Self-identified android and master of her own myth, Janelle Monáe, will finally be releasing a new record, The Electric Lady, following 2010’s critically acclaimed The ArchAndroid. Monáe’s first single ‘Q.U.E.E.N.’ will feature Erykah Badu and be released on April 22.
Fellow Afrofuturist and neo-soul acolytes weaned on the likes of Parliament and Sun Ra, hip hop soul duo THEESatisfaction recently paid their respects to the ‘Queen of Neo-Soul’ with a mix tape in tribute to Badu, while Monáe’s stomping funk number ‘Tightrope’ did its part for its progressive women predecessors with a subtle nod to surrealist film maker Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon, see if you can spot it here. **
