Janelle Monae’s new album & “emotion picture,” Dirty Computers, has arrived. Laced with 14 tracks in total, the follow up to 2013’s The Electric Lady features guest appearances from Pharrell, Zoe Kravitz, Grimes, and Brian Wilson. Meanwhile production is handled by Chuck Lightning, Jon Brion, Nate “Rocket” Wonder, Jon Jon Traxx, and more.
Speaking on the meaning of the album title, Janelle had the following to say about it: “We come from dirt and when we transition out we go back to dirt. […] We’re CPUs, our brains are uploading, downloading, transmitting, passing back and forth information. And with all computers you got your bugs, you got your viruses. But are those negatives, positives, features? Or not? I think it’s a conversation I want to have with us as a society, as human beings, about what it means to tell somebody that their existence, either they’re queer, minorities, women, poor, makes you have bugs and viruses. […] it’s about embracing those things even if it makes others uncomfortable.”
“We spent a lot of time making something very detailed that didn’t need a lot of explaining, that was just about the emotion…I hope that comes across. That people feel more free, no matter where they are in their lives, that they feel celebrated. Because I’m about women’s empowerment. I’m about agency. I’m about being in control of your narrative and your body. That was personal for me to even talk about: to let people know you don’t own or control me and you will not use my image to defame or denounce other women,” she added.
Available on iTunes, fans can stream the project for free thanks to the good folks at Spotify.
Tracklist:
1. Dirty Computer (Ft. Brian Wilson)
2. Crazy, Classic, Life
3. Take a Byte
4. Jane’s Dream
5. Screwed (Ft. Zoë Kravitz)
6. Django Jane
7. PYNK (Ft. Grimes)
8. Make Me Feel
9. I Got the Juice (Ft. Pharrell Williams)
10. I Like That
11. Don’t Judge Me
12. Stevie’s Dream
13. So Afraid
14. Americans