This Title is no Accident. Anyone that has Surrendered their Ears to all Eighteen Tracks of Janelle Monae’s masterful debut album “The ArchAndroid” knows that the Audio Experience is so Optimal, it becomes a Visual Experience, a Thought-Provoking Experience, and most importantly an Emotion-Evoking Experience. It is clear that Janelle Monae cultivated this Album with a Message bigger than any Award, any Accolade, or any Monetary Reward. She’s giving us the Gift of Stimulating our Hearts and Minds.

Despite how many Associate her with the “Wierd,” Janelle masterfully uses her Quirks and Differences as “Superpowers,” and guides you through a Story of Self-Discovery. We’re reunited with our Heroine of the Chase Suite, the Android named Cindi Mayweather, as she continues her Frantic Escape from a Vicious Monolithic Government pursuing her and attempting to Disassemble her for Loving a Human. And though her Vessel is full of Left-Field Idiosyncrasies, she still manages to Connect with her Audience, locking into Emotions we all feel: Fear, Doubt, Desperation, that eventually blossoms into Vision, Purpose, and Self-Confidence. The Album itself is a Proclamation that we should Celebrate our Differences. Janelle proves with the ArchAndroid that no Matter how “Wierd” or against Social Doctrine we are, we all feel at the Core, and we’re capable of having Life-changing Experiences if you Embrace each other.

When the “Film” begins, there’s a 30 second Chatter of Folks taking their Seats. This places the Listener(s) about to Experience the “Film” in the same Space, stripped of Pretense and anxiously Awaiting in Wonder what is to Come. Then we’re taken through a Landscape painted by Strings and other Orchestral Instruments in “Suite II Overture.” Much like “Many Moons” from Suite I, the tribal “Dance or Die” is used to illustrate the Social Climate, explaining the Grave Desperation of the World we live in and the Struggle between Enduring and Moving Forward (Dancing) or becoming Complacent and Feeding the Harsh Life we live (Dying)- while alluding to Zombies, Clones, and how the Wish for a Stronger Nation shouldn’t come before Education and the Freeing of the Mind. And of course, it’s extremely Funky.

Then we’re thrown into Cindi Mayweather’s head in “Faster,” where she establishes that she’s still on the run from the Droid Control trying to Disassemble her- but also having Doubts about her beau, Anthony Greendown, weighing whether their Love is Worth all this Pain and Panic. So she continues to run “Faster from his Arms” out of Fear. And of course, it’s just as Funky. While she’s having her Frantic Introspection, we move into “Locked Inside”, where she Delivers her own Interpretation of the Grim World she Lives in. She discusses how “The Man” loans us lots of Hate, but makes us Pay to take it all Away- which is my Favorite Line. Think about all the Self-Hatred and Fear we’re fed through the Media, and all the Arbitrary Differences we Judge and Kill each other for That keep us “Locked Inside” ourselves. Cindi also Touches on the State of Music and how the Writers and Artists are paid to tell us Lies. Finally, she admits she needs Greendown to desperately preserve her Sanity and reminisces on their Time Together in the Dreamy Surreal “Sir Greendown”. Cindi must learn however that Clinging and Hiding isn’t the Answer.

Immediately afterward yer Thrust into “Cold War”, where Cindi accepts that the World is not Okay, in fact it’s a Psychological War Zone, where she is made to feel the Way she is Uniquely “Designed” isn’t Acceptable. She accepts that we must Band together, “Give Wings to the Weak and bring Grace to the Strong” and at the End abandons her Hope for a Normal Life. This is a Hard Thing to Accept, but then she moves into the Brassy Funky “Tightrope”, where she learns to Maintain her Balance through the Throes, Highs, and Lows. Not getting too High or too Low is Janelle Monae’s personal Antidote to keeping yer Sanity amidst Struggle. “Neon Gumbo” is a Fragmented Bridge to bring you from the Funkiness of Tightrope back to the Story. It is in Fact the Closing Lullaby from “Many Moons” backwards, saying when the World just treats you Wrong, come with “Us” and we’ll take you Home.

In “Oh, Maker”, Cindi has Slowed Down to gain Peace of Mind and consider her Relationship with Sir Greendown more clearly. Despite all the Pain and Conflict, she admits she is Thankful for the Love they shared and how the Experience made her Feel. She has begun to Realize that Despite how much Love can be a War Zone, in the End we’re always thankful for the Experience, accepting Love is something truly Worth fighting for. With that Vigor, she jumps into “Come Alive (War of the Roses)” where she joins her fellow Androids into Defiance and Anarchy. But it’s clear that the Energy has no Direction, similar to those that Revolt but misuse their Strength with Senseless Violence. This represents the Plight of the Modern Have-Nots: Enraged and Defiant but no Constructive way to use their Passion. Cindi still doesn’t know that she must be the Mediator between the Haves and Have-Nots, so that their Passion can be used for Positive Revolution.

While we’re in the Realm of the Anarchist Androids, Cindi experiences “Mushrooms and Roses”, a Place where Androids and Lovers can Escape to Love in Freedom. The Song is Inviting and full of Love, love without Pretense. Absolute Freedom. Our Society has become Neurotic from all the Ways we Deviate from our Natural Design, the People we were Born to Be. When we Shut off Parts of ourselves, we become Split and act Contrary to our Desires, creating Self-Imposed Struggles. Mushrooms and Roses is the Place to Release and Overflow after such Bondage, and the Music is just as Freeing, almost like being Born again. It’s Liberation to those Locked Inside, and a Community full of Acceptance, which is what we Need Today. I cried when I Heard this Song. It was the First Time I caught a Glimpse of what it would it would be like if this Fictitious Place were here on Earth. And then I remembered, it can be, if we “Open the Velvet Door of our Emotions”. 

“Suite III Overture” lets you Revel in that Feeling of Happiness for a few moments longer before Tossing you Back into the Story. Though Cindi is happy in her Loving Community, she must accept that she still Lives in a World of Bondage and Fear, and there’s a Subconscious Desire to become Involved and be “The One” to change the World. So she returns to the Danger Zones of Metropolis, where she momentarily reminisces on Sir Greendown in “Neon Valley Street” and sends him her Love from a Distance while accepting she is now an Outlaw in a Dangerous Land.

When we get to “Make the Bus”, the Meanings get more Obscure. I believe it is Cindi reconnected to the “Locked Inside” citizens of Metropolis. Cindi was once a Star, so I believe “Make the Bus” is the Interaction between her and those that Remember her but want the Old Cindi back, like many People tend to do when people find their Calling. They say “the Way you are now, yer never going to Make the Bus”, meaning being Accepted in their Social Doctrine. Still everyone is Impressed and Excited, despite themselves. Cindi responds with “You wanted me just for a Holiday, or was it to Build yer Resume?” Saying why do you want Part of me, when you can have All of me, and my Movement for Freedom. The People respond with Admitting their “Terrible Fixation” that they want to keep in the Realm of Fantasy, which is their Hope for a Free Land. When People have been Programmed to defend their Bondage, they truly do their Best to keep the Idea of Freedom in the Realm of Fantasy. This is very Telling of those that want Change but keep it Lock in their Heads, afraid to put it into Reality.

With “Wondaland”, Cindi sings of the Hidden Paradise she’s Experienced in the Wondaground and/or Mushrooms and Roses, where her Mind is Free to Play and Frolic, and Love. She’s telling the People of the Magic to be found when yer Free, but also begins to think of Anthony Greendown and how Magical their Love was, singing for him to “Come back and Stay the Night”. Then it moves into the Beautiful “57821”, a beautiful Harmonized Song between Janelle and Deep Cotton, nodding to Simon and Garfunkel. This song goes through the Past between Cindi and Sir Greendown, revealing that Greendown saved her so she would become the One and Save the World, bringing all back to One. This reveals that even Cindi’s Droid Number “5, 7, 8, to One” is another Hint of her Destiny as the ArchAndroid.

The Moment inside “Say You’ll Go” is the Moment of Choice. Cindi accepts the World could End at anytime, and now that she knows her Destiny as the ArchAndroid, she must choose between Uniting the People and possibly experiencing Sorrow- or Staying and Waiting. Cindi discovered through her Run for her Life, her Relationship with Sir Greendown, her Time in the Free-Loving Wondaground, and the Cries of the People that she must choose to Live for Love. I don’t Consider this an Exclusive Love Song between her and Greendown, but her and the World. She has learned that Love isn’t just Exclusive or simply a Fantasy, it’s a Place like Mushrooms and Roses where Everyone can be Free and Embrace their Differences. She makes the Choice to fight of her, Sir Greendown, and the Rest of the World… so that One Day the whole World can be a Free-Loving Paradise like she Experienced.

And finally there’s “BaBopBye Ya”, a Snazzy Sophisticated Declaration of her Loyalty to her Movement but also her Longing to be Reunited with her Love, Sir Greendown. Cindi has transformed from the Doubtful Runaway in the Beginning of the Story into a Proud Confident Hero of Love and the Have-Nots. In the Bond-esque Eight-Minute Song, she proclaims she is “In the Darkness fighting for the Light” and she “Won’t Stop until she Hears the Call of Love” and in Brief Moments of Chanting you can almost see Legions of Runaway Androids plotting and scheming, and Cindi as the Mastermind, legs-crossed looking into the Eyes of the Droid Control and those that Seek to Divide, Disconnect and Conquer. As she Relaxes and stays in her Movement, she doesn’t forget Sir Greendown and she promises to see him again.

The Story of the ArchAndroid is made so that you put yerself in Cindi’s shoes. We are all symbolically Androids or “the Other” fighting to Simply Love and be who we are. We go through so much Oppression and Bondage that we grow Complacent and live Lives of Hate and Misery. And most Regrettably, we Lock ourselves Inside and don’t Fully Appreciate the Love that could be Built around us. Janelle is telling us we can have our own Mushrooms and Roses if we simply Live for Love and become the Ones to bring Positive Constructive Change to the World. We cannot Wait to Love and Wait to be Liberated. We must be the Ones to Love, and we must be the Ones to Liberate others. We can be the ArchAndroids in our Communities that can Bring Love and Change back into the Community, we simply must Embrace our Differences as Superpowers and our Hardships as Wisdom. Pain is simply Wisdom wrapped in a Ribbon. We must be the Ones to Unravel it, and use it for Good.