Janelle Monae to release new album in May

Normally I avoid hip hop, rap, and R&B like the plague. Not because I don't like it but because it usually takes me such a long time to find anything that I consider "good" that I often don't want to make the effort. However Janelle Monae makes me want to give these genres another chance.

What Janelle Monae does is hard to put a label on. Sure some would call what she does Hip Hop but she takes influences from everything and has a level of musicianship you don't normally see. Her style is quirky, her stage presence electrifying, her music is odd yet strangely relevant. You see, Janelle has gone about the album process in a different way. Instead of releasing full length albums with 12or so songs she decided to create and distribute smaller EPs that contain songs that would keep the listeners interest all thorough. These EPs are linked by overarching story of an android by the name of Cindi Mayweather who defies the rules set forth in a sort of futuristic steampunk world that states that android are not allowed to fall in love with humans. The EPs are part of a four part series known as the Metropolis Suite. She released (and then re-released when signed to Diddy's Bad Boy label) the first EP called The Chase. It sets up the story and has Cindi running from cyborg bounty hunters known as The Droid Control. The epic storyline is brought to life thanks to Monae's powerhouse vocals, lush orchestrations, and clear, confident delivery.

Now Ms. Monae has announced the release date of her debut album The Arch-Android, a combination of the second and third parts of the Metrolopis suite, for May 25. The album will follow the adventures of android Cindi Mayweather and will see her having sort of awakening not unlike Neo in the Matrix. The first single from the album Tightrope featuring Big Boi of Outkast fame has already been release and I'm sure a video is already in the works.

Fans of Monae won't have to wait until May for more though as already she's announced tour dates in a multitude of places beginning later this month. Enjoy her short film for her song "Many Moons" here: