Dirty Computer
by Janelle Monáe

Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe
Year: 2018
Release date: 2018-04-27
Overall rank: 924th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 450 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 2018 (12th)
Award Top albums of of the 2010s (132nd)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (924th)

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Janelle Monáe bestography

Dirty Computer is ranked 2nd best out of 6 albums by Janelle Monáe on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Janelle Monáe is The ArchAndroid which is ranked number 474 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 3,571.

Janelle Monáe album bestography « Higher ranked (474th)
The ArchAndroid
This album (924th)
Dirty Computer
Lower ranked (1,954th) »
The Electric Lady

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Dirty Computer track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Dirty Computer rankings

Dirty Computer rankings summary
Overall rank: 924th | 2010s rank: 132nd | 2018 rank: 12th  Overall chart history
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings).Help Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 5 hours ago)

Dirty Computer collection

Dirty Computer ratings

Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 450 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 3 ratings for this album.  | Show all 450 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
35/100
 !
08/13/2026 12:10 DommeDamian  Ratings distribution  7,70048/100
 
75/100
 !
07/13/2026 18:45 araidernomore  Ratings distribution  48770/100
 
75/100
 !
07/06/2026 18:25 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  15,60470/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 4% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 76.6/100, a mean average of 76.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.7.


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Dirty Computer favourites

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Forum mentions

This album has been referenced 65 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From BestEverAlbums 09/01/2026 16:00 in Monthly overall chart movements
The overall chart is ever changing, and it's difficult to keep up with the detail of what's happening. So, for those people who are interested, this post attempts to show the latest movements - biggest climbers, movers, new entries and leavers for the top 100, 250, 500 & 1000 over the past month,…
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From BestEverAlbums 08/27/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5417): By Tamthebam
Today's chart of the day Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s by Tamthebam () 1. by (2017) 2. by (2016) 3. by (2015) 4. by by (2016) 6. by (2015) 7. (2011) 9. by (2016) 10. by (2010) 11. (2015) 12. by (2019) 13. (2012) 14. by (2016) 15. (2016) 17. by (2012) 18. by (2014) 19. by (2010) 20. (2019) 21.…
View forum post →

From BestEverAlbums 08/01/2026 16:00 in Monthly overall chart movements
The overall chart is ever changing, and it's difficult to keep up with the detail of what's happening. So, for those people who are interested, this post attempts to show the latest movements - biggest climbers, movers, new entries and leavers for the top 100, 250, 500 & 1000 over the past month,…
View forum post →

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Dirty Computer comments

Showing latest 5 comments | Show all 36 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
From 10/24/2025 16:22 | #311455
Didn't deserve to lose over Golden Hour. Also, even though I like the album, there is something about the vocals and the way they were mixed that sounds very hollow to me, and it takes me out of the fantasy. (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 06/04/2025 08:46 | #309231
Shortlisted for album of the year at the 2019 Grammys. The winner was Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 11/03/2021 19:24 | #275799
Easily the best pop album of the year. All sorts of Prince and Bowie vibes. Great features, great themes, great storytelling. Instant hit.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 08/12/2019 04:14 | #241085
While the second half of the album is definitely weaker than the first half, this is a fantastic record with unique sounds and compelling lyrics. The short film that goes along with it also adds a lot. I will admit, the first time I watched it I didn't realize there was more after the credits and thought the ending was super depressing. That would have been a good ending too, if pessimistic but I'm glad I rewatched and saw the happy ending :) (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
From 07/15/2019 15:41 | #239500
When she was more coy and ambiguous about her sexuality, Janelle Monáe was already producing some of the most exciting pop music, so I couldn’t really keep myself from building anticipation for this as her “coming out” album. The real revelation here is the way she sheds a lot of the sci-fi metaphors in favour of more direct modes of expression, working her inimitable voice through the sensual synths and harmonic backing vocals.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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