Miss Monáe

Janelle Monáe is slowly making a name for herself in the music industry. The Kansas City native has always had a vibrant imagination and a gift for music, and, after moving to Atlanta, she gained national exposure after catching the attention of Outkast’s Big Boi. Last year, she was noticed by Diddy, who left her a message through her MySpace page and eventually signed her to Bad Boy Entertainment. She’s been wowing audiences with her electrifying shows in Atlanta, New York City and Los Angeles, but now with the support of a major label, she’s ready for her music to be embraced by the masses. Later this month, she’ll be releasing her eclectic debut album, Metropolis Suite I, the first in a series of four projects. Marcus Washington speaks with Monáe to find out what this young music maven is up to.
 
Give our readers a little background on exactly who Janelle Monáe is.
 
I was born and raised in Kansas City, Kansas. I’m an artist and an aspiring equestrian rider.
 
Does your love for horse riding inspire your style?
 
Yea, it plays a major role in inspiring my style. I like to keep my style very simple, classic and tailored.
 
What was it like growing up in Kansas City?
 
I grew up in a town that was really small. Of course it was the poorest county, Wyandotte County, and we were not culturally diverse. My school was predominately African-American—which was cool. It was great, but I just always desired to learn more about different cultures. In Kansas City, I tried to create a world that was interesting. That kept me excited about life and I could go there and visit whenever real pressures, like people in my family dealing with drug addictions and gambling addictions, effected me. This world I would visit all the time in my mind and just being an artist and performing and different things helped. It was my outlet and it most definitely helped me keep composure and it gave me a stronger desire to want to lead and make change.
 
 
Your debut album, Metropolis Suite I, hits stores later this month. Can you talk about the concept of the album?
 
[My album] Metropolis was inspired by Fritz Lang‘s 1927 German Expressionist film Metropolis—a black and white silent film. It spoke out to me, so I wanted to create a world that was as big as [the film’s] concept. The same issues that they were dealing with, like the have nots and the haves and how there’s this constant struggle between the two, was an issue that I felt growing up in Kansas City and still exists today. There’s always this constant struggle between those two worlds. My imagination led me to writing and I created different characters, like Cyndi Mayweather, [a robot] programmed not to love and not to feel, but she falls in love with a human. The album will tell you more because I don’t want to give up too much information.  
 
Are you collaborating with any outside producers or artists?
 
No, I haven’t. I’m not opposed to working with different artists, but I’m really just sticking with my team, Wonderland Productions. We’ve been doing all the writing and music together. I love this movement and I feel there needs to be more diversity, especially with producers and especially with young African-American females. So I’m more interested in collaborating with new artists that people haven’t heard about. I want them to get a chance to let their art shine through.
 
Can you elaborate more on the lack of diversity when it comes to female artists in urban music?
 
I just think it’s sad because we all don’t look alike, and we all don’t sound alike. I think it could be more empowering if there were more images that spoke to different kinds of women. Growing up, there were only a couple of people I could relate to, and now, I can only imagine that there are girls like me out there who don’t see an artist who is similar to them at all.  It’s hard when you don’t have people that are like your kin that you can relate to. I think it’s going to get better because of record sales declining. There’s no incentive right now to make a radio hit because that’s not going to help you sell any more records. So maybe labels, artists and everybody involved will start falling back in love with art and the fun of it and create something a little bit more profound, in a clever way—just mix it up a bit.