Maps of Music

The ArchAndroid (2010)

Where the lyrics of The ArchAndroid take you, and where it was really made.

The debut album is the second and third parts of a Metropolis story that began with a 2007 EP.

Key places

Recorded at Wondaland Studios (2010)

Recording site DARP Studios (Atlanta) — The album was completed in Atlanta at Wondaland Studios, so this pin marks the city center rather than the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• The ArchAndroid: debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Janelle Monáe
• Released May 18, 2010 by Wondaland Arts Society, Bad Boy Records, and Atlantic Records
• Second and third parts of Monáe's Metropolis concept album series
• Blends Afrofuturism and science fiction in the story of a messianic android
• Lyrical themes: love, identity, and self-realization
• Collaborators include Saul Williams, Big Boi, of Montreal, and Deep Cotton

Background

• Follows Monáe's debut EP Metropolis: The Chase Suite (2007)
• Partly inspired by the 1927 film Metropolis
• Series follows Cindi Mayweather, sent back in time to free Metropolis citizens from The Great Divide
• Monáe later described the period of recording as a very transformative time in her life

Recording

• Production took place at Wondaland Studios in Atlanta
• Mainly produced by Monáe, Nate "Rocket" Wonder, and Chuck Lightning
• Only one song was produced without Monáe
• Monáe said the music came from places the band toured, from Turkey to Prague to Atlanta

Sources: en.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

• Metacritic: average score 91 from 28 professional reviews
• Chicago Tribune: Greg Kot called the album an audacious, sometimes bewildering statement
• AllMusic: Andy Kellman called it an extravagant 70-minute album with more imagination and conceptual detail than most prog rock epics
• Pitchfork: Matthew Perpetua called it about as bold as mainstream music gets
• Spin: Barry Walters noted German Expressionism and Afrofuturism as conceptual elements
• The Barnes & Noble Review: Robert Christgau was less impressed and called it the most overrated album of the year

Reappraisal

• Pitchfork ranked it 116th on its list of the best albums of the 2010s
• The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (2014)

Records

• US Billboard 200: debuted at number 17 with 21,000 copies in the first week
• Re-entered the Billboard 200 at number 171 in February 2011 after selling 3,000 copies
• UK Albums Chart: debuted at number 51
• Nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards (2011)
• Topped year-end lists from PopMatters, the Chicago Tribune, and The Guardian
• Voted fourth best album of 2010 in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop poll
• US sales reached 141,000 copies by 23 February 2011 according to Nielsen SoundScan

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The video for Tightrope shows Monáe dancing in the Palace of the Dogs, with Big Boi also starring
• Cold War was released as a companion song the day after Tightrope, through Monáe's official website
• Come Alive was a free promotional single from Kia Motors in September 2009, with Monáe as a member of its Kia Soul Collective
• Say You'll Go includes a segment from Claude Debussy's Clair de lune
• Monáe hosted a listening session for press and VIPs at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City on March 4, 2010

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact