Janelle Monae

堪薩斯出生的年輕黑人女伶 Janelle Monae ，今年的出道作《The ArchAndroid》可說是這兩年最教人驚艷的概念專輯之一，而且她才二十四歲，外型與個性都極討喜，在廠牌老板吹牛老爹的加持下前途一片璀璨。 《The ArchAndroid》副標為「Suites II and III」，是她發行于2007年的首張EP《Metropolis: Suite I》的續篇，收錄的是第二與第三部組曲，第四部組曲也計劃于稍后出版。 Growing up, Janelle Monáe (born Janelle Robinson) felt constrained by the limited resources offered to her in her greater Kansas City, KS, home. When she finished high school, she moved to New York to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy with the intention of pursuing musical theater, but in 2004, after performing in a couple of off-Broadway shows and realizing there weren't the roles available to her that she wanted, she moved to Atlanta to try her luck there. She soon joined a band and began touring the local college circuit, where she eventually got in touch with her future partners in Wondaland Arts Society (a collective/label that looked to promote experimental arts) as well as OutKast's Big Boi. The rapper was so impressed by what he heard of her that he put two of her songs on his 2005 compilation, Got Purp?, Vol. 2. Monáe also showed up on Outkast's 2006 soundtrack, Idlewild, even appearing in the video for "Morris Brown," and in August 2007 she released the first of an originally planned four Metropolis installments, or suites, an EP entitled The Chase, a concept piece revolving around a character named Cindi Mayweather and the year 2719. The album — which melded cabaret, hip-hop, rock, and soul — was well received, which helped bring the singer into the radar of Sean "Diddy" Combs and his Bad Boy Records. Rumors about a signing soon appeared, rumors that were finally confirmed in March 2008, when Diddy officially announced Monáe as the newest member of his roster. Monáe, for her part, promised that the move was not going to compromise any of her artistic integrity or creativity, and the release of the Metropolis Suite EP (co-produced by Big Boi) was scheduled for later in the year.