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The ArchAndroid
''The ArchAndroid'' is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Janelle Monáe, released on May 18, 2010, by Wondaland Arts Society, Bad Boy Records, and Atlantic Records. Production for the album took place at Wondaland Studios in Atlanta and was primarily handled by Monáe, Nate "Rocket" Wonder, and Chuck Lightning, with only one song without production by Monáe. She also collaborated for certain songs with Saul Williams, Big Boi, of Montreal, and Deep Cotton. The album is composed of the second and third parts to Monáe's ''Metropolis'' concept album series. Incorporating conceptual elements of Afrofuturism and science fiction, ''The ArchAndroid'' continues the series' fictional tale of a messianic android and features lyrical themes of love, identity, and self-realization. Critical commentaries have compared the album to the works of David Bowie, Outkast, Prince and Michael Jackson. ''The ArchAndroid'' debuted at number 17 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, sell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Janelle Monáe
Janelle Monáe Robinson ( ; born December 1, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper and actress. She has received ten Grammy Award nominations, and is the recipient of a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Children's and Family Emmy Award. Monáe has also been honored with the ASCAP Vanguard Award; as well as the Billboard Women in Music#Rising Star Award, Rising Star Award (2015) and the Billboard Women in Music#Trailblazer Award, Trailblazer of the Year Award (2018) from Billboard Women in Music, ''Billboard'' Women in Music. Monáe began her musical career in 2003 with the release of her demo album, ''The Audition (album), The Audition''. She signed with Bad Boy Records to release her debut extended play (EP), ''Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase)'' (2007). It received critical acclaim and narrowly entered the Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200. Her debut studio album, ''The ArchAndroid'' (2010)—a concept album—was released through Atlantic Records. The following year, she ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cold War (song)
"Cold War" is a song recorded by American musician Janelle Monáe, released as the second single from her debut studio album ''The ArchAndroid'' (2010). The song was written and produced by Monáe, Nathaniel Irvin III, and Charles Joseph II. It was released via Monáe's website on February 12, 2010, one day after the release of the album's first single, "Tightrope". A fast-paced new wave and Afro-funk track with a futuristic feel, its drum pattern has received several comparisons to that of the 2000 single " B.O.B" by OutKast, whose member Big Boi was one of her mentors and was featured on "Tightrope". Music critics acclaimed the song as one of the best tracks from ''The ArchAndroid''. The music video, consisting of a single shot of Monáe against a black wall and expressing various emotions as the song progresses, has been praised by critics as a unique piece of art. Development "Cold War" was co-written and co-produced by Monáe with Nathaniel Irvin III and Charles Joseph II. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concert Tour
A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific tour with a particular album or product. Especially in the popular music world, such tours can become large-scale enterprises that last for several months or even years, are seen by hundreds of thousands or millions of people, and bring in millions of dollars in ticket revenues. A performer who embarks on a concert tour is called a touring artist. Different segments of longer concert tours are known as "legs". The different legs of a tour are denoted in different ways, dependent on the artist and type of tour, but the most common means of separating legs are dates (especially if there is a long break at some point), countries and/or continents, or different opening acts. In the largest concert tours, it has become more common for differen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billboard 200
The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a recording act is remembered for its " number ones" that outperformed all other albums during at least one week. The chart grew from a weekly top 10 list in 1956 to become a top 200 list in May 1967, acquiring its existing name in March 1992. Its previous names include the ''Billboard'' Top LPs (1961–1972), ''Billboard'' Top LPs & Tape (1972–1984), ''Billboard'' Top 200 Albums (1984–1985), ''Billboard'' Top Pop Albums (1985–1991), and ''Billboard'' 200 Top Albums (1991–1992). The chart is based mostly on sales—both at retail and digital – of albums in the United States. The weekly sales period was Monday to Sunday when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991, but since July 2015, the tracking week begins on Friday (to coincide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significant figures of the 20th century. Over a four-decade career, List of Michael Jackson records and achievements, his music achievements broke Timeline of African-American firsts, racial barriers in America and made him a dominant figure across the world. Through songs, stages, and fashion, he proliferated visual performance for artists in popular music; popularizing street dance moves including the Moonwalk (dance), moonwalk, the Robot (dance), robot, and the anti-gravity lean. Jackson is often deemed the greatest entertainer of all time based on his acclaim and records. The eighth child of the Jackson family, Michael made his public debut in 1964 at age six, as a member of the Jackson 5 (later known as the Jacksons). After signing with Motown ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958April 21, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation, Prince was known for his flamboyant, androgynous persona, wide vocal range, which included a far-reaching falsetto and high-pitched screams, as well as his skill as a multi-instrumentalist, often preferring to play all or most of the instruments on his recordings. His music incorporated a wide variety of styles, including funk, disco, Rhythm and blues, R&B, Rock music, rock, New wave music, new wave, soul music, soul, synth-pop, Pop music, pop, jazz, blues, and hip hop music, hip hop. Prince produced his albums himself, pioneering the Minneapolis sound. Born and raised in Minneapolis, Prince signed a record deal with Warner Bros. Records at the age of 18, soon releasing the studio albums ''For You (Prince album), For You'' (1978) and ''Prince (album), Prince'' (1979). He went on to achieve critical succe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Outkast
Outkast (sometimes written as OutKast) was an American hip-hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of Big Boi (Antwan Patton) and André 3000 (André Benjamin, formerly known as Dré). Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential hip-hop acts of all time, the duo achieved both critical acclaim and commercial success from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, helping to popularize Southern hip-hop with their intricate lyricism, memorable melodies, and positive themes, while experimenting with a diverse range of genres such as funk, psychedelia, jazz, and techno. Patton and Benjamin formed Outkast as high school students. They released their debut studio album '' Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik'' in 1994, which gained popularity after its single " Player's Ball" peaked atop the ''Billboard'' Hot Rap Songs chart. The duo further experimented and honed their sound with their second and third albums '' ATLiens'' (1996) and '' Aquemini'' (1998), both of w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, and his music and stagecraft have had a great impact on popular music. Bowie studied art, music and design before embarking on a professional career as a musician in 1963. He released a string of unsuccessful singles with local bands and David Bowie (1967 album), a self-titled solo album (1967) before achieving his first top-five entry on the UK singles chart with "Space Oddity" (1969). After a period of experimentation, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with the alter ego Ziggy Stardust (character), Ziggy Stardust. The success of the single "Starman (song), Starman" and its album ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Star ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Android (robot)
An android is a humanoid robot or other artificial being, often made from a flesh-like material. Historically, androids existed only in the domain of science fiction and were frequently seen in film and television, but advances in robotics, robot technology have allowed the design of functional and realistic humanoid robots. Terminology The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' traces the earliest use (as "Androides") to Ephraim Chambers' 1728 ''Cyclopaedia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, Cyclopaedia,'' in reference to an automaton that St. Albertus Magnus allegedly created. By the late 1700s, "androides", elaborate mechanical devices resembling humans performing human activities, were displayed in exhibit halls. The term "android" appears in US patents as early as 1863 in reference to miniature human-like toy automatons. The term ''android'' was used in a more modern sense by the French author Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam in his work ''The Future Eve, Tomorrow's E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space exploration, time travel, Parallel universes in fiction, parallel universes, and extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial life. The genre often explores human responses to the consequences of projected or imagined scientific advances. Science fiction is related to fantasy (together abbreviated wikt:SF&F, SF&F), Horror fiction, horror, and superhero fiction, and it contains many #Subgenres, subgenres. The genre's precise Definitions of science fiction, definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers. Major subgenres include hard science fiction, ''hard'' science fiction, which emphasizes scientific accuracy, and soft science fiction, ''soft'' science fiction, which focuses on social sciences. Other no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afrofuturism
Afrofuturism is a cultural aesthetic, philosophy of science, and history that explores the intersection of the African diaspora culture with science and technology. It addresses themes and concerns of the African diaspora through technoculture and speculative fiction, encompassing a range of media and artists with a shared interest in envisioning black futures that stem from Afro-diasporic experiences. While Afrofuturism is most commonly associated with science fiction, it can also encompass other speculative genres such aAfro-fantasy fantasy, alternate history and magic realism, and can also be found in music. The term was coined by American cultural critic Mark Dery in 1993 and explored in the late 1990s through conversations led by Alondra Nelson. Ytasha L. Womack, writer of ''Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture'', defines it as "an intersection of imagination, technology, the future and liberation". She also follows up with a quote by the curator Ing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concept Album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Sometimes the term is applied to albums considered to be of "uniform excellence" rather than an LP with an explicit musical or lyrical motif. There is no consensus among music criticism, music critics as to the specific criteria for what a "concept album" is. The format originates with folk music, folk singer Woody Guthrie's ''Dust Bowl Ballads'' (1940) and was subsequently popularized by traditional pop singer Frank Sinatra's 1940s–50s string of albums, although the term is more often associated with rock music. In the 1960s several well-regarded concept albums were released by various rock bands, which eventually led to the birth of progressive rock and rock opera. Definitions There is no clear definition of a "concept album". Fiona Stur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
