Metropolis : The Chase Suite

Janelle Mon e's uniqueness was not apparent from the beginning, as heard on Big Boi's second Got Purp compilation. The neo-electro remake of DeBarge's "Time Will Reveal" and the Off the Wall-emulating pop-funk of "Lettin' Go" were standouts -- even amidst nuggets like Konkrete's "Shit Ya Drawers," believe it or not -- but Mon e seemed destined to be one of those artists who appears on a glorified mixtape and either disappears or makes one under-promoted album prior to fleeing the industry. Even after spotlights on OutKast's Idlewild, it could not have been known to many outside Mon e's Atlanta circle that she was much more in line with Nona Hendryx and Afrofuturism than Ciara and 106 & Park. She probably has more time for Octavia Butler than Perez Hilton. Inspired by Fritz Lang's 1927 science fiction classic, Metropolis, Suite 1: The Chase is the first of four planned releases designed as easily processible EPs detailing the life of a rebellious soul-equipped android who risks disassembly by falling in love with a human. Strip away the concept, the packaging, and the equally entertaining and deep lyrics dealing in class/race, slavery, isolation, and love -- all of that material, as crucial as it is to the whole -- and there remains a handful of magnetic songs transferred through theatrical soul, 21st century new wave, ice-coated opera, and brassy hip-hop funk. The disc's center is made of "Violet Stars Happy Hunting!!!" and "Many Moons," conjoined songs that trump anything on the Andr 3000 half of OutKast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. "Sincerely, Jane" is dressed up in all the fantastical instrumentation of an otherworldly Broadway production but is as grounded in grim realism as Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues" or 2Pac's "Brenda's Got a Baby," and like those two songs, it is fueled by despair rather than self-righteousness. Mon e's voice is knockout level throughout, likely versatile enough to handle any style with effortlessly expressive ease.|

アウトキャスト～ビッグ・ボーイ絡みの諸作に参加するなどしていた超個性派歌姫がバッド・ボーイと契約。デジタル配信作の増補版となるこのEPは、レトロ・フューチャリスティックな楽曲をソプラノ声でまくし立てるように歌う、〈無国籍サイバー・ソウル〉とでも呼びたい異端作だ。作品のイメージは2719年の未来都市ということで、チャップリン名画の挿入歌“Smile”のカヴァーは現代社会に対する風刺なのかも。　　　　
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