Janelle Monae aka The Electric Lady

[iron yuppie]

Cardi B is to Pitchfork what Chrissy Teigan is to Buzzfeed, i.e. seemingly the two sites will implode if they don't write something about them every few hours.

 

[lazarus]

Lemonade is a strange one to single out since an 8.5 isn't that high a score and it's actually worth it. Freedom and All Night are brilliant songs and there are number of other keepers on there as well.

Meanwhile, they dropped an 8.7 on Cardi B's album a few weeks ago, which is an OK album, but come on.

I mean, I get the Beyoncé score. It was an important album. And yeah it's not like they gave it a 9.5.

But to rate Monae's work almost a whole point lower when it's clearly a notable cultural moment (from a more interesting artist) is inconsistent and insulting.

The Cardi B comparison even moreso.

 

[lazarus]

So the woman who wrote the review said on Twitter that she loved the album but wasn't the one who decided on the score.

Fuck the editorial staff up their stupid asses.

91 on Metacritic, btw. High scores from some major sources.

 

[cobl04]

Wowwww that is fucked

 

[LemonMelon]

Yeah I've heard the scores these days are just compilations of opinions from around the office, so it's not like someone can go rogue and tank an album that has some value to their bottom line.

 

[lazarus]

My assumption had always been that the editorial board determined a consensus, and that someone was chosen to write a review in line with that position. Otherwise it's arbitrary, no?

 

[IWasBored]

How much stock do people really put in their scores? Are there actually people out there like “oh man I was gonna check that out but it only got a 7.7 so nah I’ll listen to the one they gave an 8.7 instead?”

It took me a couple times of hearing Make Me Feel for it to grow on me, but it’s a pretty kickass song and I’ll listen to the album based off that opinion.

 

[lazarus]

It still affects the Metacritic score, or if someone looks it up on Wiki and sees the short list of prominent ratings sources.

 

[prbiker15]

Damn, this album is soooo good. I have largely ignored her discography, but now’s the perfect time to check it out.

 

[Joey788]

Absolutely incredible, genre-busting album. It feels like such a definitive statement and what Janelle’s career had been building towards.

Besides the highlights everyone else mentioned, I’d like to add in my love for “I Like That.” And I think “Americans” is pretty great once the chorus hits.

Definitely an AOTY contender.

 

[corianderstem]

Got a lawn GA to see her in June at one of our local outdoor summer concert series. Whoot.

 

[cobl04]

Sad to say I just don't dig this album that much

 

[LemonMelon]

The political lyricism is goofy and on the nose but the beats are on point. I don't like it anywhere near as much as ArchAndroid but it's better than a lot of what's come out this year.