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Cee Lo Green, Big Boi Undermine Janelle Monae’s Strength on ‘Electric Lady (Remix)’

Janelle Monáe. Solange, Big Boi, Cee Lo Green, "Electric Lady (Remix)," title track, stream

Though Janelle Monáe hails from Kansas City, she makes her home in Atlanta, and she invited a couple of ATL luminaries for a remix of the near-title track from new album The Electric Lady. The original “Electric Lady” already features vocals from Solange, another singer who approaches R&B from a slightly off-kilter perspective, and the new version adds verses from Big Boi and Cee Lo Green. As welcome as it is to hear the OutKast half’s pliantly pitter-pattering cadences, though, neither man really adds much to the track. Green, talk-rapping rather than fully showcasing his powerful pipes, gruffly flatters his host, musing that “I must utter something utterly avant-garde” (he doesn’t). General Patton, at least, drops the sophisticated pretensions, but his talk of “naked pilates” and “that pole dance” feels not only unnecessary, but counter to Monáe’s outta-this-world “Q.U.E.E.N.” individualism. Oh well: You can buy it as a Target-only bonus track, or listen below via MissInfo.tv.