SONG OF THE DAY
“Tightrope” by Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi (The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III), Wondaland Arts Society/Bad Boy Records, 2010). Written by Nathaniel Irvin III, Charles Joseph II, Antwan Patton, & Janelle Monáe Robinson.
INTERESTING FACTS (a la wikipedia)
– “Tightrope” is the first official single from The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III) album.
– The single premiered on February 11 on Pitchfork Media website, earning an immediate 9/10 rating and their coveted “Best New Music” tag.
– The official remix, titled “Tightrope (Wondamix)”, features rappers B.o.B and Lupe Fiasco.
– Speaking in May 2010 to noted UK urban writer Pete Lewis – Deputy Editor of Blues & Soul – Monae discussed the background to the song: “Tightrope is basically dealing with how in life it’s important to keep your balance and not get too high or low about things during the time when you’re either being praised or being criticised. Which is something that, as artists, Big Boi and I could both relate to, because there are so many peaks and dips along the journey of just being an artist on the road to success. So we both felt it was important to kinda help those everyday working people who are constantly dealing with life’s obstacles, by giving them like a tutorial on how to deal with issues face-on.”
– Tightrope features futuristic/space themes; however, it has also been described to feature “serious old-school entertainer bona fides”.
– Pitchfork Media notes that the tracks sped up Alien backing vocals are the only thing that keep the theme of sci-fi and of the future.
– Her vocals been compared to Katharine Hepburn for her vocals on the track. Pitchfork Media explains “when the chorus hits, she switches up into a classic soul-singer wail, the type of immediate retro yowl that keeps Sharon Jones in fancy shoes.”
– In the music video she portrays a patient that possesses the power to walk through walls and later she catches the ‘crazy/ dancing feet’ with her friends.
– Monae talked about the video saying “Tightrope’ takes place at the Palace of the Dogs. A lot of the greats were admitted into this place, like Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix. We wanted to keep it raw and funky—just having it in an insane asylum made it that much cooler to me.”
– The video references experimental filmmaker Maya Deren’s iconic film “Meshes of the Afternoon” (1943).
– Monáe performed the song on the Late Show with David Letterman, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Lopez Tonight, Last Call with Carson Daly, and on Dancing with the Stars.
– Rolling Stone named Tightrope the 8th best single of 2010 in its year-end list. SPIN ranked the song at #9 on its The 20 Best Songs of 2010.
VIDEO OF THE DAY
Embedding was disabled on youtube, so here’s the link to the video!