Ten Years of Janelle Monáe's Masterpiece "The ArchAndroid"

Exactly ten years ago today Janelle Monáe and the Wondaland Arts Society released an album that was for many the whole package. The music was amazing, the story was interesting and the dramatics were unmatched. This was a follow up of her Metropolis EP was also a continuance of the Metropolis Epic. The Metropolis EP was suite one and The ArchAndroid are suites two and three respectively. For me, I became effectively obsessed with this album, the eclectic sound, the orchestrations, Janelle's rapping and vocals was just the perfect package.

The ArchAndroid is an 18 track mammoth of a concept album with some of the best visuals in life. Not only was the album artwork stunning, but the videos that came with it were as well. The album tells the story of Cindi Mayweather  and Anthony Greendown as we all know. Janelle's future narrative about an Android who falls in love with a human has spawned some imaginative, downright crazy fan theories and fan fiction that is actually beautiful. A lot of the theories are derived from the insert above that is a kind of bazaar letter from the Vice Chancellor of The Palace of the Dogs Arts Asylum. Some fAmdroids/fAndroids (as her fans are called) theories involve intricacies I could never think of. After all these years we are still trying to piece together the story, I think Janelle likes it that way.

I'm going to list my favorite tracks cause I can do that. The whole album is magnificent, but I do have some favorites. Suites II Overture and Suite III Oveture of course are a musicians orchestrations dream, this was the reason many of us wanted to join the ArchOrchestra back then. Dance or Die cause Janelle showed she had bars. Locked Inside, Oh, Maker, Make the Bus and Wondaland were catchy AF, they were bops for sure. Come Alive, Mushrooms and Roses because your fave could never. Say You'll Go and BabopbyeYa are just two more examples of all that orchestration I love so much. The Album is just full of eargasms, lol don't judge me.

Ten years has passed and some still have yet to discover the mysteries of this masterpiece and some of us are always noticing new things. There are people who are just discovering it. Let's not speak of those who had the chance to give it, its due recognition  and didn't (*cough Recording Academy *cough cough). If you asked me if this album stands the test of time I would say "Yes, damn it give Jane all the awards for the times you paid her dust".  I may be a little biased cause "Hey fAmdroid here". Honestly, if she learned to play a violin while standing on her head, I'd love her even more. Yes, I still listen to this album faithfully, its a classic in my book, and yes I might be a little biased, but who's gonna check me?

Singing Praises for "All Boys Aren't Blue" by George M. Johnson

I have to admit that I didn't really know what to expect going into this book, I was definitely anticipating it, but I didn't know how George was going to see fit to tell his story. When I opened up the the book the first thing I read was the Author's Note. I find it quite important to know the author's intent. In the Author's Note George States "Please know that this book was crafted with care and love, but most importantly to give a voice to so many from marginalized communities whose experiences have not been captured between the pages of a book". I think he accomplished his goal with this book.

In the introduction of the book he tells the story of his birth and how it was a foreshadowing of his life. He goes on to speak about gender and gender identity. George also goes on to talk about society, the binary and how the world would be if children weren't just pushed into a gender identity because of their genitalia. He takes us on quite a journey into what he thinks of the intersection of his blackness, his queerness and the need to embrace them both.

Through the book he talks about his journey as a black queer kid to a black queer adolescent and a black queer adult. In the book he talks about his relationships with his Nanny, mother, father, brother and various cousins "The Village" as he calls them. George also discusses his how his family supported him and stood by him no matter how different he was. Specifically his Nanny made sure he was loved and kept him company when he became more and more isolated. The Village made sure he was safe, loved and knew that they always had his back.

As he continues on his journey in the book, he describes relationships with the family members that were a part of his "Tribe". These are family members who he realized were black and queer like him. There are a few of them described in the book - Hope, G.G., Thomas among others. George noticed Hope was different and forged a bond with her as he got older. G.G., George's older brother became closer when George got older and are close now. Thomas was his cousin who George found out was gay during an encounter. He struggled to tell the story about Thomas because he was killed for his queerness and that tragedy was hard for him. 

I mostly personally related to in his college years, being a queer person that went to an HBCU, not having the language to label myself and also not really wanting to adhere top labels builds character.

Even though he knew his identity, navigating certain conversations was not fun. The difference is that he made it through his Greek process I did not. Lol, I guess I just wasn't built for that shit. He found family, brotherhood and deeper kinship in his brothers. This bond was tried when one of his brothers died suddenly. All in all he was able to navigate it a little bit better than I did, but his journey to that point was a trying one. 

After reading this book I felt amazing, it was like I saw myself and other black queer people in those pages. I was filled with joy that so many of us would be able to read this book and identify parts of themselves in his story. Maybe his story will be inspiration for others to tell their stories, so that we may be able to identify with these stories in ourselves. After reading this book there is a feeling of kinship with those like us and maybe just maybe it will connect us through our similarities. Maybe it will help some of us feel less alone.