Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 08/12/2008
Janelle Monáe's uniqueness was not apparent from the beginning, as heard on
Big Boi's second
Got Purp compilation. The neo-electro remake of
DeBarge's
"Time Will Reveal" and the
Off the Wall-emulating pop-funk of
"Lettin' Go" were standouts -- even amidst nuggets like
Konkrete's
"Shit Ya Drawers," believe it or not -- but
Monáe seemed destined to be one of those artists who appears on a glorified mixtape and either disappears or makes one under-promoted album prior to fleeing the industry. Even after spotlights on
OutKast's
Idlewild, it could not have been known to many outside
Monáe's Atlanta circle that she was much more in line with
Nona Hendryx and Afrofuturism than
Ciara and
106 & Park. She probably has more time for
Octavia Butler than
Perez Hilton. Inspired by
Fritz Lang's 1927 science fiction classic,
Metropolis, Suite 1: The Chase is the first of four planned releases designed as easily processible EPs detailing the life of a rebellious soul-equipped android who risks disassembly by falling in love with a human. Strip away the concept, the packaging, and the equally entertaining and deep lyrics dealing in class/race, slavery, isolation, and love -- all of that material, as crucial as it is to the whole -- and there remains a handful of magnetic songs transferred through theatrical soul, 21st century new wave, ice-coated opera, and brassy hip-hop funk. The disc's center is made of
"Violet Stars Happy Hunting!!!" and
"Many Moons," conjoined songs that trump anything on the
André 3000 half of
OutKast's
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.
"Sincerely, Jane" is dressed up in all the fantastical instrumentation of an otherworldly Broadway production but is as grounded in grim realism as
Marvin Gaye's
"Inner City Blues" or
2Pac's
"Brenda's Got a Baby," and like those two songs, it is fueled by despair rather than self-righteousness.
Monáe's voice is knockout level throughout, likely versatile enough to handle any style with effortlessly expressive ease. [The "Special Edition," released by
Bad Boy nearly a year after the original independent version, adds two bonus tracks.
"Mr. President," a protest song, has a relaxed
Hi Records throwback arrangement and a neo-
Ernie Isley guitar flame-out;
"Smile" is a skeletal, gently uplifting ballad.]
~Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
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