Janelle Monae

“I have a great body, I really do. But I want to be taken seriously as an artist, and wearing anything that shows it off will be a distraction from the music. That's how my signature uniform, my tuxedo, came about. It's classic and timeless. You'll see me in black, white, and a pop of color on my lips. That pop adds a little magic.”

“I'll refer to my music in color, like 'This song needs to be bright red.'”

“I have mentors like Erykah Badu. She's been like a big sister to me.”

“When I was growing up, both my grandmothers would play the organ, and we would all sing.”

“I wouldn't be as comfortable with who I am if it had not been for Prince. I mean, my label 'Wondaland' would not exist without 'Paisley Park' coming before us.”

“It's unfortunate that a lot of people think African-American female artists are monolithically R&B this-or-that, don't have to do anything by default.”

“I'm a believer that the more I'm giving, the happier I am, and the more beautiful my exterior will be.”

“It's a big universe. To stay in one tiny place is doing a disservice to yourself.”

“I just think my own ambition would not allow me to sit on the gifts that my creator had given me. And so that's when I realized that I could actually go away.”

“I'm about women's empowerment. I'm about agency. I'm about being in control of your narrative and your body.”

“I know what I like; if you go to my closet, I have at least four of everything.”

“My grandmother was the matriarch. If you didn't have a place to stay, if you needed food, if you were just coming out of jail or rehab, you went to her. Watching her in our family and our wider community was what inspired me and still does.”

“I always think about the next generation and creating a different blueprint for them. That's my goal: to let them know there's another way.”

“Honestly, I don't believe in menswear. I focus on what pieces are most timeless, transcendent, match my lifestyle, remain remarkable, and command intriguing attention across the room at an art gallery.”

“We don't all have to take the same coordinates to get to the same destination. Being a young African American female artist, I want to open doors for young black girls.”

“Children go with whatever makes them feel good - like if that's the color green or orange, they do that with their clothes. As I've grown older, everything reversed. My music, my personality - onstage those things became my colors.”

“I believe it's time that women truly owned their superpowers and used their beauty and strength to change the world around them.”

“I don't even know at what age I started, because it's always been there. Performing... creating... it's in my DNA.”

“Some songs you get. Some songs you may not. And I think that's the beauty of art: to question and to ask, to understand the deeper meaning after two or three or four listenings.”

“I love men. But evil men? I will not tolerate that. You don't deserve to be in my presence. If you're going to rule this world, I am not going to contribute anymore until you change it.”