|
|
WONDA WOMAN
|
|
|
She released her first solo project, The Audition, with help from Wondaland while she still lived in the AUC. The 200 albums produced for an informal release party sold out within hours. Another 400 sold out just as quickly. Following the album's release, Wonder and Lightning encouraged Monáe to perform at the Three Brown Girl's open mic night held at Justin's, an Atlanta restaurant owned by Sean "Diddy" Combs where she eventually met Outkast's Patton.
"I made him [Patton] listen to all my songs; I told him my vision for myself as an artist; I told him all my core values like how I have a big responsibility to my community, especially young girls," she told Singersroom.com, referencing her first official meeting with the Atlanta rapper. Patton told her he respected her and her music, and Monáe, with Wondaland, signed with Purple Ribbon Records soon thereafter.
In late 2005, Monáe released two tracks from Go Purp? Vol 2. Her track, "Lettin' Go" was later released as a single in June 2006, and that same year, the Outkast-produced Idlewild soundtrack featured two of Monáe's tracks.
She also began work on Metropolis, a concept album based on the 1927 Fritz Lang silent film of the same name. "In the movie, you have the underworld, the people who live underground who struggle from day to day and are slaves to the people that live in Metropolis," she told Singersroom.com. "The people of Metropolis live this worry-free and carefree life, they're rich and they don't have any worries. Those characters reminded me a lot of some of the Kansas City people and the environment I grew up in."
Monáe and Wondaland made the decision to release Metropolis in four suites (think EP), relying on the idea that if consumers no longer listen to entire albums, then release four singles to do the work for them, while also creating fresh buzz with each subsequent suite. Suite I: The Chase debuted on August 24, 2007 with the three following suites to follow in sequence.
But for whatever reason (there are rumors that Purple Ribbon Records lacked the capital to support Monáe), Suite II never materialized. With Patton's blessing, Monáe left his label in early 2008 to sign with Bad Boy, Combs' label, taking Wondaland Productions with her. "I've been blessed with artists like Jodeci, Notorious B.I.G., and Mary J. Blige in the past, but this artist right here, you've just got to see it to believe it," Combs told industry insiders at New York's Blender Theater with Monáe in tow. "I don't know if you ever felt the Holy Ghost, but that's the only feeling you're going to feel tonight."
Combs later referred to Monáe as possibly the most important signing of his career. Bad Boy re-released The Chase on July 29. Suites II through IV are being scrapped in favor of the full-length Metropolis. Response to the Bad Boy signing has been mixed, pitting those who believe Combs will embrace Monáe's individuality against those who don't.
James Spooner, director of the acclaimed documentary Afropunk, hosted Monáe at his Afropunk Festival in New York this past summer. Spooner says Monáe provides the mainstream scene with a new sound, but in the long run, he believes she'll have to conform or lose her deal.
"Unfortunately, when you are in her position, you only have two choices," he says. "Do something really great, burn bright for a second, and fade away as a one-hit wonder, or conform, bleach your hair blonde, and sing regular R&B. I think Puff will push her to do the latter," says Spooner.
Fellow and former AUC artists continue to pour out support for her. Trumpeter James King of the jazz-hip-hop fusion band, Jaspects, remembers playing with Monáe before her musical transformation from pure neo-soul.
"We've been with her as she's progressed to this new sound and found her niche," King says from Atlanta. "She's becoming a melting pot within herself and creating a genre by herself. For me, it's just refreshing to see her coming up with something new and being creative."
Jaspects drummer Henry C. Conerway III echoes King. "I think she's got all the potential in the world and her music is not restrictive. There is a lot of freedom in what she's doing," Conerway says. "She's doing what she wants to do. And a lot of the things that have gone into the deals she's made have to do with her freedom and ability to maintain her own voice, which is something the industry has been losing a lot of lately."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advertisements
|
|
|
