This summer, in June 2023, Janelle Monáe put out her fourth album, The Age of Pleasure. Listening to it made me want to revisit her Song Exploder episode, from 2018. One thing on Song Exploder that I personally love is when we get to hear an artist’s raw voice memo, from the moment when they’re first coming up with a song idea. This episode has one of my all-time favorites.
Janelle Monáe is an award-winning musician and actress who released her first record in 2007. She’s been nominated for multiple Grammys, and she starred in the Oscar films Moonlight and Hidden Figures. In April 2018, she released her third album, Dirty Computer, which includes this song, “So Afraid.” In this episode, Janelle Monáe takes “So Afraid” apart, to explain how she built it, step by step—beginning with a trip to the dentist.
For more, visit songexploder.net/janelle-monae.
King Princess - Let Us Die
Book Exploder: Tayari Jones - An American Marriage
Panic! At the Disco - Viva Las Vengeance
Book Exploder: Carmen Maria Machado - In the Dream House
Re-issue: Björk - Stonemilker
Book Exploder: Michael Cunningham - The Hours
Madonna - Hung Up
Book Exploder: Min Jin Lee - Pachinko
Kae Tempest - Move
Book Exploder: Susan Orlean - The Library Book
Sudan Archives - Selfish Soul
mxmtoon - Mona Lisa
Monica Martin - Go Easy, Kid
Maren Morris - Humble Quest
Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up
Kevin Morby - This Is a Photograph
Arooj Aftab - Mohabbat
Partners: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Peaches - Boys Wanna Be Her
Steve Reich - Different Trains: America, Before the War
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