. With that said...
For the past 10 years Janelle Monáe has filled a deep hole in my musical
library that I didn’t even know existed, which makes it all the more difficult
to say what I’m about to. I’ve sat with it for a while and turned it upside
down in my head and I’ve come to a conclusion. Dirty Computer is an overrated album.
Back in 2008 when kids at school would go around bbm-ing songs to each
other and Flo Rida “Low
(feat. T-Pain)” was the
cream of the crop on the mainstream charts, a friend of mine pulled me aside to
play me “Sincerely,
Jane” at
school. As soon as I was back at home that afternoon, even before I’d signed
into MSN, I had begun my research into who exactly this “Janelle Monáe” was.
The most unfortunate thing about listening to Metropolis: Suite I (The
Chase) at the time that I did is that I was too young to fully appreciate
it for what it was, but I knew there was gold in there nonetheless. It wasn’t
until I’d grown up a little bit more and was blessed with The ArchAndroid that my eyes were truly opened. What. An. Album.
It’s no secret that I’m a fan of concept albums (when done well) and
simply from the way that the first two tracks blend together so flawlessly I
was captivated immediately. “Cold War” to this day is one of the most spine-tingling
songs that I’ve ever heard, all with a sensational back beat and instrumental
to match, and yet, when Janelle was breaking ground with these game-changing
songs, forward thinking lyrics and booty shaking instrumentals, her fans were
few and far between. She had fans no doubt, and although she was breaking
ground she was still very much seen as an underground artist, particularly
within the UK.
Then she gave us the absolutely phenomenal The Electric Lady. Once
again, giving me one of my favourite album openings of all time - “Givin’ ‘Em What They Love (feat.Prince)”, and of
course the anthem for fxmale, non-binary, LGBTQIA+ empowerment - “Q.U.E.E.N (feat. Erykah Badu)”. This album had so many layers and influences and
still managed to mix the concepts of both musical theatre and radio successfully throughout. Even after all of this, not
nearly as many people as I had expected were lauding her ability to turn song
to story and paint vivid pictures for her listeners.
And now here we are at Dirty
Computer. A great album indeed, but not so much a great Janelle Monáe
album. When I first listened through, despite the spattering of some undeniable
bangers like “Pynk”, “Screwed”, “Take A Byte” and “Django Jane”, there was something missing for me,
linking all of these tracks together in one discernible narrative. It felt like
there were a lot of unresolved thoughts and wonderings which in turn left me
waiting for something to round them up and conclude everything. Despite this,
the reception of Dirty Computer was
incredible! People are still going
crazy for the eMotion picture, and in a
matter of weeks Janelle has become an overnight icon – I’d like to add that
this is not the first time that Janelle has made a short film to go with her
album *see Metropolis*.
So where was all of this when she was just Jane, the forward thinking
Android? A large part of music in today’s climate is more to do with image than
the actual music. I feel like this is why there aren’t truly any game-changers
nowadays because we make music for now and not for later. Just like fast
fashion, that new dance trend will be old news after a few weeks and we’ll have
to churn out something new to keep up with demand. We’re pandering to the
public and thinking less about what impact the music has beyond its sell-by
date. In the case of Janelle, I don’t believe that her intention with Dirty Computer was to appease the crowd.
I actually think that the reason for the change was because she herself is changing. The album from
start to finish sounds like a flash in the pan of Janelle’s thoughts and
influences spanning her whole career, whereas her previous projects have each
been noticeably very well thought out moments in time.
The reason I can say with my entire chest that Dirty Computer is a great album is because it manages to skilfully
highlight topics that push past the moment and stay with the listener beyond
what’s in vogue now. However, Janelle’s not saying much that she’s not already
said before so why are people only just listening in? I believe that people may
have latched on more to the image of Janelle than the actual content of her
most recent work. She’s come at her creative process from a different angle and
maybe the reason the spark has dimmed for me is because it’s a little bit more
commercial and a lot less experimental. Either way, I love that people love
Janelle Monáe, I just wish they had loved Jane too.
