Top 35 Janelle Monae Quotes

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 carry my classic black-and-white tux and custom-made George Esquivel saddle shoes.

I enjoy how women dressed in the 1920s with the shimmering jewels and rich feathers.

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.

I believe that imagination inspires nations. It’s something that I live by.

I love Fun. They’re great guys. They’re incredible artists and musicians.

I have not lost any of my crazy, fearless, raw, soulful, eclectic side and I plan on continuing to tell universal stories in an unforgettable 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.

I will never stop making music.

I’ll refer to my music in color, like ‘This song needs to be bright red.’

I take goldenseal, Echinacea and cod liver oil when flying to boost my immune system.

I’ve never viewed myself as ‘just’ a musician or singer.

One of my mantras is, ‘Embrace what makes you unique, even if it makes others uncomfortable.’ I keep that with me in my back pocket. Shoot, I keep it in my front pocket! I keep it in my hair.

I had a strong visceral reaction to the ‘Moonlight’ script, partly because I felt I knew all of these characters.

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

Donald Trump is trying to build a wall. I’m trying to burn walls down and build more bridges.

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

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

I’ve gotten scripts over the years, but I believe it was the stories of ‘Moonlight’ and ‘Hidden Figures’ that really touched my heart and aligned with the messages that I felt were extremely important to me.

Becoming a CoverGirl is truly an honor and a gift. It opens up a new platform for me to inspire women to feel stronger, braver and more beautiful inside and out.

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

I’ve cried over string arrangements.

I’ve been very blessed to have worked with two incredible directors – Barry Jenkins on ‘Moonlight’ and Ted Melfi on ‘Hidden Figures’ – and it was a collaborative effort in shaping my characters, Teresa and Mary.

You are only as beautiful as the many beautiful things you do for others without expectation.

Everything is about balance. You can’t work, work, work, work without any play.

I have worn a tuxedo, but I have never covered up for respectability politics or to shame other women.

If you walk into a room that’s bro’d up, and you’re in power, bring more women into the room.

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

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 have mentors like Erykah Badu. She’s been like a big sister to me.

I don’t do a lot of collaborations that I don’t believe in. Actually, I don’t do any collaborations that I don’t believe in.

I listen to Prince on my iPad. And I use a Chords & Scales app to warm up before performing.

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.

My message is that I want to reach the people – the people who work each and every day.

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.