Janelle Monae spoke to Ebro Darden on his Beats 1 show on Apple Music last night (apple.co/ebro). In the chat she spoke about her new album ‘Dirty Computer’, women’s rights, Afrofuturism, her love of Prince, and much more.
On new album, ‘Dirty Computer’…
'Dirty Computer' has been in my heart for a while. It needed to live with me. I needed to have more conversations with myself. I needed to break out of feeling like I needed to be anybody's image, that they would prefer me to be, but rather be my unique, honest, complicated, complex self, and that's what you see on 'Dirty Computer’.
On the meaning of the album title…
So, you know we come from dirt and when we transition out we’ll go back to dirt? I believe our spirits will go elsewhere after that. I think it came to me in a dream that we are computers. We are CPUs - our brains - we’re uploading/downloading, we’re transmitting, passing back and forth information, and with all computers you got your bugs, you got your viruses, right? Now, there are some computers that may already come with bugs and viruses. Are those negatives? Are those positives? Are those features or not? It's a conversation that I want to have with us as a society, as human beings, about what it means to tell somebody that the way they’re programmed - their existence - whether they're queer, LGBTQ, IA, in that community, whether they’re minorities, whether they're bugs or viruses, whether being a woman, whether being poor, makes you have bugs and viruses.
What is it like to live in a society that is constantly trying to cleanse you, and tell you that you need to conform, you need to be reprogrammed, deprogrammed. And so I just wanted to talk about my own bugs and viruses, and how I'm choosing to deal with it, how I'm choosing to resist that whole notion because Dirty Computers don't see those bugs and viruses as negatives. Those are things that make them unique and it's about embracing those things that make you unique even if it makes others uncomfortable.
On the track ‘Django Jane’…
I think “Django Jane” was a song that was a direct response to the sting. What it feels like to feel like your rights as a woman are being trampled. What it feels like to turn on a TV and see that your very existence as a black person in America means that you could easily be killed just because you look like a threat. What it means for somebody to come from a poor class, and you see the people in the position of power say that all they're concerned about is tax breaks for the rich, and the parents that you grew up loving, and you still love who wore uniforms every single day who were janitors - who were sanitation workers - post office workers. They don’t give a f*** about them. Strip away the makeup, strip away whatever you know about Janelle Monáe. At the end of the day, I’m a young black woman living in America and these are things that matter to me. There's no politically correct way to talk about those things. I'm not a politician so I felt like my obligation was to be as honest, open, and as truthful in my response as possible.
On being more open about her sexuality on the new album…
You know as an artist I never want to dilute the art and dilute what it is that I'm saying, and sometimes I just think everything doesn't need an explanation. You know the way [single] ‘You Make Me Feel’, it's a vibe, it's a spirit. It's a song about celebrating no matter who you love, no matter where you come from. I think that it was just important for me to break out of all the labels that I will place on myself or allow other people to place on me.
Saying that just because I'm a woman I have to dress this way or look this way - that’s all a lie. I get to define or redefine myself on my own terms, and I wanted to just send a very clear message. You know I'm not into respectability politics. What I do has always been to redefine how we as young black women are viewed in America and as entertainers...I think we've made some strides and I'm so honoured and excited to be making an album during the time of [the film] 'Black Panther'. That’s an all-black cast. It's kicking ass in the box office, but I think we are in a great time.
On women’s rights and sexuality…
When I was making 'Dirty Computer' I was reading this book called 'The Great Cosmic Mother' by Monica Sjoo. It talks about how certain religions have used a woman being in tune with her sexuality, and have an agency over her body and her sexuality, has made us feel over centuries that we're evil for embracing our sexuality, for being sexual beings, for having sex. It was all a ploy and, it's to me, still a ploy to control us and to control our agency, and to make us feel like we're just these sexless human beings with no desires. And I just think that it's bulls***.
I will say the writing 'Django Jane' and writing this album it got me more in touch with matriarchal societies and who we were before patriarchy before religion, before all of these lies. I just feel like my sexuality, my women's desires are one with God, it's all one, it’s all a beautiful thing, and I just hope that women feel more free, feel more empowered. I do. I'm sexually liberated. I don’t subscribe to that, I know it’s out of fear. I know it is all a ploy to control the great cosmic incredible-ness that is women. I mean, we’re very powerful. We were doing just fine. And I'm happy.
Before patriarchy, and before all these disappointing divisive tactics to keep men up top, and women down below. I just think it's bad, and I hope that we can come together as women and men, and find ways in particular men could find ways to stop trying to oppress women. I remember being a little nervous going on the Grammys and speaking on behalf of “time's up” and just letting people know that sexual harassment, sexual abuse, sexual assault - all that is not just a Hollywood thing. It’s going on in the music industry...we’re talking about the abuse of power. That's what we should know, and men should know, that women's rights are human rights. So, when we’re marching, and if you feel like that's for women, you should think of it like women's rights are human rights. We are all human beings. We have got to take care of each other.
On Prince…
There's only one Prince and there will never be another. I had the opportunity to be inspired by Prince like the rest of the world growing up. In fact, I used to be terrified of Prince. I could not watch his videos. I had a dream that he chased me in a purple suit. It was something about watching this black man, I’d never seen a black man express himself like that, and it scared me. You know I don't know if it was because maybe I hadn't been comfortable with tapping into my fearlessness…it’s just like you got the sense that he was a free ass motherf*****, right? And I don't know if I was ready to tap into my free as motherf***** nature, but I think what I love most is that I got the opportunity to get to know the man who everybody looked at as this mysterious, other-worldly being. You know I did get the opportunity to perform onstage with him. In fact, I gave him the first copy of my first album. I gave it to him at Paisley Park, and I got a chance to see that he was such a philanthropic person. Like he gave, and he didn't want people to know what he gave. And he's given a lot to me. Any way that I can honour him, and just remind this generation of how much he paved the way for artists like myself. I mean, there were times that when I ever felt confused on what direction I should take, or if my ideas were too big for the music industry…I knew that was the one person who understood where I was trying to go.
On Afrofuturism…
I didn't know what it was when I got into it [Afrofuturism], I was like, 'What is this?' And then it helped me though. I learned more about Octavia Butler whos an incredible author that people should check out. But Afrofuturism, if you don't know, it’s about us seeing ourselves in the future. Us being as magical as we want to be. Us telling our stories because if we don't tell our stories, they will be erased. We see right now how we're already not represented as much as we could be in media, on screen, in music, in so many different ways. So, I think Afrofuturism gives me a voice and I feel like I'm able to create narratives, and live my narrative and not just be a sidekick but I get to be a protagonist. I get to be whatever I want to be through Afrofuturism, and so I think that gives a lot of people hope and I think 'Black Panther' has given a lot of people hope.
