Janelle Monáe

Janelle Monáe

Janelle Monáe is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, producer, actor and performer from Kansas City, United States. Born Janelle Monáe Robinson in 1985, she studies theatre in New York at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy before returning to music after initially planning for Broadway.

Career

After moving to Atlanta, Georgia in 2003, Monáe founds the Wondaland Arts Society with other young artists. She appears on OutKast’s 2006 album Idlewild on the tracks “Call the Law” and “In Your Dreams”, then releases her first solo work under the Metropolis concept. The first part, Metropolis Suite I of IV: The Chase, appears in 2007 and is later given a physical release as Metropolis: The Chase Suite (Special Edition) in 2008 after she signs to Bad Boy Records. That release includes two new tracks.

Monáe later signs a joint venture with Atlantic Records for her debut studio album, The ArchAndroid (2010), which reaches number 17 on the chart. The album continues the Metropolis story and centres on her alter ego, Cindi Mayweather, who becomes a messiah-like figure within the android community of Metropolis. Her second studio album, The Electric Lady (2013), debuts at number five on the Billboard 200. Its first single, “Q.U.E.E.N.” with Erykah Badu, grows out of their conversations about the treatment of marginalised people, especially African-American women.

In 2011, Monáe guests on fun.’s “We Are Young”, which reaches number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and is certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America. Her third studio album, Dirty Computer (2018), is a concept album that receives widespread critical acclaim, is named best album of the year by several publications, reaches the top ten of the Billboard 200, and is accompanied by the Dirty Computer Tour and a science fiction film of the same name. Her fourth studio album, The Age of Pleasure (2023), receives a nomination for Album of the Year at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards.

Awards and recognition

Monáe receives ten Grammy Award nominations. She also wins a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Children’s and Family Emmy Award. Other honours include the ASCAP Vanguard Award, the Rising Star Award from Billboard Women in Music in 2015, and Billboard Women in Music’s Trailblazer of the Year Award in 2018.

Record label and collaborators

Monáe launches Wondaland Arts Society as a record label in a joint venture with Epic Records in 2015. Artists she signs include Jidenna, Roman GianArthur and St. Beauty. She also works with Of Montreal, No Doubt and Erykah Badu, and is associated with Purple Ribbon All-Stars and Wondaland.