Janelle Monáe
The ArchAndroid

The word "Pop" represents for a significant social segment of listeners (alternative, choosy, radical chic, erudite...) the dreadful noun embodied in the most terrifying musical abortions, the recrudescence made into records and/or files of the capitalist-commercial disease; Pop evokes disgusting catchphrases, obscene shows, embarrassing off-key performances, hyper-pampered starlets of questionable talent, money-grabbing majors, extravagant marathons to break into number one on the charts, skimpy outfits, various scandals, cascading imitations, and so on. In this debatable group of reductionisms and stereotypes, the qualitative circle of popular music closes, a circle that is minimized to an invisible dot on the litmus test map of sound. Yet not everything the mass music industry offers is commercial trash for nightclubs, Mediterranean clubs, and porchetta festivals: it's enough to delve into the crème de la crème of the so-called "quality pop" - a sort of utopian mirage according to incurable pessimists, rummage through archives, surf the web hunting for niche artists and productions, and naturally, test them on your own ears. Indeed, within these simple moves lies the best method to refute the postulatory equation pop=banality, a completely mistaken and unfortunate association.

A concrete and tangible example of the theory illustrated above? Janelle Monáe. Born in 1985, young and pretty, small and charming, a face reminiscent of a twenty-year-old Janet Jackson in the days of Control, Janelle has recently entered the music market: her debut album, The ArchAndroid (to which this review is dedicated) was released two years ago, yet her name rose to mainstream fame due to her highly successful vocal and visual contribution to the indie-rock track by Fun. We Are Young, currently stable on the charts around the world after spending a flourishing spring comfortably atop the Billboard Hot 100. However, Monáe, despite the millions she pocketed with that blessed single, deserves more appreciation - and praise - for The ArchAndroid, which, in my opinion, could be considered a new frontier of the already emphasized "classy pop", the space shuttle made into a tracklist towards the planet of non-artificial and slapdash mainstream, the goal of visionary majors more attentive to the product's quality than to the atelier where the outfit for the cover, the booklet, and the promotional posters were crafted. The ArchAndroid is probably the richest and densest sound cauldron of recent years, a nearly perfect blend of tones, moods, flavors, inspirations, and suggestions: a true panta rei of melodic-instrumental classicism and dance tribalism, funky rock, and enveloping R&B sensuality, indie-like pop, and cheeky hip hop enriched with illustrious collaborations.

Particularly unique and central to the project are primarily the two Suite Overture (II and III), real classical-orchestral compositions of quasi-classic-romantic reminiscence and inspiration, a sequel to the EP Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase); they thus open the dance in modern salsa Dance Or Die, a curious and atypical tribal-hip hop mixture with synth shades, the jazzy Sixties style of Faster, and the cheerful Locked Inside, a sort of disco-funky tribute to the Jacksons and the golden times of the Motown-style. Without interruption follows the soul-R&B of Cold War, the warm gypsy atmosphere in Oh Maker, the playful dive into punk-rock of Come Alive (The War Of The Roses) - squeals reminiscent of Guns 'n' Roses included - the piano-lounge digression à la Alicia Keys for Neon Valley Street and the enigmatic tribal-ambient of Say You'll Go. Mention also for Tightrope, a delightful gospel-hip hop funky track performed with Big Boi from the Outkast duo, the dancing rock similar to Prince of Make The Bus, and the ethnic-choral mix for Sir Greendown.

A true concept album centered on Monáe's eclecticism at 360°, a subtle red thread between tribalism, futurism, and contemporaneity, The ArchAndroid is the Pandora's box of multifaceted pop, a grand artistic-creative (and a pinch poetic) mainstream project supported by a foresighted and shrewd managerial team. Here you go, on a beautiful crystal platter, the natural demonstration that commerciality in music does not only produce dance hall abortions that can be reproduced and replicated to exhaustion and consequent death by cerebral and/or intellectual arrest. Try, or rather listen, to believe and definitively flush away that ridiculous San Tommaso-like skepticism.

Janelle Monáe, The ArchAndroid

Suite II Overture - Dance or Die - Faster - Locked Inside - Sir Greendown - Cold War - Tightrope - Neon Gumbo - Oh Maker - Come Alive (The War of The Roses) - Mushrooms and Roses - Suite III Overture - Neon Valley Street - Make the Bus - Wondaland - 57821 - Say You'll Go - BabopBye Ya.