With just two albums under her belt, Janelle Monáe is already widely and deservedly regarded as a musical visionary who possesses charisma, confidence and style in vast abundance. In the nearly two years since the release of her most recent LP The Electric Lady, Monáe has been diligently channeling her creative passions toward something greater than her own career: Wondaland Records. After a few years of running the imprint, Monáe’s label inked a development deal with Epic/Sony this past February. In celebrating the partnership, Epic CEO L.A. Reid adamantly explained that “Janelle is a boss! She’s the first female label boss that I’ve met who is like P. Diddy and Jay Z and Andre Harrell. She’s the first female cut from that cloth.” High praise indeed from an industry legend.

Late last week, Wondaland issued its first official non-single release in the form of The Eephus, a 6-track EP designed to showcase the label’s impressive crop of new artists, which includes Jidenna, Deep Cotton, St. Beauty, and Roman GianArthur. For those not familiar with the reference in the title, an eephus is a baseball term for the unorthodoxly high-arcing, sluggishly slow pitch that typically catches most batters off guard. If you’re fortunate enough to have witnessed a pitcher hurl an eephus toward the plate, you know that the ultra-rare pitch is truly a wondrous sight to behold. Similarly, the Wondaland family is defined by its artists’ uniquely non-conformist approach to songcraft. And like the elusive pitch that it draws inspiration from, The Eephus will unquestionably force listeners to take notice of the tremendous—or “awe-inspiring,” according to Reid—talent on display.

http://www.soulhead.com/2...ll-stream/

I was just reading that Classic man is now certified gold, I don't particularly like Jidenna as an artist tbh, especially compared to Janelle and the rest of the crew, but I'm happy for them. I think L.A Reid is right, that girl seems really smart and born to be a leader.

cindymay said:

I was just reading that Classic man is now certified gold, I don't particularly like Jidenna as an artist tbh, especially compared to Janelle and the rest of the crew, but I'm happy for them. I think L.A Reid is right, that girl seems really smart and born to be a leader.

Agree

I love the concept and message behind her label. I also love the fashion styles of her artists but I feel her artists material could be stronger. Jidenna seems very intelligent and intellectual but his music is gimmicky and cheesy. He is too intelligent to be making the type of music he makes.

mjscarousal said:

cindymay said:

I was just reading that Classic man is now certified gold, I don't particularly like Jidenna as an artist tbh, especially compared to Janelle and the rest of the crew, but I'm happy for them. I think L.A Reid is right, that girl seems really smart and born to be a leader.

Agree

I love the concept and message behind her label. I also love the fashion styles of her artists but I feel her artists material could be stronger. Jidenna seems very intelligent and intellectual but his music is gimmicky and cheesy. He is too intelligent to be making the type of music he makes.

I love St Beauty and Roman's sounds indeed, especially Roman is really talented, also as a performer and I'm watching him. I feel the same about Jidenna. I don't know, he seems a really smart man, socially and politically involved like Janelle is, and I can totally see why as a person he catched her attention but musically I feel he's not on her level, judging from what I heard. Yoga sounds totally like one of his songs, it sounds catchy and I didn't dislike the song for what it is, a fun, club song, actually I liked it more than Classic man, but I definitely prefer Janelle's typical conscious style of the new Hell you tallmbout. She said that in her next solo album she will focus more on the marginalization of black women, and since her solo projects until now were so amazing and this sounds promising I hope Jidenna won't be too involved in it or let's hope he steps up,

[Edited 8/20/15 4:31am]

[Edited 8/20/15 4:32am]

My favorites tracks on the eephus are let's get caught and going nowhere