So…I am emotionally overwhelmed. I can barely express how I feel about Janelle Monáe’s new album The Electric Lady, but I will try. Yesterday and earlier today, I shared some of my first thoughts via tweets. I felt like something special was already on the way when I first heard “Q.U.E.E.N.” months ago, and I shared some thoughts about the video and some of the lyrics. But I wasn’t fully prepared for this amazing body of work, this true work of art that this album is. The level of auditory profundity, lyrical creativity, vocal excellence and thematic risks taken here is everything. EVERYTHING!

The Electric Lady is doing for me in 2013 what The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill did for me in 1998. I stand by my comparison of The Electric Lady to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in terms vocals, production, creativity and impact for its time. I was a sophomore in college when the latter came out and I remember that album meaning something deep and literally changing something within all of us. It wasn’t just because it was unique and somewhat automatically separated itself from all of the other music that was out during that time (though the 90s had some great Black music for sure). It was because it was like an epistle from an unapologetic artistic Black woman, Lauryn Hill, and it was brave, emotional and creative.

But see…Janelle goes a step further than Lauryn because her actual politics rejects respectability politics and embraces identity and sexual (sexuality now; not just “intercourse”) freedom in a way that Lauryn has never truly eschewed or embraced, respectively. I honestly believe that as a Lauryn fan, one who was an adult when her work came out and experienced it in real time as an adult (versus growing up and then going back to listen to it; there’s something different [not lesser; different] that happens there; like…if I listen to 70s music now, versus someone born and an adult experiencing that music in real time, contextually, when it’s released) that this is the album that Lauryn fans (ones who truly embrace a politics of womanism, without the politics of respectability) have been waiting for. It’s just that Lauryn didn’t make it. And Janelle is no Lauryn 2.0 now. She’s Janelle. And I love it.

This album really touches me in a place (that I think I lock away) that modern music rarely reaches anymore, though I still have a good list of Black female artists and vocalists that I enjoy. I have laughed, danced, thought and cried to this album so far. It’s a letter to thoughtful minds, wounded hearts and yearning souls. It’s a profound hello to creatives who desire something different. It’s also a whole hell of a lot of fun.

Her songs move me. Her collaborations with Prince, Erykah Badu, Miguel, Solange and Esperanza Spalding are brilliant. Her solo songs are moving and have great emotional depth. She’s exposed herself and laid her truth out there. Some songs are mirrors to me, actually.

I am still getting a feel for the album, so beyond “Q.U.E.E.N.” which I discussed months ago, I don’t have any overly in-depth analyses of each song, but here’s my initial view on the album:

“Suite IV: Electric Overture” - I like. Very cool. Opens the album nicely. “Givin Em What They Love” (featuring Prince) - I like. Very hot. A very fun song. “Q.U.E.E.N.” (featuring Erykah Badu) - I love. One of the true gems of the album. A womanist epistle. “Electric Lady” (featuring Solange) - I love. Beautiful song that feels like a love letter to womanhood. “Good Morning Midnight” (Interlude) - I like. Funky and fun. “PrimeTime” (featuring Miguel) - I love. Sexy. Has a more “traditional” R&B vibe. Could be some great sex music, for sexual people. I’m just sayin’… “We Were Rock n’ Roll” - I love. Super fun song. “The Chrome Shoppe” (Interlude) - I like. One of the funniest of the interludes. “Dance Apocalyptic” - I love. So much fun. Great to dance to. Deeper lyrics than the track itself lets on to. “Look Into My Eyes” - I love. Genuinely exquisite. I tweeted that it needs to be a Bond theme song. “Suite V: Electric Overture” - I love. Perfect entry into Suite V. “It’s Code” - I love. I feel the spirit of Jackson 5 on this track. “Ghetto Woman" - I love this song. It’s powerful. This song, "Q.U.E.E.N.,” Valerie June’s “Workin’ Woman Blues” and Beyoncé’s “Grown Woman” are truly the most important songs this year to me. “Our Favorite Fugitive” (Interlude) - I love. My favorite of the interludes. “Victory” - I love. Truly beautiful song with a great message. It has a gospel vibe that I enjoy. “Can’t Live Without Your Love” - I love. A more simple love song that speaks to a feeling that most can relate to. “Sally Ride” - I love. Sublime. Brilliant song. It moves me. I cried last night. I tear up when I hear it. It’s everything to me. It’s like Negro spiritual meets Afrofuturism. It’s goosebumps-inducing good. “Dorothy Dandridge Eyes” (featuring Esperanza Spalding) - I love. Beautiful song! Esperanza adds something great to it as well. Their vocals perfectly blend. “What an Experience” - Love this song. Closes the album perfectly. It has an 80s vibe that I like.

I cannot come up with a complaint for this album. I forgot that an entire album from start to finish could not only please me as a fan but make me feel admiration for that artist’s work, focus, style and vision. Like…I tweeted her directly and said thank you. I had to. All I can say is thank you. She really should take a bow. She did what so many people forgot could be done. Convey the human heart, mind and spirit in a work of art as truthfully and authentically as possible without sacrificing creativity and a unique vision. Brava.