Janelle Monae’s movie career helped inspire her new album.
The singer and actress released Dirty Computer last month (Apr18), her third studio record, and shows off a franker side to her songwriting skills.
Asked by Fault magazine what made her decide now was the right time to tell the world her story, Janelle, who has previously performed as her time-travelling android alter-ego Cindi Mayweather, said film had influenced her.
“There is power in vulnerability, and I think that it needed to start with me,” she began. “I was inspired by many movies, some of which I’ve been a part of and the stories I read and people I’ve met; when people shared their stories with me so honestly, it resonated.
“I’ve been talking about it, but I feel I wasn’t entirely embracing the things that made me unique. I was telling others to as part of my music, but I wasn’t living it, and I think that I was afraid I would lose supporters for doing so.”
In 2016, Janelle starred in Barry Jenkins’ Oscar-winning feature Moonlight, and as well as in Hidden Figures, about three female African-American NASA employees, which received three Academy Award nods.
Next, she can be seen in biography The Women of Marwen, about how a victim of a brutal attack finds a unique and beautiful therapeutic outlet to help him through his recovery process.
“I had a lot of conversation with myself about who was going to be the subject of the album – myself or Cindi – but I’m here now, and I think it’s right that I stay in the present and share my story and walk in my truth as fearlessly as possible,” the 32-year-old added.
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