War is old, so is sex. Let's play God, you go next.

April 27, 2018 10:22 AM

Dirty Computer - an Emotion Picture, by Janelle Monáe

Further reading: Janelle Monáe Frees Herself

Since yesterday, online dictionary lookups for the word "pansexual" have risen 11,000%

posted by mrjohnmuller (53 comments total)

I'm at work and the emotion picture is on Youtube and the digital album is in my e-mail inbox and it turns out those things make it really hard to focus on writing about federal personnel moves.

(Also I got tickets to the tour in July holy shit this is gonna be amazing)
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 10:27 AM on April 27, 2018 [14 favorites]

I got tickets too! The excite is real.
posted by rewil at 10:34 AM on April 27, 2018 [4 favorites]

We also got tickets and thank god it is slow at work today and also no one cares what I watch online as long as I get my work done (which did I mention there isn't any to do!) and so I watched it yes I did and I'm gonna watch it again, and probably cry a little more because it's amazing.
posted by rtha at 10:38 AM on April 27, 2018 [3 favorites]

And here's her interview with the Grapevine.
posted by rtha at 10:40 AM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]

Further proof that Janelle Monae should get to write, produce, soundtrack, and be Doctor Who.
posted by dng at 10:55 AM on April 27, 2018 [35 favorites]

I also have tickets. She's playing my town ON MY BIRTHDAY YOU GUYS!
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 11:06 AM on April 27, 2018 [11 favorites]

Further proof that Janelle Monae should get to write, produce, soundtrack, and be Doctor Who.

As a Whovian, I agree completely, with the only caveat being similar to the calls for Idris Elba to be James Bond — they are way more epically cool IRL than those fictional characters could ever hope to be. :D
posted by Celsius1414 at 11:17 AM on April 27, 2018 [3 favorites]

From the Rolling Stone article (which I obsessively read and re-read yesterday):

On Dirty Computer, the only hints of sci-fi are in the title and the storyline of the accompanying film. The lyrics are flesh-and-blood confessions of both physical and emotional insecurity, punctuated with sexual liberation. They're the unfiltered desires of an overthinker letting herself speak without pause, for once. And she wants to help listeners gain the courage to be dirty computers too. "I want young girls, young boys, nonbinary, gay, straight, queer people who are having a hard time dealing with their sexuality, dealing with feeling ostracized or bullied for just being their unique selves, to know that I see you," she says in a tone befitting the "commander" patch on her arm. "This album is for you. Be proud."

I can't really even begin to imagine how my life now, in middle age, would be different if one of my pop heroes said that when I was a teenager. It certainly would have helped. The gift of this one statement is incalculable to so, so many kids and young adults (and even old adults, like me). I assume that goes triple for people of color.

I'll admit it -- it still makes me weepy.

(I'ma also throw in here a link to a music video by my other favorite pansexual artist, Christine and the Queens.)
posted by mudpuppie at 11:33 AM on April 27, 2018 [17 favorites]

I'm getting my tickets for my birthday tomorrow :) opening night of the tour at Marymoor Park, practically in my backyard! Haven't watched it yet but just finished my first listen-through of the album loling at "Screwed" at my desk. This is radical shit and I love it.
posted by potrzebie at 11:45 AM on April 27, 2018 [3 favorites]

> I also have tickets. She's playing my town ON MY BIRTHDAY YOU GUYS!
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 11:06 AM on April 27 [has favorites −] Favorite added!

Mine too! AAAAAHHHHH
posted by rtha at 11:46 AM on April 27, 2018 [3 favorites]

She is just incredible. Like Beyonce, we are so lucky to be living in the time where she's making art on her terms.

(sadly the show isn't coming anywhere close to me, damn flyovers)

BRIAN MOTHER HUMPING WILSON
posted by I'm Not Even Supposed To Be Here Today! at 12:15 PM on April 27, 2018 [3 favorites]

Come fucking thru Ms Monae omg. This whole album is amazing.
posted by supercrayon at 12:55 PM on April 27, 2018 [2 favorites]

If anyone is listening through the album and the poppy dance stuff just isn't your jam, and you really liked when hair metal dudes made ballads, make sure to listen to "So Afraid."
posted by I'm Not Even Supposed To Be Here Today! at 1:10 PM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]

The transition from Screwed to Django Jane is ...... *chef kiss*

This whole album feels completely different than anything else's she done before and I love it.
posted by WidgetAlley at 1:51 PM on April 27, 2018 [8 favorites]

The transition from Screwed to Django Jane is ...... *chef kiss*

I've always been more of an album-listener than a singles-listener, and one thing I really love about Janelle Monáe is the way she gives album listeners these little gifts. "Q.U.E.E.N." into "Electric Lady" and "Violet Stars Happy Hunting!" into "Many Moons" also stand out this way.

(I wonder if it's a generational thing? She's only a year or two younger than me, so I assume she would have grown up with cassette tapes first and then only later started listening to CDs, like I did.)
posted by tobascodagama at 2:05 PM on April 27, 2018 [9 favorites]

We are not worthy.

Tickets acquired.
posted by petrilli at 2:13 PM on April 27, 2018

WTH? She's /from/ Kansas City but there's no KC tour date.
posted by jferg at 2:28 PM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]

I just finished the album ("Americans" made me cry at my desk) and immediately started it again. Something about it feels so fucking hopeful and it is exactly what I need right now.

Also, as someone whose partner is genderfluid and whose own sexual preference can best be summed up by shrug emoji, thanks for reppin we uncategorizables, Janelle.
posted by WidgetAlley at 2:39 PM on April 27, 2018 [6 favorites]

I watched this on TV last night and it's delightful. A pan poly take on Logan's Run!
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 3:07 PM on April 27, 2018

Watch the youtube version, too - the one on MTV/BET/etc. TV last night was the "clean" version; the one on youtube is....not.
posted by rtha at 3:11 PM on April 27, 2018 [4 favorites]

Oooh! Well. I'm sold. XD
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 3:14 PM on April 27, 2018

I guess I need to find a presale code so I can take my wife to this show.
posted by ShakeyJake at 3:22 PM on April 27, 2018

Check your MeMail!
posted by tobascodagama at 3:29 PM on April 27, 2018

This is fucking amazing. It has shades of Prince and all the musical genius that goes along with that. Thanks for sharing!
posted by King Bee at 3:46 PM on April 27, 2018

If you run across posts discussing the making of this emotion picture (THOSE OUTFITS!), please link them here. This is a-ma-zing.
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:47 PM on April 27, 2018 [5 favorites]

Alexandra Mandelkorn was the stylist; PYNK vulva pants by Duran Lantink; hair by Nikki Helms.
The videos are directed by Andrew Donoho (Django Jane), Lacey Duke (I Like That), Emma Westenberg (PYNK and Screwed), and by Alan Ferguson (Make Me Feel and Crazy, Classic, Life).
posted by progosk at 4:17 PM on April 27, 2018 [7 favorites]

I've followed Monae since her first EP. Dirty Computer sounds like the album she was born to make. It's smart and angry and beautiful and just so much fun. It feels so complete. It's an amazing journey and I'm glad it's one she's taking us along on.

The AV Club review says it's her coming out as an icon, and I agree. How is she this good? I feel lucky to share the world with her.

I need to watch the unedited version of the movie. Maybe as soon as I'm done listening to the album again.

(And yes to all the outfits in it. I've already bought a sequin jacket and round silver sunglasses because of her. My budget is going to suffer. She is unfairly stylish.)
posted by darksong at 4:32 PM on April 27, 2018 [4 favorites]

I wanna go so bad... but tickets in my area are $330 each and I just can’t. I would literally be walking by dozens of homeless on my way into the theatre and I just can’t. *cries*
posted by greermahoney at 4:33 PM on April 27, 2018

There should be more tickets being released through the box offices next week. So far it's just been pre-sales.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 4:34 PM on April 27, 2018

I wanna go so bad... but tickets in my area are $330 each and I just can’t.

This is just some Ticketmaster fuckery, the tickets aren't actually that expensive. I think it's just that the only non-artist presale tickets available right now are for the VIP boxes. As soon as you put in the presale code, the search will update with the non-VIP tickets. For the Boston show, the presale price is $60 for theater-style seats and $44 for the "concourse" area, which is somewhere way in the back and I think might also be uncovered seating or standing room only or something.

(I don't know why I was being coy before, she literally posted the presale code on her Instagram, which has like a bajillion followers. It's "djangojane".)
posted by tobascodagama at 5:04 PM on April 27, 2018 [2 favorites]

I'm not a crier but I got legit choked up multiple times watching this. Like darksong I've been following Janelle from her first EP - I remember listening to it and telling my husband "In a just world Janelle Monae would be the biggest star on the planet." so I'm glad to see we're heading toward a more just world :D. Also screaming at the "I grab back" on one woman's crotch in "Pynk". I actually can't even pick favorite songs, they're so uniformly outstanding.

Here's a roundup of early reviews courtesy of ONTD: https://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/110581959.html

Also how the fuck does she look amazing in transparent rose-patterned jeans like, HOW.
posted by supercrayon at 5:07 PM on April 27, 2018 [7 favorites]

I'm not a crier but I got legit choked up multiple times watching this.

Me too. All of that raw talent and the hours and hours of practice...and thinking about how much, how hard, how long she had to believe in herself and her vision in order to bring this creation into the world, I just have to cry for her sheer victory.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:26 PM on April 27, 2018 [9 favorites]

Also with the crying here. That was also my response when I was first introduced to her via this fpp from The Whelk.
posted by rtha at 5:44 PM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]

Wow - totally blown away by this. And yes got tix!!! artist presale code was DJANGOJANE but you need specific credit cards for different venues.
posted by leslies at 8:49 PM on April 27, 2018

This is just some Ticketmaster fuckery, the tickets aren't actually that expensive

I agree it’s Ticketmaster fuckery, but with both djangojane code and citi cc, the cheapest seat is still $330. Like, I know that San Francisco is more expensive, but the fact that it’s $60 in Boston but $330 here is freaking infuriating. Or maybe there were regular seats at a cheaper cost, but they sold out and all that’s left are these ridiculous ones.

It looks like lower level will be on general sale, which will probably be somewhat cheaper, but will also sell out instantly. Sigh.

But back to the album!! Americans *swoon* I think that’s my fav right now.
posted by greermahoney at 11:33 PM on April 27, 2018

This seems like another variant of Cindi Mayweather. Which is not a bad thing, since I like that. It makes more sense watching all of this in video context. (Though I'll be honest: not fond of the halting baby voice singing in Pynk.) Glad it ends happier than I was expecting after all of that.
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:10 AM on April 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

I liked the vocals on Pynk. It sounds a bit like GlaDOS got a girlfriend.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 3:40 AM on April 28, 2018 [4 favorites]

were those excerpts from William Barber speeches?
posted by Vic Morrow's Personal Vietnam at 4:01 AM on April 28, 2018

followup: Nope, apparently it was Sean McMillan! He's credited on the last track.
posted by Vic Morrow's Personal Vietnam at 4:18 AM on April 28, 2018 [2 favorites]

Fandroid here since whenever 'Many Moons' came out. The music video for that track was in another universe from everything else going on at the time. Janelle Monáe is a treasure we don't deserve but got anyway.

I'm incandescently happy about Dirty Computer. This is going to be the soundtrack to my everyday for a while.

And, for the record: JtapdancingC the videos for "Make Me Feel" and "Django Jane" are sublime.
posted by LMGM at 5:58 AM on April 28, 2018 [4 favorites]

rhamphorhynchus, check out Grimes, that high thin GlaDOS-y singing voice is her thing and there's plenty more where Pynk came from.
posted by potrzebie at 9:12 AM on April 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

followup: Nope, apparently it was Sean McMillan ! He's credited on the last track.

Thank you! That's been bugging me since I heard it, trying to figure out who it was.
posted by Margalo Epps at 11:06 AM on April 28, 2018

I’ve heard some songs of hers stand-alone, including a couple from this, but finally watching it as a concept piece was just a delight.

Clipping got a Hugo nomination for their album a couple of years ago - I would love to see this get a nomination for short form presentation.
posted by rmd1023 at 3:44 AM on April 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

I agree it’s Ticketmaster fuckery, but with both djangojane code and citi cc, the cheapest seat is still $330. Like, I know that San Francisco is more expensive, but the fact that it’s $60 in Boston but $330 here is freaking infuriating. Or maybe there were regular seats at a cheaper cost, but they sold out and all that’s left are these ridiculous ones.

I think it is ticketmaster fuckery through its side game of scalping. StubHub appears to have the reasonably-priced resales already.
posted by grandiloquiet at 8:32 AM on April 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

The album is growing and growing on me the more that I listen to it. It's not Archandroid, but well, what is?

'Screwed' is the standout for me, but I love that everyone seems to have a different favourite track. Praying and begging that there will be a European leg of the tour.
posted by Gordafarin at 1:42 AM on April 30, 2018

I first heard of Janelle Monae this weekend, when KEXP played a track from this album. 100 hours later, I am hooked on all 3 of her albums.
posted by Radiophonic Oddity at 1:13 PM on May 2, 2018 [6 favorites]

From Metropolis to Dirty Computer: A Guide to Janelle Monáe's Time-Traveling Musical Odyssey
posted by ActingTheGoat at 5:19 PM on May 2, 2018 [7 favorites]

ActingTheGoat: Thank you. :)
posted by hippybear at 8:49 PM on May 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

Also, is it just me or did the writer of that io9 article not even listen to Suite 3, just the first half of ArchAndroid?
posted by hippybear at 9:25 PM on May 3, 2018 [1 favorite]

Also, also... track two of The Electric Lady, Give 'Em What They Love (Feat. Prince), is a complete masterwork in and of itself.

The way Janelle matched Prince's dirty vocals for quite a while and then when the trumpets start she goes pure so she can match their tone... just shows how talented she really is.

ActingTheGoat has me listening and reading. I'm enjoying this.
posted by hippybear at 9:47 PM on May 3, 2018 [5 favorites]

Been listening to the album for a while, finally got around to watching the video. It’s really quite amazing and not to be missed. Full on fan now.
posted by Artw at 10:45 PM on May 8, 2018 [2 favorites]

The album is a rather different experience from the film. They have a Venn Diagram overlap but they are nowhere near congruent.
posted by hippybear at 10:06 PM on May 15, 2018 [1 favorite]

Also: Monae's weekday show in Seattle is two days off of work plus hotel and travel that I cannot afford and I am not actually seething with anger but do have a slow boil of annoyance about this. I can't imagine a tour I'd more like to see and am less able to get to.

So bravo to all of you who get to see her on this tour. I'm happy for you, bless your hearts. ;)

10 Club GA zone tickets to see PJ in August, so... it won't make up for it, but it will come close.
posted by hippybear at 10:20 PM on May 15, 2018