Album · Janelle Monae
The ArchAndroid by Janelle Monae
The ArchAndroid is an album by Janelle Monae, released in 2010. 2 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 17 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Tightrope”, on 13 lists with a best position of #10.
The ArchAndroid, Janelle Monáe's debut album, came out on May 18, 2010, through her Wondaland Arts Society with Bad Boy and Atlantic, and it doesn't so much introduce her as launch her into orbit. Monáe produced it with Nate "Rocket" Wonder and Chuck Lightning at Wondaland Studios in Atlanta, with guest turns from Saul Williams, Big Boi, of Montreal and Deep Cotton.
It's a concept record, the second and third chapters of her Metropolis series: an Afrofuturist science-fiction saga about a messianic android, with love, identity and becoming yourself at its core. The music ricochets from psychedelic soul to neo-soul to bright pop without losing its footing, and critics reached for Bowie, Prince, Michael Jackson and Outkast to describe it. "Tightrope" struts on a nimble, high-stepping groove, and "Cold War" charges ahead like a runaway train. It landed on many best-of-2010 lists and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from The ArchAndroid on radio countdowns
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.