In a new Rolling Stone cover story, pop anomaly and movie star Janelle Monáe revealed for the first time that she’s not the “immaculate android” she’s pretended to be in the public face over the last several years of her success. She’s a “flawed, messy, flesh-and-blood human being” whose forthcoming album may be her best, and most honest yet.
“It had to do with the fear of being judged,” she said of her persona and androgynous outfits. “All I saw was that I was supposed to look a certain way coming into this industry, and I felt like I [didn’t] look like a stereotypical black female artist.”
She also addressed her sexuality for the first time, acknowledging that the truth is there in her music, but she’s never confirmed it publicly before.
“Being a queer black woman in America,” she said, ”someone who has been in relationships with both men and women – I consider myself to be a free-ass motherf-cker.” Initially identifying as bisexual, Monae said “later I read about pansexuality and was like, ‘Oh, these are things that I identify with too.’ I’m open to learning more about who I am.”
Monae’s album Dirty Computer will be released on Friday, April 27. See the music video from the album’s single PYNK below.
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