Powerful With A Little Bit of Tender

I usually like to write these in lists. Top 5 reasons for this or top ten songs for that, but when it comes to an artist I admire I figured I should go a little off the beaten path in her eclectic honor. Janelle Monáe is more than just a fantastic musical artist and a talented actress. She is an innovator in modern art. So here is my love letter to this creative powerhouse who has inspired and entertained me and will continue to do so for many more years to come.

I will begin by saying that I tried very hard to not like Janelle Monáe. There was the inherent racism in me that told me she was trying too hard to be original. The built-in, run-of-the-mill sexism that had me constantly comparing her to other female artists also did not help. The deeper truth was that I was jealous of her androgyny and her confidence. Janelle Monáe, from the first time I saw her, seemed to walk through a room like a girl on fire.

Her first album which was a series of demos aptly named, The Audition, was self-released in 2003 but it was not till 2006 that she caught the eye of Bad Boy Records and was signed to their label. Thus began her slowly growing career with the first album I heard, Metropolis: The Chase Suite (Special Edition). The reason I heard of this album was not because of its hit song, "Many Moons" but because of people making fun of her general nerdy vibe.

I was not the only one to have the inherent idea that because Janelle Monáe was not typical then she must have been inauthentic. The concept of the album was described by Monáe as being about "an android and I love speaking about the android because they are the new "other". People are afraid of the other and I believe we're going to live in a world with androids because of technology and the way it advances."

Most artists, especially in the first decade of the 2000s, were generally weird conceptual ones. The difference was this was coming from the mouth of a dark-skinned black girl who at that time and if we are being honest even now are not entirely welcomed in the realm of science fiction and nerd culture.

As a light-skinned Latina, I have always felt held at arm's length in that world as well but colorism always plays a role in these matters. My experience will never be as severe as that of someone with darker skin than I. This is a rather easy concept to understand now but for teenage me that did not have a safe place to discuss these kinds of subjects and dismantle my own racist and sexist thoughts it took more journeying to understand why I felt the way i did.

Metropolis won Janelle Monáe critical acclaim. She was nominated for a Grammy in Best Urban/Alternative Performance and became a rather instant indie hit. She was the opening act for the band No Doubt in their summer 2009 tour and even garnered American Idol praise when her single "Open Happiness" was featured in the 2009 season finale. It did not really matter how ignorant people like me felt about Janelle Monáe her star kept rising.

Her follow-up album, The Archandroid, was released in 2010. This carried over the story of the Android concept by expanding upon the story it was inspired by and changing it to a more interesting take. The concept of "the other" was most succinctly expressed in the song, "Tightrope" which was coincidentally the hit and single of that album. This album earned her the Vanguard Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers at the Rhythm & Soul Music awards of that year.

Most people will recall her sort of catapulting into the music scene when she was featured in "We Are Young" by the band Fun followed up by her becoming the spokesperson for CoverGirl Cosmetics. Suddenly, her joyous face was featured smiling everywhere and there was no more casually ignoring this superstar.

I remember going back and listening to her older albums. The joy of the music, its upbeat, psychedelic feel truly was like nothing I had heard before. Though there were plenty of other great musical feats afterwards Janelle Monáe became a more common household name due to her acting credits. In 2016 she made her acting debut in the critically acclaimed movie, Moonlight, followed up by her lead role in Hidden Figures. She was fantastic in both.

The times were changing and since Janelle Monáe kept up that same creative energy throughout her career people like myself began to pay her closer attention. In truth, I believe she still has not garnered the respect she deserves for being such a visual and original artist but the long list of awards she has been given show that the creative world has always paid attention to her.

Though released in 2018, there were build ups set in place for her third studio album, and my personal favorite, Dirty Computer. Like her previous albums, this one too has a very hip hop, synth pop, indie mix while also blessed with a very funky sound that Monáe attributed to the influence of Prince on the album. It clicked then what it is about this artist that resonates in me. She is the female Prince.

In many ways, Janelle Monáe carries over that raw sexuality he mastered while also being soft, joyful, androgynous and iconic unapologetic nature. The whole album is hot fire but the single "Make Me Feel" became an LGBTQ anthem when the video featured Monáe choosing between a male and female love interest. There were other small nods in the video to the theme of the song from its reminiscence to the very famously lesbian episode of Black Mirror called "San Junipero" to the colors of the bisexual pride flag flashing over and over throughout the video.

Janelle Monáe has identified herself as bisexual, pansexual and even nonbinary in 2020. The bravery it takes for an artist of her magnitude to declare such a personal matter about herself cannot be easily quantified. She serves as a further inspiration not just to black artists, black women, nerd culture, and the LGBTQ community but to all those that fall in between these categories.

I never thought there would be a person of color, a woman at that, who would push the boundaries of music and film quite like Janelle Monáe. She is not a hit of the moment either. In 2020 she starred in her first lead role in the horror film Antebellum which she followed up with a supporting role in the biopic The Glorias. Her star is only rising and I for one cannot wait to see what she does next.