#every song titled ‘bad idea’ is inherently queer r’

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this is a reminder that every song titled “bad idea” is inherently queer

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Album Review: Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer Cements Her as a Legend

Janelle has made a name for herself as a quirky musician, actress, style icon, and activist. On Dirty Computer, her shortest album to date, she paints an uncompromisingly true portrait of herself while critiquing society. The songs are infectious, but still feel very artistic, conceptual, concise, and purposeful. The album and its accompanying “emotion picture” are a grand statement to be remembered for years to come.

Janelle’s list of accomplished collaborators is insane: Pharrell, Grimes, Julia Michaels, Brian Wilson, Jon Brian, and the duo Deep Cotton of her own Wondaland collective. Janelle crosses through pop, R&B, hip-hop, and funk effortlessly to create a truly eclectic body of work. Dirty Computer lends itself to be listened to in its entirety, as all of the tracks are sewn together to flow beautifully akin to her earlier albums. The transition between ��Crazy, Classic, Life” and “Take A Byte” is so good that it is hard to tell a new song has even started. As a result, Janelle creates another album that feels like one body of work as opposed to a collection of tracks.

Thematically, Janelle moves into new territory. She describes the album’s concept as the idea that people are “dirty computers,” and that we should celebrate our “bugs” as good things. She also writes more and more about herself and intersectionality, highlighting her experiences as a queer woman of color. She takes on a more inherently sexual approach to her lyrics; every track is marked as explicit. It’s accompanying full length “emotion picture” is just as impressive and includes a lot of the album itself in it.

“Dirty Computer (ft. Brian Wilson)” is the first song on the album, but seems more like an intro to the album than its own track. Here, Janelle outlines the “dirty computer” concept. She sings “Searching for someone to fix my life / Text message caught up in the sky / Oh, if you love me, won't you please reply? / Oh, can't you see that it's only me, your dirty computer?” The short track is the most direct reference to the concept of the album that appears within the music. Janelle further develops her themes on conceptual bops “Crazy, Classic, Life” and “Take A Byte.” The two songs snuck by me on my first listen; the almost nine minutes the two songs total felt like one or two. Neither song is too adventurous instrumentally, allowing her lyrics to capture the listener’s attention. On both, Janelle introduces the sexual lyrical themes of the album. 

After a the short “Jane’s Dream” interlude, the provocative “Screwed (ft. Zoë Kravitz)” captures the listener. Janelle plays off of the idea of being “screwed” as in being fucked up, and, well, being fucked. The two chant “Let's get screwed / I don't care / You fucked the world up now, we'll fuck it all back down” in unison. It’s so good that the song doesn’t even feel real. “Screwed” is the sex-positive anthem we deserve. It blows the previous tracks out of the water.

After a jaw-dropping transition into the rap banger “Django Jane,” the album’s sonic palette changes a bit to become more minimal. On “Django Jane,” Janelle raps about her accomplishments and the power of black women. She asks the listener “If she the G.O.A.T. now, would anybody doubt it?” Honestly, no. I think Dirty Computer upholds the idea that Janelle is one of the greats in alternative soul and R&B (and a creative visionary in general). “Pynk (ft. Grimes)” talks about the color pink and its manifestations in Janelle’s life. In its music video, some of the dancers wear pants that resemble a particular piece of anatomy. Janelle’s voice mixes so beautifully with Grimes to the point where it’s hard to tell who’s who. Here, Janelle (who recently came out as pansexual) more directly introduces some of the themes of queerness that appear in a subtle way throughout the album and its accompanying visual.

On the album’s lead single, “Make Me Feel,” Janelle truly explodes. It’s such a fun song. It reminds me a lot of the title track from St. Vincent’s album from last year. On the chorus, Janelle does a call and repeat thing where she sings “That's just the way you make me feel / So good, so good, so fuckin' real” and then whispers it back to herself. The result is chilling. Prince may or may not have worked on it. Even if it was just inspired by him, she does a great job modernizing a feeling similar to his work. Its phenomenal music video features Tessa Thompson. “I Got The Juice (ft. Pharrell Williams)” is another catchy track that continues the existing momentum of the album. Pharrell contributes nicely to the track. “I Like That” has a nice sentiment, where she talks about being a “little rough around the edges” in terms of her style and attitude, but the instrumental feels generic and underdeveloped. 

The album then very suddenly comes to a crashing halt with “Don’t Judge Me.” In the six minute track, Janelle questions the idea of intimacy in her relationship. But, the mellow and relatively slow track feels like a closer. While the song would be nice by itself, it really disrupts the tracklist. After another interlude titled “Stevie’s Dream,” Janelle gets more political. On “So Afraid,” Janelle discusses how the world is messing with her head. The result falls a little flat. The album’s closer, “Americans,” more explicitly describes our current political climate, alluding to dissatisfaction with Donald Trump and the injustices faced by people of color, women, and queer people in America. On the chorus, she chants “Don't try to take my country, I will defend my land / I’m not crazy, baby, naw, I'm American.” Janelle sings “Please sign your name on the dotted line” and the album ends.

There are only a few things I would change about Dirty Computer. I don’t like the placement of “Don’t Judge Me” on the album. She also included excerpts from speeches in two places on the album. While I like the message, I sometimes wish she tries to be a little less direct with them. The clever lyrics on the album can speak for themselves in conveying a political message. As a whole, the album is great. Her artistic vision is as clear as ever. The songs are all so catchy while still accurately describing injustice in America. She’s raised the bar once again.

Janelle Monáe Dirty Computer April 27, 2018 Bad Boy / Atlantic

Best Tracks: Screwed (ft. Zoë Kravitz), Make Me Feel, Pynk (ft. Grimes)

Worst Tracks: So Afraid, I Like That

Score: 90/100

Listen to the album: JanelleMonae.lnk.to/dirtycomputer

The Emotion Picture: