Album: Dirty Computer
Artist: Janelle Monáe
Release Date: April 28, 2018
Favorite Tracks: It would be easier to list my least favorite tracks, but really there are no duds on this album.
Thoughts:
It’s hard to believe that this is only Janelle Monáe’s third studio album as she has made such a huge contribution to musical pop culture in the past decade. Monáe’s film work put this album on the back burner, but it was worth the wait. This is the first album where Monáe steps out from behind her Cindi Mayweather character, and thus it is the personal music she’s released. Similarly, stepping out of the metaphors of the Metropolis narrative, Monáe directly addresses political topics of the day while celebrating women, Blackness, sexuality, gender identity and being American (““It’s gonna be my America before it’s all over”).
Monáe picks up the mantle from David Bowie and Prince as the icon of redefining norms for gender identity and sexuality. In fact, Prince worked with Monáe on defining the sound of the music early on and it shows. Make no mistake though, this is Monáe’s album and guest artists from Grimes to Brian Wilson to Zoe Kravitz to Stevie Wonder move fluidly to her beat. This is the first great album of 2018, and the song “Americans” should be the song of the summer.
If you want to read more of my dumb thoughts on Monáe’s earlier body of work, check out my Music Discoveries post. For a more thoughtful career evaluation, read this article by Charles Pulliam-Moore.
Rating: *****
Panorama of the Mountains 