Janelle Monáe is an award winning singer, songwriter, rapper and actress. She has been honored with a Screen Actors Guild Award, an Emmy, an ASCAP Vanguard Award; as well as a Trailblazer of the Year Award(2018) from Billboard magazine.
Monáe released her demo album, The Audition in 2003 and was signed with Bad Boy Records. Since then she has released 4 albums (2010, 2013, 2018, & 2023).
In a 2011 interview Monáe said”
“I only dates androids (a reference an alter ego in many of her songs). I speak about androids because I think the android represents the new 'other'. You can compare it to being a lesbian or being a gay man or being a Black woman ... what I want is for people who feel oppressed or feel like the 'other' to connect with the music and to feel like, 'She represents who I am.”
As an actor, Monáe has appeared in several critically acclaimed films, including Moonlight (2016), Hidden Figures (2016, Glass Onion (2022), and the television series Homecoming (2020).
Monáe said she identifies with both bisexuality and pansexuality. On January 10, 2020, she tweeted the hashtag #IAmNonbinary, explaining:
“… it resonated with me, especially as someone who has pushed boundaries of gender since the beginning of my career. I feel my feminine energy, my masculine energy, and energy I can't even explain."
In April 2022, she came out publicly as non-binary:
"I'm nonbinary, so I just don't see myself as a woman, solely ... I feel like god is so much bigger than the 'he' or the 'she.' And if I am from God, I am everything."
“I feel like I have a responsibility to my community and other young girls to help redefine what it looks like to be a woman. I don't believe in men's wear or women's wear, I just like what I like. And I think we should just be respected for being an individual…”