Janelle Monae
Janelle Monae
Janelle Monáe Robinson, known professionally as Janelle Monáe, is an American musical recording artist, actress, model signed to Bad Boy Records, Wondaland Arts Society, and Atlantic Records. After making a mark with her first unofficial studio album, The Audition, she publicly debuted with a conceptual EP titled Metropolis: Suite I, which peaked at number 115 on the Billboard 200 in the United States...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSoul Singer
Date of Birth1 December 1985
CityKansas City, KS
CountryUnited States of America
Janelle Monae quotes about
Don’t get high off praises, and don’t get too low on critiques.
I've cried over string arrangements.
Lauryn Hill, P-Funk, Marvin Gaye, Public Enemy - I have a very diverse palate for music. I can go from Judy Garland to Jimi Hendrix to Stevie Wonder to Rachmaninoff. I just love great music.
I enjoy how women dressed in the 1920s with the shimmering jewels and rich feathers.
I wanna scream and dream and throw a love parade / Is that okay?
I'm really thankful to have my own record label. I've always looked up to people like Madonna when she launched Maverick Records. Even Jay Z and Sean "Puffy" Combs, who's a mentor and also gave me a shot when I was an independent artist in Atlanta. He came to my show, and he said, "I just want people to know about you."
I listen to Prince on my iPad. And I use a Chords & Scales app to warm up before performing.
I will not be a slave to my image, nor will I be a slave to anyone else's interpretations of me,
I know what I like; if you go to my closet, I have at least four of everything.
It's a big universe. To stay in one tiny place is doing a disservice to yourself.
I'm always thinking about young people first when I'm writing music. Whenever I can reach that young person and inspire them to go after their own dreams, start their own movement just like I did with Wondaland. Starting their own tribe and showing people that we are not all the same, we're not all monolithic. I think that's what it's all about for me.
There are months when I'm on a plane every day!