Janelle Monáe - "Pynk"
In honor of Black History Month all the posts for this month will feature artists of color.
She may be the newest out musician on the block, but she's been on the block making music for a while, and now that she's opened up her whole heart to her fans, I'm excited to see what she does next and how the world will open up to her. This album called back to Prince and Bowie and other queer music makers and again pushed the musical envelope.
Now admittedly I was resistant to this song, this album, these videos, just the whole darn thing. I'd given all her previous records a chance, buying them and listening in the hopes that they would click, and they all felt rather disjunct to me; I couldn't get all the way into them. I loved her single "Tightrope" and her duet with Fun, and I could see and support the talent, but it's almost like she was a fruit that hadn't ripened yet. But it is here, in this most recent album where all of her splendor arrives. Like a mango at it's sweetest, ripest, and juiciest on a hot summer day. Her artistry shines, and she IS an artist. An incredible artist at that.
As an LGBTQ musician myself, I have to believe that somewhere in the breakout performances from Midnight and Hidden Figures, and in breaking those barriers she was able to stop "performing" and come out of the closet. Of course I would never say that this is the sole reason she's lit up the way she has, but I can't help but imagine, now that she isn't wasting anymore time or energy hiding part of her away, how that energy might be focused into her incredible artistry. She's finally able to invite her fans all the way in, into the honest and true parts of herself, and we are eating it up.
Welcome to the world Little Sister. It only gets better from here.
Janelle Monáe Robinson is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, actress, and model. She is signed to her own imprint, Wondaland Arts Society, and Atlantic Records. After her first unofficial studio album, The Audition, she publicly debuted with a conceptual EP titled Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase), which peaked at number 115 on the Billboard 200 in the United States.
In 2010, Monáe released her critically acclaimed first full-length studio album The ArchAndroid, a concept album sequel to her first EP. It was released by Bad Boy Records and reached the number 17 spot on the Billboard 200. Monáe featured as a guest vocalist in "We Are Young" by fun., which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, her first appearance in the chart. In August 2012, Monáe became a CoverGirl spokeswoman. Her second studio album, The Electric Lady, was released in September 2013, to critical acclaim. In 2016, Monáe had roles in two feature films, Hidden Figures and Moonlight.
Monáe's third studio album, Dirty Computer, was released on April 27, 2018, preceded by the singles "Django Jane", "Make Me Feel", "I Like That", and "Pynk". Monáe has received six Grammy Award nominations.
So today, with truth, light, and sensuality abounding, I choose Janelle Monáe's "Pynk" as my get your groove back, find the light, with nothing to weight you down, song for an, it's a ditty, it's a bop, it's a time to get this $#*! started, Tuesday.