Janelle Monáe was born Janelle Monáe Robinson in Kansas City, Kansas on December 1, 1985. Her mother was a janitor while her father was a garbage truck driver who struggled with drug addiction. Monáe has one sister whose name is not publicly known. She has cited her hardworking and struggling family as a drive to succeed, and has striven to be a performer since she was a young girl. She was a part of Kansas City’s Coterie Theater Young Playwright’s Round Table and has written dozens of plays and musicals.
Growing up, Monáe performed in musicals and was well-known for singing at the local Baptist church. Monáe graduated from F.L. Schlagle High School in Kansas City and moved to New York after receiving a scholarship to study at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. She felt stifled, though, and dropped out.
Monáe moved to Atlanta in 2001 after dropping out of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. She lived with five roommates, worked at Office Depot, and self-produced a demo album.
In 2003 Monáe released her first EP, The Audition. It did not find success on the Billboard charts and only 400 copies were pressed, but it helped to get her voice out in the public sphere and was a declaration of her vocal style and unique musical concept. The physical album is now considered valuable by her fans and is quite rare.
One night in 2005 she met Big Boi of Outkast after performing “Killing Me Softly With His Song” at an open mic night. Impressed with Monáe’s vocals, Big Boi featured her on OutKast’s album Idlewild, adding her vocals to “In Your Dreams” and “Call The Law.” He featured her on a few songs on Purple Ribbon All-Stars’ album Got Purp? Vol. II as well.
Big Boi went to Sean “P. Diddy” Combs and told him about Monáe and her musical style. After visiting Monae’s MySpace page and immediately enjoying her music, style and vibe, calling it “fresh,” he signed Monáe to Bad Boy Records in 2006. Combs and Big Boi worked with Monae to help her develop an album rather than pushing out a forgettable, quick single.
In 2007, Monáe released Metropolis: The Chase Suite (Special Edition) through Bad Boy Records. The EP, which included singles “Sincerely, Jane” and “Many Moons,” received wide acclaim. Monáe earned a Grammy nomination for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for “Many Moons,” for which a short film was developed. She went on to open for the bands Of Montreal and No Doubt.
Monáe has said that she has plans to to create a graphic novel, narrative film and Broadway Musical based on the album. Monáe’s album draws inspiration from artists and filmmakers, including Debussy, Fritz Lang (who’s silent film Metropolis shares the title and concepts with Monáe album) and Alfred Hitchcock.
Monáe herself, however, has refused to specifically define her musical style. “I’m constantly evolving or I’m trying to evolve as an artist,” Monáe told Uinterview.com exclusively. “I let everybody else describe it and say what they think it is. I’m not a fan of marginalization of an artist.”
Monáe released her debut album The ArchAndroid in early 2010, after her EP Metropolis: The Chase Suite (Special Edition) was released two years earlier. In her music Monáe embodies her alter ego, an android named Cindi Mayweather, a part of the feared ‘other’ who is running because she fell in love with a human and was set to be disassembled because of that. The ArchAndroid features singles “Come Alive,” “Tightrope” and “Cold War.”
Monáe released her second album, The Electric Lady, in 2013 (a review of the album can be found here), a continuation of her earlier EPs and album. On the album Monáe, as android Cindi Mayweather, collaborated with musical artists such as Prince, Erykah Badu, Solange Knowles, Miguel and Esperanza Spalding. Monáe has cited Badu as a friend and mentor in an exclusive interview with Uinterview.com. Electric Lady includes singles “Q.U.E.E.N.,” “Dance Apocalyptic” and “Primetime.”
Monáe’s music is known for being provocative, challenging and unique. It draws from many genres and always includes thoughtful and socially relevant lyrics. Her recent albums include Dirty Computer in 2018 and The Age of Pleasure in 2023.
Before her debut album was released and since then, Monáe has collaborated with numerous artists from a variety of musical genres. She sang on fun.’s 2011 hit “We Are Young,” which helped launch her into fame. “I love fun. I’m so thankful that they reached out to me,” Monáe told Uinterview.com exclusively. “They had heard my album, The ArchAndroid, and they were big fans and they said, ‘We have this song we want you to get on,’ so they sent it to me and I was on tour at the time and I listened to it and I like, ‘Wow. This is a big song. This is, this song is awesome.’ And I loved it and the rest was history, so I’m just thankful to fun. and so excited about what they’re going to do next.”
Monáe has appeared on television to perform many times, including Dancing With The Stars in 2010 and at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards with B.o.B. and Bruno Mars. Monáe performed on Saturday Night Live in October 2013 with host Edward Norton.
Monáe was named a spokesperson for Covergirl Cosmetics in 2012 and has appeared in both print and television advertisements.
Though she has not stated her own political affiliation, Monáe is a fan of the Obamas, especially after her experiences performing for them in 2013. “I’m so thankful to the first family, the first lady and President for inviting me and wanting me to come to perform for Christmas in Washington [in 2013],” Monáe told Uinterview.com exclusively. “The first family… I love them so much, I’ve done a lot of work with them over the years. He [President Barack Obama] loves ‘The Electric Lady.’ They call me “the Electric Lady” when they see me. And they have the album. I started off my year in 2013 at the Inauguration. I was the headlining act for the Inauguration party at the White House, so I love the Obamas and anytime they call me, I’m there.”
In 2012, Monáe was one of many artists to perform at the musical kickoff event for the Democratic National Convention.
Monáe has also carved out a place for herself in the movie industry. In 2016 she appeared in Bad Moms and Moonlight and starred in the inspirational film Hidden Figures, for which she won a Black Reel Award for Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in 2017. She went on to appear in Welcome to Marwen starring Steve Carrell in 2018 and Harriet and Lady and the Tramp in 2019. That year, Monáe also appeared in the hit film Knives Out and played a significant role in the 2022 sequel movie Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery which co-starred Kate Hudson, Daniel Craig and Edward Norton. This film put her up as a nominee for the 2023 Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Monáe has received nominations and won a few awards for her musical abilities and style. She won the ASCAP Vanguard Award in 2010, as well as the Soul Train Centric Award for Best Dance Performance. In 2011 Monae won the Essence Black Women In Music Award, the Best Of The Booth Award for Best R&B Album of 2010 and the NME Award for “Tightrope” as Best Track.
In 2012 Monáe won the BET Black Girls Rock! Young, Gifted & Black Award. In 2013 Monáe’s music video for “Q.U.E.E.N.” won her MTV Best Art Direction VMA and the Soul Train Award for Video Of The Year. Monáe was awarded Billboard Women In Music’s Rising Star Award. In 2014, Monáe won Variety’s Music Breakthrough Award.
“I was so thankful. I’m humbled. Very encouraged,” Monáe told Uinterview exclusively of winning the Billboard Award. “I hope that it inspires independent artists and girls all over the world to just stay true to their core values and their beliefs and embrace those things that make them unique, even if it makes others uncomfortable.”
In addition to the awards she has won, Monáe has received nominations dozens of times for Grammys, Soul Train Awards, the Essence Awards and the MTV VMAs.
Monáe’s dating history is a bit of a mystery. She has not appeared in public with a known romantic partner, nor has she disclosed any past loves. Monáe had joked in the past that she only dates androids, a reference to her musical concept.
In 2018, Monáe publicly came out as pansexual and, in 2022, announced that she is nonbinary, going by she/they pronouns.
Monáe, along with Chuck Lightning (Charles Joseph II) and Nate Wonder (Nathaniel Irvin III), founded the Wondaland Arts Society, a collective and record label built to support young artists and musicians. She calls her musical team The Wondaland Society, too. Joseph and Irvin have cowritten many of Monáe’s songs with her.
Monáe maintains a classic look — she typically wears all black and white, often in tuxedo-style clothing, with a high coif and red lips. She has appeared in Vogue Magazine multiple times as well as GQ and Teen Vogue.
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