Janelle Monae's mother had a "lot of questions" when she came out as pansexual.
The singer went public with her sexuality following the release of her album Dirty Computer in 2018.
And in a new interview with InStyle magazine, Janelle explained that her mother wanted some questions answered when she first approached her parents about her sexual identity.
"I talked to my mom and dad first, and my mom, in particular, had a lot of questions," she explained. "I said: ‘Mama, the only way that I can create art is to truthfully tell my story. It has to come from an honest place, and this is who I honestly am. I don’t know any other way. I have to talk about my sexuality. I have to talk about my blackness. I have to talk about my womanness. I have to talk about these things. This is who I am as a person.'"
However, Janelle doesn't find being open that easy because she's such a private person.
“I’m a very private person, so I’ve been trying to navigate the space of talking about identity without disclosing that information,” the 33-year-old mused. “We’re in a culture where people obsess and obsess over those sorts of things. And I get it.”
The Hidden Figures star is now doing her best to reshape the music industry, and is proud to be promoting a message of uniqueness.
"I’ve always wanted to redefine what a cool young black woman looks like in the music industry," she smiled. "I was never interested in fitting into a system that wasn’t built for me or with me in mind. I’m interested in burning that s**t down and building something new."
