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Attack of the ArchAndroid
by Daniel Buyanovsky
Friday, June 4th, 2010
New York, NY
Views: 10,388

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A few minutes before Lupe Fiasco's show at the Filmore in April, I watched

Janelle Monae strut by the box office, wearing a tuxedo and patent-leather

shoes, into an audience filled with skater kids in skinny jeans and

tank-tops. Somehow, she didn't look out of place, and *definitely *didn't

act as if she was.

This, is the beauty of Janelle Monae - even when a sore thumb, she glides

right in unnoticed. And with her debut album *The ArchAndroid, *she's been

able to garner mass attention and acclaim from the same people who would

have called her weird, eclectic, and *different *in grade-school. Still, she

stews in the labels, and just keeps making her positive music in a way so

self-assured that she never emanates pretension.

Technically, Monae might call herself an R&B artist, but she's beyond that -

mostly because her debut album is better heard outside the bedroom than

between the sheets. She does, however, deal with many of the same issues her

fellow songstresses do.

Despite efforts to parallel herself with cyborgs and aliens from outer

space, Monae is an introspective human. And behind her at-times delicate

voice and producer Rocket's hip-swaying production, she packs a thoughtful

punch - as she wonders about femininity, fame, and love.

On 'Locked Inside,' she rhetorically croons, "I'm locked inside a land

called foolish pride/Where the man is always right/He hates to talk but

loves to fight/Is that alright?" Clearly, it's not.

And on 'Cold War,' Monae, like misfits who came before her, reassures the

outcasts that there is a place for them, as she sings, "I'm trying to find

my peace/I was made to believe there was something wrong with me."

For every identity crisis, though, Monae tosses in bouncy tracks like the

Big Boi-assisted 'Tightrope' and 'Dance or Die.' Thus in embracing her inner

nerd-girl, Monae fights the mold while staying in-tune with the fact that

sometimes people just want to *move*.

But rather than going overly poppy and falling into the Madonna archetype of

what a female star should be, she forces acceptance by way of her wildly

original tunes and presents what a female star *could *be.

*Panama** Readies His Passport *

by Daniel Buyanovsky

Since appearing on the runaway HBO hit *The Wire, *rapper Panama (aka

Armando Cadogan) has switched gears to music and is fervently building a

buzz in the over-saturated New York hip-hop scene.

Though he's spent time living everywhere from DC to Alaska to his home

country, Panama was born in Brooklyn and he's returned to find the success

he knows only this city can bring him. With a new video set to be premiered

on MTV in early June, and appearances lined up in Harlem and Times Square,

Panama's poised to finally get off his grandma's couch.

*Your new single 'Addicted' sounds a bit familiar. Do you think you're

bringing something unheard with your music? *

Yeah, that's why I'm hard to market. I started from ground level. I came

from nothing and people don't know what to do with me. I'm not a character -

look at Fat Joe, DMX, 50 Cent, they're all characters. But the people who

had longevity by being completely who they are - Jay-Z, Nas. It took them a

long time to get in, but they're still here.

*Right. *

When my time comes, I'm gonna be here because I came in being me. It's just

Panama. I don't know how to be anything else.

*Are you still going to be here, though? You started out as an actor and I

understand that's your passion, so do you have the patience to make it in

the music industry?*

I think I'm always going to be doing music. I don't know where my career's

going to go, but I'm going to do any projects that are right for me to

represent. I might do the sixty-pound weight loss like 50 Cent. I'm not

afraid to do that. I've been in plays acting as a girl, I've played Sir

Andrew in Shakespeare. I'm familiar with these roles, and I'm there before

people even know I'm there. Whatever I might have to do, I'm already

comfortable with it.

*Are you as comfortable with music? *

Yeah. I can protect myself with the battle rapper, the Mos Def's, the Jay-Z

type of rappers, the dance type of rappers. Whatever the case might be, I

fit in any category.

*When you're writing, is it to get through pain or to explore yourself?*

I write to identify with my pain, my struggle, my religion, my love, but in

a commercial way to make money. Because at the end of the day, you know, you

have to make money.

*Where's the line between selling out and making money?*

Selling out is when you're not comfortable doing what you're doing. Like the

guys who made 'Stanky Leg,' they're actually spitters. They actually rap.

They're not dancers. But they came out with 'Stanky Leg,' and now they're

trying to actually rap and it's not working because the world knows them for

*that. *But I'm comfortable with 'Addicted.' That's me, when I get my fly

shit.

*MGMT said something in a BlackBook interview about the indie Brooklyn

bands, and how they're so insular and afraid of fame that they'll never get

it. Do you have any issues with that?*

No, no. I'm not *searching *for fame, but I am doing this to get on another

level, to feed my family. I know this is working for me, but fame isn't my

search. Like if a guy offers me a feature for $1500, but he's horrible, I

won't do it. I could easily do it, but if I'm doing music, we're going to

put out good music.

*So you have integrity.*

Yeah, I have integrity. Self-respect, responsibility.

*What do you plan to do if you become successful?*

Give back. I want to open schools in Panama. A lot of my career is going to

based around Panama. I still have family members there, waking up and trying

to figure out what to eat, so I'm going to use my talent to give back to my

country, man.

*Okay, but New York is your temporary home. Do you feel comfortable here?*

New York makes you feel like you're back home, no matter where you're from.

You have to feel comfortable here. It makes you feel that way, because it's

that place, where you can literally make your dreams come true. You have any

avenue available to you.

*What's your New York, though?*

My New York is love. Love, to me, is what you make out of it, how you create

it. I love this city. I cook in this city, I mold it to my comfort. You can

choose your circumstances and go in any direction you want to go - you can

make whatever routine you want to make. You make your own world. I could

meet that guy [points at passerby] right there, and ask him how his day

went, and he could probably tell me he went to a meeting with Mac, then he's

going to a theatre, and he's hopping on a plane to India. Know what I mean?

You can never count anybody out in this city, because you don't know what

they're up to - everyone's grinding.

*Do you feel disconnected from any part of the city?*

I'm not the Village New York, or the Lower East Side. That's an artsy world

that I don't know.

*Do you want to?*

I would love to. I would love to learn about it, but to engage in it? I

think that's years, to really understand the relationships and the thought

process of the people.

*People down there think more abstractly, but has staying away from that

made you more financially-focused?*

Yeah, the rest of New York really disciplines you. It makes you more

responsible. You have to live. That pressure that's applied to you makes you

stand up and say 'This is what I want to do.' Personally, I work hard

because I feel like I have to catch up - I'm already looked at like the kid

from *The Wire. *Like, 'Why is he here? Why is he rapping?' Because of my

responsibility. Because I live on the couch, with my grandmother. I'm not

frontin' like I have my own spot. I'm grinding. When I get a check, I'm

putting that back into my music. A lot of people out here front, though.

*How do you mean?*

Like people who say 'blogging is all I do.' Really, bro? You make that much

money off blogging? A lot of people front. Like people who say 'I represent

so-and-so.' Really? You're the representer, or you've been working for free

this whole time? I've seen people drop off - bloggers, publicists, producers

- because they were living a fake life. But that's for them to talk about it

and for me to actually live it.

Just the other day I got turned down from a club, and I'm not the type to

say 'Yo, I was on *The Wire.*' Who cares? That show has been dead for two

years. My reality is that I'm doing my thing, but I'm not *there*, yet. I'm

grinding, but I'm not at a place where I can say 'Panama' and they'll let me

in anywhere.

*How soon will you be there?*

When God blesses me, man. I feel I'm at the tip, but he's testing my will,

my drive, my motivation. I feel that it's coming, though. I give it a couple

more months, but I do feel it. When it comes, I need to be ready. My

preparation is asking myself if I'm *really* ready, to jump in NYC at 7am,

and hop on the plane to LA by 9am to meet a producer.

*Once you start that life--*

--It's over. And that's my preparation, man. This is what I signed up for.

You have to commit to something, then excel. You can't just *do *it, you

have to excel.

*Who's your hero right now?*

My parents, man. I don't know these other guys to call them my heroes. Who

do I look up to? Quincy Jones.

*Not Kanye? Not Drake?*

Nope. Quincy Jones, man - producer, executive, innovator. He came from

nothing and became something respected. He's made careers. He's my idol,

man.

But my heroes - my mom and my pop, man. I don't know Jay-Z. I respect what

he does, but the finale? Quincy Jones is still here. Michael Jackson?

Prince? My mind's not on Jay, it's on longevity. Quincy Jones, man. The

strong and the wise survive this game, and Quincy is both of those.

*Do you think the same about New Yorkers? The strong and the wise?*

In New York City, you have to stand up for what your dreams are. Chase your

dreams, with passion, education. You can't be an idiot. You can't be thirty

years old talking about, 'I blog.' [Laughs] Let's be honest with ourselves.

Don't be thirty years old saying 'I want to do PR, and I just started.'

It'll take five years to even get noticed in this city.

*What do you say to a kid who's thinking about moving to this city?*

Well, if you come to New York, my only question is - Are you ready?A few minutes before Lupe Fiasco's show at the Filmore in April, I watched