Maps of Music

Dirty Computer (2018)

Where the lyrics of Dirty Computer take you, and where it was really made.

Prince worked on the single 'Make Me Feel' and the whole album before he died in 2016, which Monáe confirmed after listeners heard the resemblance.

Key places

Recorded at Wondaland Studio (2018)

Recording site DARP Studios (Atlanta) — Discogs credits Wondaland Studio as one of the places this album was recorded. The pin marks only the city centre of Atlanta, not the building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Chalice Recording Studios (2018)

Recording site Chalice Recording — Discogs lists Chalice Recording Studios among the studios where this album was recorded. The pin marks the studio building in Los Angeles. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Atlantic Studios (2018)

Recording site Atlantic Studios (New York City) — Discogs lists Atlantic Studios in New York City among the places where this album was recorded. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Dirty Computer: third studio album by Janelle Monáe, released 27 April 2018
• Released by Wondaland Arts Society, Bad Boy Records and Atlantic Records
• Follow-up to The ArchAndroid (2010) and The Electric Lady (2013)
• First Monáe album that does not continue the Cindi Mayweather Metropolis narrative
• Pop, funk, hip-hop, R&B and neo soul record with elements of electropop, space rock, pop rock, Minneapolis soul, trap, futurepop, new wave, synthpop and Latin music
• Departs from the more psychedelic sound of her early work
• Four singles: Make Me Feel, Django Jane, Pynk and I Like That
• Release accompanied by a 46-minute narrative film of the same name
• 14 tracks grouped loosely into Reckoning, Celebration and Reclamation

Background

• October 2016: feature-length film acting debut in Moonlight
• Also starred in Hidden Figures, released December 2016
• Stayed active in music during filming, with a feature on Grimes' Venus Fly and a song for the Netflix series The Get Down
• Was already working on the third album when the scripts for her first two acting roles arrived, and put the album on hold
• Prince, her collaborator on the previous album, worked on Make Me Feel and the whole album before his death in 2016, as confirmed by Monáe
• Monáe had explored the album's themes for a decade before production
• Monáe describes the album as a homage to women and the spectrum of sexual identities

Recording

• Recording studios credited: Wondaland Studio, Paramount Recording Studios, Chalice Recording Studios, Atlantic Studios, Shawty Ra Studio and Stankonia Recording
• Mixed at Conway Studios and MixStar Studios
• Mastered at The Mastering Palace

Cover

• Art direction credited to Jenna Marsh

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · fr.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life

• Born December 1, 1985 in Kansas City, Kansas, raised in the working-class Quindaro community.
• Raised Baptist and learned to sing in a local church; dreamed of performing from a young age.
• Studied musical theater at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, then moved to Atlanta and enrolled at Georgia Perimeter College.
• Self-released the demo album The Audition in 2003.

Career

• Signed to Bad Boy Records in 2006; debut EP Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase) received critical acclaim.
• Debut studio album The ArchAndroid (2010) peaked at number 17 on the Billboard 200.
• Guest vocals on fun.'s "We Are Young", which topped the charts of more than ten countries.
• The Electric Lady (2013) debuted at number five on the Billboard 200.
• Dirty Computer (2018) was named best album of the year by several publications and was accompanied by a film.
• The Age of Pleasure (2023) was nominated for Album of the Year at the 66th Grammy Awards.
• Acting: Moonlight and Hidden Figures (2016), Harriet (2019), Glass Onion (2022), and Homecoming (2020).
• Founded the Wondaland Arts Society label, which formed a joint venture with Epic Records in 2015.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• AllMusic (Andy Kellman): the most guest-heavy Monáe album, with Brian Wilson, Stevie Wonder and Grimes among the contributors, and clearly a Wondaland product
• The Daily Telegraph (Neil McCormick): unblushingly and unsparingly direct, a contender for album of the year, and a sci-fi funk pop extravaganza
• The Independent (Roisin O'Connor): a milestone and the perfect celebration of queerness, female power and self-worth
• The A.V. Club (Danette Chavez): the former Electric Lady loses the metal and circuitry but none of her power or artistry
• Flood Magazine (Josh Hurst): easily the most pop-conversant, hook-laden and propulsive music of her career
• Robert Christgau: previously found her voice too thin, but was won over by the Prince-inspired, sex-positive songs
• The Guardian (Alexis Petridis): a less enthusiastic review, suggesting a commercial crossover desire may lie behind the less inspired moments
• Slant Magazine (Zachary Hoskins): consistently hooky songs that lack the earlier albums' sonic adventurousness, yet her most immediately satisfying record

Records

• Metacritic: 87 out of 100 from 33 reviews, indicating universal acclaim
• AnyDecentMusic?: 8.4 out of 10 from 32 reviews
• Included in the top three of seven publications' Best Album of 2018 lists
• 61st Grammy Awards: two nominations, including Album of the Year and Best Music Video for Pynk
• Associated film was a finalist for the 2019 Hugo Awards for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
• Billboard 200 debut at number six, with 54,000 album-equivalent units in its first week (41,000 pure sales)
• Highest first-week sales of the artist's career and second highest-charting album behind The Electric Lady

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Prince worked on Make Me Feel and the whole album before his death in 2016; Monáe confirmed this after listeners noticed the similarity to his work
• The synth groove in Make Me Feel was played at one of Prince's parties years before it appeared on the single, as confirmed by his DJ Lenka Paris
• Monáe released a new director's cut of the film on 1 February 2019, with 13 extra minutes of bonus interviews
• Django Jane samples A Dream, written and performed by David Axelrod
• Pynk features Grimes, and its music video was nominated for Best Music Video at the 61st Grammy Awards

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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