Latest Release
- OCT 6, 2023
- 1 Song
- Dirty Computer · 2018
- The Age of Pleasure · 2023
- The Electric Lady · 2013
- Dirty Computer · 2018
- Wondaland Presents: The Eephus - EP · 2015
- The Age of Pleasure · 2023
- The Age of Pleasure · 2023
- The Age of Pleasure · 2023
- Rio 2 (Music From the Motion Picture) · 2014
- The Age of Pleasure · 2023
Essential Albums
- After two concept albums and a string of roles in Hollywood blockbusters, one of music’s fiercest visionaries sheds her alter egos and steps out as herself. Buckle up: Human Monáe wields twice the power of any sci-fi character. In this confessional, far-reaching triumph, she dreams of a world in which love wins (“Pynk") and women of color have agency (“Django Jane”). Featuring guest appearances from Brian Wilson, Grimes, and Pharrell—and bearing the clear influence of Prince, Monae’s late mentor—Dirty Computer is as uncompromising and mighty as it is graceful and fun. “I’m the venom and the antidote,” she wails in “I Like That,” a song about embracing these very contradictions. “Take a different type of girl to keep the whole world afloat.”
Artist Playlists
- This idiosyncratic singer has created her own alternative R&B universe.
- “This tour is going to be a world that people can step into and live in,” Monáe says.
- Her R&B innovations are felt in Atlanta and around the world.
- The voyagers, superstars, and divas who led to an R&B original.
- “When the world is in turmoil, these are songs that I can listen to.”
Live Albums
Appears On
- “Lipstick Lover” leaves a lasting stain we don’t want to wipe off.
- The artist on her new album 'The Age of Pleasure.'
- The artist on "Lipstick Lover."
- Janelle Monáe’s record serves nothing but main-character energy.
- The artist and scholar talk "Say Her Name (Hell You Talmbout)."
- Conversation on music selected from personal playlist.
- Zane chats with Janelle Monáe about "Turntables."
About Janelle Monáe
Janelle Monáe is an auteur who’s constantly bringing innovative methods of self-expression. Born in 1985 in Kansas City, Kansas, Monáe began singing in church, where her family members were musicians and performers. Inspired by artists like Stevie Wonder, Lauryn Hill, and Prince, the Atlanta-based Monáe developed a highly personalized style early on, a dynamic combination of funk, doo-wop, neo-soul, pop, and hip-hop. Monáe would drop her debut EP, Metropolis: The Chase Suite in 2007, a flexible, wide-reaching collection of evocative songs that introduced both her cyborg-driven narratives, which she would experiment with for years to come, and her staple androgynous look. In 2010, Monáe released her full-length follow-up, The ArchAndroid, delving deeper into her digital world with songs like the breakthrough, energetic groove “Tightrope,” featuring Outkast cofounder Big Boi. After establishing her star power, Monáe was featured as a guest vocalist on the rousing, chart-topping 2011 single “We Are Young” by indie-pop group Fun. In 2016, Monáe played a supporting role in the movie Hidden Figures, about the unheralded Black women of NASA, which raised her mainstream profile. The film also gave her an expanded platform to release her hyper-personal 2018 opus, Dirty Computer, and come out as queer; she highlighted this revelation through the Prince-influenced “Make Me Feel,” about an insuppressible romantic desire. Monáe wrote “Turntables” for the 2020 documentary All In: The Fight for Democracy, encouraging the cultural tilt toward political engagement. “This song doesn’t mean that I’m the leader,” Monáe told Apple Music. “I am simply watching, examining, and wanting to highlight all of the people who are on the front lines fighting. This song is to keep us motivated.”
- HOMETOWN
- Kansas City, KS, United States
- BORN
- December 1, 1985
- GENRE
- R&B/Soul