Janelle Monáe: Dirty Computer (2LP, crystal clear vinyl) [BAD BOY]

Why you'll love it

This 2LP set is cut at 45 RPM on crystal clear vinyl in a gatefold jacket. Dirty Computer debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200, made the top three of seven publications' best-of-2018 lists and earned a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Crystal clear vinyl
• Cut at 45 RPM
• Gatefold jacket
• Pressed in Germany

About the album

For two albums Janelle Monáe told her stories through Cindi Mayweather, an android alter ego, and on Dirty Computer she finally stepped out from behind the robot. She calls it a homage to women and the spectrum of identity, and it arrived with a 46-minute companion film, which she dubbed an emotion picture, co-starring Tessa Thompson. The album arrived in April 2018, after a teaser screened in cinemas ahead of Black Panther.

Prince worked on the album with her before his death in 2016, and you can hear him all over the synth groove of "Make Me Feel." "Django Jane" is a fierce rap showcase, "Pynk" with Grimes is a glowing pop anthem, and Brian Wilson adds harmonies to the title track. Pharrell turns up on "I Got the Juice," Zoë Kravitz on "Screwed," and Stevie Wonder speaks on "Stevie's Dream," a guest list that reads like her record collection.

The songs move from reckoning to celebration to reclamation, closing with the defiant "Americans." It's a dystopian sci-fi concept you can dance to, and frankly we'd quite like to move into her version of the future.

Also at Kops: more Janelle Monáe on vinyl · browse Hip Hop / R&B

Tracklist

Listen

On Wondaland / Bad Boy / Atlantic (cat# 567348-1), a reissue of the 2018 album.