History Music / JanelleMonae

Janelle Monáe Robinson, known professionally as Janelle Monáe, is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, actress, and model. Born on December 1, 1985 in UsefulNotes/KansasCity, Kansas, as a child, she had always dreamed of being a performer on the stage. She left Kansas for New York to study theatre at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. At first, Monáe aimed to become a performer on Broadway, but she changed her mind and went to music instead, feeling that music has the power to change the world. Later on, Monáe moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she met Big Boi from Music/{{Outkast}} and founded the Wondaland Arts Society. Big Boi introduced Monáe to [[Music/SeanCombs Sean "P Diddy" Combs]] which led her to be signed to Creator/BadBoyRecords in 2006, and she later moved to Creator/EpicRecords in 2015 forming her own label, Wondaland Records, which has since signed a number of other artists.

* AmbiguousEnding: Although ''Dirty Computer'' ends with [[spoiler: the three lovers escaping the facility]], it's unknown if [[spoiler: Zen and Jane actually got their memories and identities back somehow, or are still mindwiped but inspired to rebellion.]]

* GenreBusting[=/=]GenreRoulette: Definitely falls into the former (as mentioned under NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly) and at least borders on the latter at times - for instance, ''Dirty Computer'' has the hip-hop track "Django Jane" and the lushly orchestrated "Don't Judge Me" within a few songs of each other (though to be fair, "Django Jane" has a fair amount of orchestration as well). About a dozen different genres are major influences on her work, and there's no telling which will dominate a particular track on an album without listening to it (or at least reading commentary on it).

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: The particular emphasis varies from song to song, but for the most part the music is a melting pot of soul, funk, R and B, progressive rock, rap, psychedelia, dance pop, and Broadway-influenced classical music.

* TakeThat: ''Dirty Computer'' features several variations on "this pussy grabs back", a clap-back to [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment certain comments about women]] made by the 45th US president.

** The single [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fumaCsQ9wKw "Hell You Talmbout"]][[note]]the chorus is African American Vernacular English for "What the hell are you talking about?"[[/note]] was specifically written by Monáe and the Wondaland roster to be used in protests, a drum line and choir accompanying a chant of names of Black citizens killed by PoliceBrutality and racial violence. The band also released an instrumental version so protestors could insert their own chant with other names as desired.

* ''Film/HiddenFigures'' (2016) as Mary Jackson]

* IntercourseWithYou: "Wondaland", which makes reference to [[FantasticArousal touching of wires]] and leaving underpants somewhere.

* LysistrataGambit: In an [[https://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/a26335/fresh-faces-2017/ interview]] with Marie Claire, she suggested that women do this to combat men's sexism, though she later clarified that she wasn't being entirely literal.
-->"''People have to start respecting the vagina. Until every man is fighting for our rights, we should consider stopping having sex. I love men. But evil men? I will not tolerate that. You don't deserve to be in my presence.''"

* PromotedFanboy:
** ''The Electric Lady'' sees her performing alongside some of her influences, including Erykah Badu and Music/{{Prince}}. The Purple One was involved in the early development of ''Dirty Computer'', too, before his death--"Make Me Feel", for example, basically ''is'' a Prince song.
** In a way, she could be considered to qualify as one for Creator/PhilipKDick, too, appearing in Creator/AmazonStudios' ''Series/ElectricDreams'', an anthology series based on his work. References to Dick's works, especially ''Literature/DoAndroidsDreamOfElectricSheep'', appear throughout her music.

* RobotGirl: Cindi Mayweather.

** The single [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fumaCsQ9wKw "Hell You Talmbout"]][[note]]the chorus is African American Vernacular English for "What the hell are you talking about?"[[/note]] was specifically written by Monáe and the Wondaland roaster to be used in protests, a drum line and choir accompanying a chant of names of Black citizens killed by PoliceBrutality and racial violence. The band also released an instrumental version so protestors could insert their own chant with other names as desired.

* CoverVersion: A cover of Creator/CharlieChaplin's "Smile" appears on ''The Chase''.

* ArcNumber: 57821, which is Cindi's serial number. It also appears as Monáe patient number at the Palace of the Dogs Asylum in the "Tightrope" video, and is used as the title of a song on ''The [=ArchAndroid=]''.
** The number reappears in the ''Dirty Computer'' emotion picture as Janelle's patient number in the cleansing house.

* NewSoundAlbum: Inverted in that ''The Chase'' (and later work) is very different from her first album ''The Audition,'' which had a more conventional R&B/pop sound.

* NiceHat: She wears a white hat from time to time. The "Many Moons" video features her in equestrian helmets and top hats. And let's not get started on the one she wears in the [[http://i.imgur.com/1VSFS.jpg ArchAndroid cover]].

* PromotedFanboy: ''The Electric Lady'' sees her performing alongside some of her influences, including Erykah Badu and Music/{{Prince}}. The Purple One was involved in the early development of ''Dirty Computer'', too, before his death--"Make Me Feel", for example, basically ''is'' a Prince song.

* ProtestSong: "Mr. President", which is mainly about putting education over warfare.

* RepurposedPopSong: "Tightrope" was used in a number of commercials for the Chevrolet Cruze.

* TheStinger: The ''Dirty Computer'' emotion picture ends on what looks like a DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Jane 57821 is completely cleansed and becomes another "Mary Apple" to help with Ché's cleansing process.]] However, just after the credits, we are treated to a scene of [[spoiler:Xen, having regained her individuality, tossing two gas masks to Ché and Jane - who has successfully clung to her memories and dreams -, gassing the whole facility with Nevermind, and the three of them escaping.]]

* VisualPun: In "Django Jane", after she says the line "Let the vagina have a monologue", she appears rapping the next line reflected in a mirror held over a woman's crotch.

* AWildRapperAppears: "Q.U.E.E.N." ends with a rap verse from Monáe.

* {{Yandere}}: Cindi, if a line in "Violet Stars Happy Hunting!" that goes "I love you, and I won't take no for an answer" is to be taken seriously.

* YourCheatingHeart: In "It's Code", [[MeaningfulName Joey Vice]] has done this. Cindi apparently blames herself for pushing him into the other woman's arms.

* {{Robosexual}}: In the past the only clues about her sexuality Monáe revealed were along the lines of a 2011 Evening Standard interview where she stated "I only date androids", though she clarified, sort of, that 'android' was a metaphor for "the new 'other'."

+ Music/MichaelJackson, Music/StevieWonder, Music/{{Prince}}, Erykah Badu, Music/OutKast, Music/JamesBrown, Music/SunRa, Music/JimiHendrix, Creator/WaltDisney, Creator/SalvadorDali, Creator/OctaviaButler, Creator/IsaacAsimov, Franchise/JamesBond, Music/TheBeachBoys

* AmbiguouslyBi: Due to the bisexual themes in much of her work, earlier on in her career, Monae was repeatedly questioned about her sexuality, and never gave a firm answer, instead saying that both women and men are "wonderful", and that she "only date[s] androids, because they don’t cheat on you". Averted as of 2018, after she publicly came out as pansexual.

* ''Film/{{Antebellum}} (2020) as Veronica Henley/Eden

* ''The Women of Marwen'' (2018) as Julie

* BiTheWay:
** While Cindi's two primary partners are men, she also has a lesbian encounter in "Givin' 'Em What They Love" and expresses attraction to a woman named Mary, possibly Blueberry Mary from "Mushrooms and Roses".
** In a 2018 ''Rolling Stone'' interview, [[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/cover-story-janelle-monae-prince-new-lp-her-sexuality-w519523 Janelle herself came out as pansexual]].

Janelle Monáe Robinson, known professionally as Janelle Monáe, is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, actress, and model. Born on December 1, 1985 in UsefulNotes/KansasCity, Kansas, as a child, she had always dreamed of being a performer on the stage. She left Kansas for New York to study theatre at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. At first, Monáe aimed to become a performer on Broadway, but she changed her mind and went to music instead, feeling that music has the power to change the world. Later on, Monáe moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she met Big Boi from Music/{{Outkast}} and founded the Wondaland Arts Society. Big Boi introduced Monáe to [[Music/SeanCombs Sean "P Diddy" Combs]] which led her to be signed to Bad Boy Records in 2006, and she later moved to Epic Records in 2015 forming her own label, Wondaland Records, which has since signed a number of other artists.

* ''Film/HiddenFigures'' (2016) as Mary Jackson

She has also had a successful acting career, including acclaimed roles in ''Film/{{Moonlight}}'' and ''Film/HiddenFigures''.

** "Givin Em What They Love" is basically a Music/{{Prince}} song, not a surprise given that the man himself features on it. From ''Dirty Computer'', "Make Me Feel" and "Americans" also wouldn't have felt at all out of place on, say, ''Film/PurpleRain''; Prince himself appears to have written the synth riff to the former. Even from before Prince started appearing on her records, "Make the Bus" (a collaboration with Music/OfMontreal) also has clear Prince influence.

* {{Bifauxnen}}: In her Archandroid days, at least. She adopts a more conventionally feminine look for her singles after "Q.U.E.E.N.".

* EpicRocking: If we only count single tracks, "[=BabopbyeYa=]" is 8:48, "Don't Judge Me" is 6:04, and "Say You'll Go" is 6:01. However, a lot of her tracks really count as movements of longer songs. Not all the examples in FadingIntoTheNextSong below could be considered to count for this trope, but a few ("Dance or Die" -> "Faster" -> "Locked Inside", "Jane's Dream" -> "Screwed" -> "Django Jane") almost certainly could.

* EroticEating: Done briefly with a lollipop in "Make Me Feel".

*** "Overture II" -> "Dance or Die" -> "Faster" -> "Locked Inside" (13:21). "Overture II" can be considered somewhat separate from the others, but if you weren't listening for the transitions between the latter three, you wouldn't even notice them.
*** "Cold War" -> "Tightrope" (7:46)
*** "Neon Gumbo" -> "Oh, Maker" (5:25)
*** "Overture III" -> "Neon Valley Street" -> "Make the Bus" -> "Wondaland" (12:48; note that there's something of a FakeOutFadeOut close to the end of "Neon Valley Street", though)

*** "Suite IV Electric Overture" -> "Givin Em What They Love" -> "Q.U.E.E.N." -> "Electric Lady" (16:23)
*** "Dance Apocalyptic" -> "Look Into My Eyes" (5:49)
*** "Suite V Electric Overture" -> "It's Code" -> "Ghetto Woman" (11:16)
*** "Can't Live Without Your Love" -> "Sally Ride" (8:03)
** And then ''Dirty Computer'' takes it even further; the only clear break in ''Dirty Computer'' is between "Don't Judge Me" and "Stevie's Dream," though there are a few brief gaps of less than a second between a few of these tracks. Songs with no gaps whatsoever:
*** "Dirty Computer" -> "Crazy, Classic, Life" -> "Take a Byte" (10:54)
*** "Jane's Dream" -> "Screwed" -> "Django Jane" (8:31)
*** "I Got the Juice" -> "I Like That" (7:07)
*** "Stevie's Dream" -> "So Afraid" -> "Americans" (8:57)
* FantasticArousal: "Wondaland" has the lines "I'm so inspired, / You touched my wires".

* InsistentTerminology: She consistently refers to her music videos - up and including ''Dirty Computer'''s 45-minute film - as "[[{{Pun}} emotion pictures]]".

* TheMovieBuff: Janelle has an extensive knowledge of cinema, as shown in "Tightrope" which references ''Meshes of the Afternoon'', and "Q.U.E.E.N", which references ''Qui êtes vous, Polly Magoo ?''. Not to mention her entire ''Metropolis'' saga being named after and largely inspired by, well, ''Film/{{Metropolis}}''.

* PublicDomainSoundtrack: "Say You'll Go" has a few bars of Debussy's "''Clair de Lune''" on it.

* RagsToRiches: This is noteworthy as Janelle Monáe makes a point to use this part of her story to inspire both her fans and her aesthetic: her mother was a janitor, her father was a garbage truck driver who struggled with drug addiction, and to go to Conservatory she spent time working with her mother. While producing ''The Audition'', she was working at Office Depot, and incidentally, got fired for messaging fans on store computers.

* SesameStreetCred: Appeared on ''Series/SesameStreet'' itself with a motivational song called "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLeUvZvuvAs The Power Of Yet]]."

* PromotedFangirl: ''The Electric Lady'' sees her performing alongside some of her influences, including Erykah Badu and Music/{{Prince}}. The Purple One was involved in the early development of ''Dirty Computer'', too, before his death--"Make Me Feel", for example, basically ''is'' a Prince song.