Music / Metropolis: The Chase Suite

Janelle Monáe discography
Metropolis: The Chase Suite (2007) | The ArchAndroid (2010) | The Electric Lady (2013) | Dirty Computer (2018) | The Age of Pleasure (2023)

I left the city
My mama, she said “don’t come back home”

”I imagined many moons in the sky lighting the way to freedom.”

— Cindi Mayweather, from the “Many Moons” video

Metropolis: The Chase Suite (also known as Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase)) is the debut extended play by American singer Janelle Monáe. It was released on August 24, 2007.

The Chase Suite is the first of seven suites to the Metropolis saga that tells the story of the android Cindi Mayweather. The suite begins with Cindi already in trouble with the Big Bad, Droid Control. She has fallen in love with a human named Anthony Greendown and for this, she must be immediately disassembled. Cindi manages to escape but now she's been separated from Anthony.

2010’s The ArchAndroid would later pick up Cindi’s story where it was left off.

Track listing

1. ”The March of the Wolfmasters”
2. ”Violet Stars Happy Hunting!!!” (featuring The Skunks)
3. ”Many Moons”
4. ”Cybertronic Purgatory”
5. ”Sincerely, Jane”
6. ”Mr. President”*
7. ”Smile”*

* denotes that songs were featured on the special edition of the EP.

Singles

1. “Violet Stars Happy Hunting!!!”
2. “Sincerely, Jane”
3. “Many Moons”

Remember, only card-carrying tropers can join our chase today

• Auction: One takes place in the "Many Moons" video. Here, Cindi is put on display as the top of the line .
• Chase Scene: "Violet Stars Happy Hunting!!!"
• Cover Version: A cover of Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” is featured on the special edition of the EP.
• Covers Always Lie: The EP's cover shows Cindi being disassembled. However, according to the music, Cindi was able to escape this fate.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Surely falling in love is not worth Cindi being disassembled...
• Downer Ending: In the music video for “Many Moons,” Cindi dies after being struck by lightning.
• Dystopia: The city of Metropolis is very much this hence why .
• Faux Affably Evil: The Droid Control official heard in “The March of the Wolfmasters” commands her bounty hunters make sure to chase Cindi with “chainsaws and electro-draggers” in a rather peppy tone of voice.
• Forbidden Love: An android developing feelings for a human is a big no-no in Metropolis.
• Kids Are Cruel: As explained in “Sincerely, Jane”
• Love Is a Crime: Cindi is the on the run because she is facing disassembly for falling in love with Anthony, a human.
• Non-Appearing Title: “”The March of the Wolfmasters,” “Many Moons,” “Cybertronic Purgatory,” and “Sincerely, Jane.”
• The Runaway: Cindi is the abused kind.
• Urban Hellscape: “Sincerely, Jane”
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Cindi is described as the "star-crossed winner in today's heartbreak sweepstakes" in "The March of the Wolfmasters." It seems as though her romance with Anthony is not meant to be.
• The Villain Knows Where You Live: Droid Control sends it bounty hunters to Cindi’s exact location in “The March of the Wolfmasters.”
• Wretched Hive: Metropolis.
• You Are Number 6: In “Sincerely, Jane,” a voice presumably belonging to someone working with Droid Control calls for Cindi to return home using her registration number.
  "57821. It’s now time for you to come home, my dear. You’ve been gone long enough. Thank you. We must come, we must go."
• You Can't Go Home Again: There’s no way Cindi could return to Metropolis with a bounty on her head. Not that she would want to return.
• Your Soul Is Mine!: Droid Control orders that Cindi’s bounty hunters will not rewarded for her capture until her soul is turned in to the Star Commision.