Prodigy of the neo-Broadway school, singer, rapper, dancer, inspired composer, artistic director, amazing showgirl, Janelle Monáe had generated a huge, collective “wow!” when she launched The ArchAndroid. The dramatic thread of this extraordinary, Afro-futurist album carried brilliant performances of future soul, R&B, funk, rock, hip hop, jazz, and chamber music of classical tradition. Monáe had taken the torch from James Brown, Stevie Wonder, George Clinton and Prince. Her follow-ups were less visionary than hoped for, but Monáe remains a frontwoman par excellence right up to this day.
