A former mentee of Prince, Monae doesn’t merely perform a persona, she embodies it.
For her latest effort, the bombasticDirty Computer(released 4/27), Monae takes things a step further.
This time the Kansas-born dynamo shifts completely out of character and into herself.
Credit: Atlantic Records
What at first seems like an indictment of brokenness is in reality a fierce and joyful celebration of individualism.
her ownership of this (and awareness that she deserves this right), is a subtly radical statement.
But then so is the album as a whole.
Take the Prince-influenced singles “Make Me Feel” and “Pynk.”
“Pynk” is also an announcement of Monae’s uncompromising feminism.
Some of these experiences are unquestionably difficult.
Here we see that Janelle Monae is human.
Beyond human, she is black.
Beyond black, she is a woman.
