Janelle Monae looks to come out big with her new album on September 10th titled “The Electric Lady” her follow up to her debut album “The ArchAndroid”. Her funky soulful sound brings a different sound and a breath of fresh air to pop music. Her first album didn’t lead her to much success but in 2011 she was a guest feature on fun.’s huge hit song “We Are Young” and now Janelle Monae looks to use that momentum with her own music. With huge guest features such as Erykah Badu, Miguel and Prince, Janelle Monae has all the tools for a successful album but so far the singles havn’t really done so well.
The first single “Q.U.E.E.N” featuring Erykah Badu is an uptempo guitar driven dance track. It is catchy and does well as a single but there isn’t really anything all too special about this track. The concept of the song is a great concept but the song although catchy is a bit underwhelming. Her second single “Dance Apocalyptic” is an old school sound that works well for what it is.
Completely changing the sound from her last two singles her third single “Primetime” featuring Miguel is a slow R&B love song. Both Monae’s and Miguel’s vocals sound great here and this may be her best offering yet. If she ever had a chance of having a big hit this would be it especially with such a big guest feature.
Overall, Janelle Monae as a lot of work cut out for her. With all these great guest features, she really is getting pushed hard and so far has underperformed with her singles. Monae has a lot to live up to with her last album underperforming and now getting another shot with huge names like Miguel and Prince. So far the album hasn’t really lived up to the expectations unfortunately but this album should be a bit of an improvement from her last album.
Her music video for “Q.U.E.E.N” featuring Erykah Badu
Her music video for “Dance Apocalyptic”
Her new single “Primetime” featuring Miguel
How can this album be an improvement when her last album was rated as one of the best albums of 2010 by most music critics…. Rollinstone, Metacritic, Pitchfork ect…. Commercial music does not make good music.