No 442: Janelle MonáeNot for nothing has today's hopeful been trumpeted as 'a female Andre 3000'. She is a cyborg disco divo taking soul music to far-out places Paul Lester guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 3 December 2008 12.29 GMT Article history
Janelle Monáe ... a sci-fi robo-chick with a tendency to dress like a 1950s greaser. Photograph: PR

Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia.

The lineup: Janelle Monáe.

The background: You don't have to be an award-winner with 20/20 foresight to know when a new act is going to cause a stir. Whether or not Janelle Monáe becomes a huge star is neither here nor there. Before she even releases a note of music, she will be all over the media like a rash from a science fiction movie about intergalactic infections. We make this wild stab in the dark, this crazy prediction, based on our assumption that the media will be intrigued by the notion of a young woman from Kansas City who studied at New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts before moving to Atlanta – a city with a history of hip-hop with a futurist imperative, notably the original Atliens themselves, OutKast - and reinventing herself as Cindi Mayweather, the self-styled Girl from Another Planet.

Not for nothing has Monáe been trumpeted as "a female Andre 3000". Monáe describes her new persona as an "Alpha Platinum 9000 android", a sci-fi robo-chick with a tendency to dress like a 1950s greaser. "I'm an alien from outer space/A cyber girl without a face," she casually announces on the first song of her debut album, Metropolis: The Chase Suite (Special Edition), a concept record about a fugitive female robot who has erroneously fallen in love with a human being, verboten in the future world of Metropolis.

Metropolis? You know, as in Fritz Lang's 1927 silent movie about a futuristic urban dystopia. The film provided the inspiration for the Wondaland Arts Society, an Atlanta-based studio and arts collective as well as the name ascribed to the music and movement Monáe and her collaborators are pushing with their first long-player. Those collaborators include Chuck Lighting, the spark behind the zany visuals and sci-fi sensibility (he also helps with the lyrics), and Nate "Rocket" Wonder, with whom Monáe works on the music and production.

There are other men in Monáe's life, and you may have heard of them. First, there's Big Boi of OutKast, who brought her to wider attention after he invited her to sing on a track from his Got Purp? Vol II mixtape. Then there's P Diddy, who contacted her via her MySpace, knocked out as he was by one of her songs, Violet Stars Happy Hunting, then streaming online. In fact, he was sufficiently blown away to sign her to his Bad Boy Records and allow her complete creative control. "Janelle Monáe is one of the most important signings of my career," declares the Puffy one. "She is a true visionary, with an original sound and a mesmerising presence."

The third man to impact on Monáe's life has been her father, a drug addict. "It really damaged my family," she admits. "There were times when mentally I had to create my own world." That world is fully-formed and has its own soundtrack. Actually, the music isn't quite the distant-future computer-R&B you might now be imagining. Despite its title and the studio-tweaked vocals, Cybertronic Purgatory is lush, dreamy soul. Sincerely Jane is like Stand By Me in space. Many Moons is fast and furious chattering funk over which Monáe blankly intones about "crack whores" and "freak shows", but elsewhere she trills and warbles like a regular, you know, singer. In a way, the vocals draw on the past, the visuals are from the future, while the music mixes up jumpin' jive and cyborg disco with élan. But it's a fascinating concept and it takes soul music to far-out places.

The buzz: "It's like having Judy Garland and Lauryn Hill team up on a record."

The truth: Anyone familiar with Grace Jones circa Nightclubbing or Swiss techno duo Yello and their late-80s team-ups with Shirley Bassey will have seen this one coming, but there's no denying this is one helluva thrilling concept. Far from a camp joke, born out of pain, it comes from a sincere need to self-improve.

Most likely to: Make Prince jealous.

Least likely to: Make Prince zealous – he just doesn't seem to try anymore ...

What to buy: Metropolis: The Chase Suite (Special Edition) will be released by Bad Boy in 2009.

File next to: Andre 3000, Grace Jones, Shirley Bassey, Prince.

Links: www.myspace.com/janellemonae

Tomorrow's new band: Cosmo Jarvis.
http://www.guardian.co.uk...elle-monae

This little 6 song set is the fucking bomb. This project has so much potential. She is an amazing amazing singer and the first time I heard smile I cried like crazy

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I just purchased that along with 15 other cd's today. I'm going 2 be quite busy.

I picked her CD up a few months ago. I love this chick. Definetly outside the box. Cute ass too.

Checked her out 4 the 1st time last night. Love it.....

really like her, but she came off kind of arrogant in a couple of interviews i heard her on....

d'oh well, we'll see how this goes

i DO remember seeing her in vibe magazine about 3-5 years ago. she had a whole nother image then. almost like jimi hendrix with afro and ruffled shirts and all