The ArchAndroid Tracklist
The ArchAndroid is the debut studio album of Janelle Monáe, after her much acclaimed EP Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase). It was released on May 18, 2010 on Wondaland Arts Society and Bad Boy Records.
The album continues the Metropolis, a 7-part concept series, introduced in the EP. While, the EP contained the first part (Suite I), The ArchAndroid contains the Suite II and the Suite III. The concept series is inspired by Fritz Lang-directed German film Metropolis.
Upon release, the album received widespread acclaim from music critics, with many naming it in their year-end best-of lists. It was also included in the book, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. It was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album, but didn’t win.
“The ArchAndroid” Q&A
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What was her inspiration for the album concept?
I feel that, because of the way technology is so rapidly advancing – it’s becoming faster and smaller – there’ll come a time when robots will be able to learn the patterns of our emotions, and will be able to have mapped-out the human brain. So that, for example, if your long-time friend rang you, you wouldn’t be able to differentiate between her and an android calling you! And, while I am intrigued by that, I’m also concerned about how we’ll all get ON in the world! Because to me the android will represent a “new Other” – just like any of us who’ve ever been considered “the minority” at some time can feel like “The Other”! And so I’m basically asking people to think about whether we’d discriminate against this “new Other”…
And what makes The ArchAndroid herself very special is that she represents the mediator between the have’s and the have-not’s, the minority and the majority. So in that way she’s very similar to Neo, the Archangel from The Matrix. And basically her return will mean freedom for the android community.
