Janelle Monáe’s uniqueness was not apparent from the beginning, as heard on Big Boi’s second Got Purp? compilation. The neo-electro remake of DeBarge’s “Time Will Reveal” and the Off the Wall-emulating pop-funk of “Lettin’ Go” were standouts — even amidst nuggets like Konkrete’s “Shit Ya Drawers,” believe it or not — but Monáe seemed destined to be one of those artists who appears on a glorified mixtape and either disappears or makes one under-promoted album prior to fleeing the industry. Even after spotlights on OutKast’s Idlewild, not many people outside Monáe’s Atlanta circle could have known that she was much more in line with Nona Hendryx and Afrofuturism than Ciara and 106 & Park. She probably has more time for Octavia Butler than Perez Hilton.

Inspired by Fritz Lang’s 1927 science fiction classic, Metropolis: The Chase Suite is the first of four planned releases designed as easily processible EPs detailing the life of a rebellious soul-equipped android who risks disassembly by falling in love with a human. Strip away the concept, the packaging, and the equally entertaining and deep lyrics dealing in class/race, slavery, isolation, and love — all of that material, as crucial as it is to the whole — and there remains a handful of magnetic songs transferred through theatrical soul, 21st century new wave, ice-coated opera, and brassy hip-hop funk. The disc’s center is made of “Violet Stars Happy Hunting!!!” and “Many Moons,” conjoined songs that trump anything on the Andre 3000 half of OutKast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. “Sincerely, Jane” is dressed up in all the fantastical instrumentation of an otherworldly Broadway production but is as grounded in grim realism as Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues” or 2Pac’s “Brenda’s Got a Baby,” and like those two songs, it is fueled by despair rather than self-righteousness. Monáe’s voice is knockout level throughout, likely versatile enough to handle any style with effortlessly expressive ease.

The disc was independently released last year. Diddy got involved at some later point and signed Monáe to Bad Boy. Go figure. (Monáe must feel like she’s on the human end of human-android relations when communicating with label mate Cassie at Bad Boy company picnics.) This new “Special Edition” adds two bonus tracks unrelated to Metropolis that show even more range. “Mr. President,” a protest song, has a relaxed Hi Records throwback arrangement and a neo-Ernie Isley electric guitar flame-out. “Smile” is a skeletal, gently uplifting ballad.

AllMusic Track Meet Flashback: June 12, 2007
Margaret Reges: On the other side of the freak spectrum…moving from freakishly bad to freakishly good: Janelle Monáe’s “Violet Stars Happy Hunting!!!” I really like what she’s doing!
Heather Phares: Yeah, that song is amazing.
Jason Lymangrover: I think I’m in love. She’s like the female André 3000 or Kool Keith.
MR: She’s mine!
Andy Kellman: Okay, some intro content: A Big Boi protégée who seems to take more cues from André 3000 — she’s maybe Nona Hendryx 2007. Her very different appearances on Big Boi’s Got Purp, Vol. 2 and Idlewild were buried but completely memorable.
Tim Sendra: Do we need a female André 3000?
HP: Yes!
JL: I think so.
AK: It’s a point of comparison, Tim, not a definition. From the sound of this, taken from the first suite of her concept album take on Metropolis, she can do just about anything.
Marisa Brown: She’s what would happen if Kool Keith, Gilbert and Sullivan, and k-os all got in a room together…with Big Boi watching over all of them.
JL: While watching Blade Runner.
HP: Best. Description. Ever.
AK: There’s a lengthy performance of the song on this page.
TS: I can see I’m going to be outnumbered on this one. This song left me totally cold. I kept waiting for a hook.
AK: It’s right there.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine: But did you like the sound, Tim? That’s what sold the record for me.
JL: Her vocal style reminds me of the woman who sang “Goldfinger.”
HP: Shirley Bassey? A little….
TS: It sounds all right, but it’s a novelty song that’s not very novel. I’ll bet in the context of the album it’ll work better.
HP: Yeah, hearing the whole album is a must now.
JL: Is it a concept album?
MR: Yeah, I got the impression that this was a Ziggy Stardust-type project.
AK: The concept is Metropolis, yes — loosely based around it, I think, and Monáe has her own developed character. Four or five suites released within the span of months, eventually bundled into one CD. Or one release across multiple discs, perhaps.
JL: I’m envisioning a Deltron 3030 thing.
STE: It’s hard not to be excited by that — even if you don’t love this song, it’s time for a sci-fi concept album again.
MR: Starlight Express!
TS: If André 3000 didn’t already exist and hadn’t written “Hey Ya” already, this might have blown me away….
AK: “One black rocker is enough.”
TS: It has a chance. I’m all for as many crazy rockers as we can get. My motto is black, white, black, or Puerto Rican — everybody just a-freakin’.
JL: Do you think this song will blow up like “Hey Ya”?
HP: Nope, it’s too eccentric.
MR: Not in the real world. In my head, however, the answer is “yes.”
AK: No — no major-label money to support it. A major would screw it up anyway.
HP: Right, the label people would be all, “Whoa, little lady, slow it down there. One idea per song, please.”
STE: Yeah, I think it’d probably be better as a cult song — it sounds like it was designed to be that.
JL: I’ll be really surprised if this song catches on since it’s so quirky, but I thought that about “Hey Ya” and “Crazy” too.
AK: “Hey Ya” would’ve bombed if it had been released by a new black artist.
JL: TRUE.
STE: You’re right — it needed some support there. But why did “Crazy” break, then?
MB: This definitely has the “Hey Ya” feel, but it’s a lot more than that. It has a lot more going on. It’s pop, but it’s smart (maybe?) and a little weird, and a lot of fun. But people are more open to this kind of thing because of Gnarls and ‘Kast, and so it might do better than we expect.
STE: True, the groundwork has been laid, but I can’t tell if it will be an across-the-board smash — I just think it’s a bit too gloriously odd for that. And I think Amy Winehouse is the neo-hipster crossover of the year.
HP: Yeah, it’s too busy (though I love that about the song).
JL: The busy vocal overlaying is my favorite part.
AK: I don’t think this could possibly have Gnarls’ hipster cache, which eventually grew so big that it drove “Crazy”’s popularity. Again, with Gnarls, you have two histories. Even most of the people who own Idlewild don’t know about Monáe.
MB: You’re all absolutely right…I’m just saying, there have been some surprises lately.
HP: Well, it would be great if lots of people appreciated her.
JL: I really wouldn’t be that surprised. OutKast paved the way for Gnarls; Gnarls could pave the way for her.
STE: And it’s possible that given the right circumstances, it could be successful.
AK: I would be surprised if this got as much attention as Sa-Ra or Tiombe Lockhart. Or Skunk Anansie, for that matter.
STE: Oh, Skunk Anansie, we hardly knew ye. I remember buying stacks of NME and Melody Maker with Skin on the cover.