21 pop culture moments from 2018 we’re celebrating

Dirty Computer

There are two current musical artists that I’m confident will eventually be recognized as all-time greats. One is Beyoncé (see the seventh entry on this list). The other is Janelle Monáe.

Like Beyoncé, Monáe is an auteur who doesn’t shy away from addressing racism and other political issues through her work. However, her persona and style are drastically different. Since her first solo effort, a concept album titled Metropolis, the Kansas City-born singer has operated under the alter ego of Cindi Mayweather, an android who uses music to resist oppression. This has allowed her to express vulnerability in the abstract while distancing herself from it in reality, resulting in music that’s both unique and elusive, juxtaposing groovy rhythms with dystopian themes.

Dirty Computer represents a turning point in Mayweather’s narrative and Monáe’s career. Just as her robotic counterpart finds freedom in destruction, Monáe embraces her own “glitch,” letting loose with a vibrant, introspective paean to blackness, queerness, and humanity. In “I Like That,” she proudly describes herself as “the random minor note you hear in major songs,” while “Pynk” is a carefree, finger-snapping anthem to sex and driving at night. Fusing profanity-laden rap with dance-ready pop, the album has a playful vibe that was absent in Monáe’s more ironic previous work. It’s fun, and that sharpens, rather than dulls, its message.

In a Rolling Stone interview that was published the day before Dirty Computer dropped, Monáe came out as pansexual. The album itself feels like an equally radical statement, turning self-love and solidarity into weapons. Her vision of America may be a dream, but it’s one worth fighting for.