New Music Review: Janelle Monae - "Many Moons"

There is not enough that I can say about this girl: revolutionary, scathingly progressive, eccentric and unbelievably gorgeous…

Ok, well perhaps there were a few adjectives left in the English vocabulary that had yet to be used to describe Ms. Monae. A proponent of the Afro/punk sub-genre, Janelle has successfully created a sleeper hit with her new EP, ‘Metropolis: The Chase Suite”, and has single-handedly restored hope for the mainstream R&B world.

I remember the first time I heard her it was a cut from the soundtrack for the movie, Idlewild, and since that day I’ve been hooked.

Originally born in Kansas City, Kansas, Monae relocated to New York City for music schooling and then to Atlanta, Georgia where she started her singing career.

Her single, “Many Moons”, is just one of many tracks on the album that I had a hard time narrowing down. It reminds me of the electric, high-tempo energy that songs like Outkast’s, “B.O.B (Bombs Over Baghdad)” and Busta Rhymes’s, “Gimmie Some More” possess.



Janelle Monae - "Many Moons"/Wonderland Arts

The only unfortunate thing I can say about her new album—as is the axiom for most independent labels and their artists—is that it has the potential to go one of two ways: Either it does relatively well in the underground scene, perhaps gaining a spin or two on the more progressive, mainstream stations in the country, and then fall into complete and total obscurity within eight months. Or it does exceedingly well underground, gains a spin or two, and then falls into obscurity within the year.

For our sakes, I hope there is an Option Three…

-BJW