Top 101 Quotes & Sayings by Janelle Monae
Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American musician Janelle Monae.
Last updated on December 21, 2024.
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 had a strong visceral reaction to the 'Moonlight' script, partly because I felt I knew all of these characters.
I'm a storyteller who wants to tell untold, meaningful, universal stories in unforgettable ways. I want to do it all, study it all, and find my place in it.
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'm about women's empowerment. I'm about agency. I'm about being in control of your narrative and your body.
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 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'm a believer that the more I'm giving, the happier I am, and the more beautiful my exterior will be.
There are months when I'm on a plane every day!
I won't sit here and say I've never had a pimple, but I try to have a really great diet, you know, lots of vegetables and fish. And I think stress plays a huge part too.
Once you find what you like, it's like it worked yesterday, it works today, it'll work tomorrow.
Black history is part of American history, and it should be treated as such.
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.
I always carry my classic black-and-white tux and custom-made George Esquivel saddle shoes.
I have mentors like Erykah Badu. She's been like a big sister to me.
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.
My message is that I want to reach the people - the people who work each and every day.
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.
I enjoy how women dressed in the 1920s with the shimmering jewels and rich feathers.
People in my family and camp who grew up listening to rap music love 'We Are Young.' I've heard it play at weddings. I've heard it in graduation parties. It's a big idea and big song.
If you walk into a room that's bro'd up, and you're in power, bring more women into the room.
I'm attracted to things that scare me, like 'Psycho,' my favorite Hitchcock movie.
I'm inspired by the words: 'electrifying', 'epic', 'minimalistic', 'transcendent', 'timeless' and 'rock n' roll.'
You are only as beautiful as the many beautiful things you do for others without expectation.
One of my core values is to help redefine what it means to be a strong and beautiful woman in the music and fashion worlds and to empower the wonderful things that make us unique.
I believe that imagination inspires nations. It's something that I live by.
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.
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.
Maybe I'm outdated in thinking this, but because I'm a young black woman and don't see very many being the lead in a film, I have this fear: 'Will I be working?'
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.
It's a big universe. To stay in one tiny place is doing a disservice to yourself.
When I was growing up, both my grandmothers would play the organ, and we would all sing.
I love Fun. They're great guys. They're incredible artists and musicians.
I will never stop making music.
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.
I know what I like; if you go to my closet, I have at least four of everything.
Lauryn Hill, P-Funk, Marvin Gaye, Public Enemy - I have a very diverse palate for music. I can go from Judy Garland to Jimi Hendrix to Stevie Wonder to Rachmaninoff. I just love great music.
I listen to Prince on my iPad. And I use a Chords & Scales app to warm up before performing.
I don't even know at what age I started, because it's always been there. Performing... creating... it's in my DNA.
I have worn a tuxedo, but I have never covered up for respectability politics or to shame other women.
When I first started in this industry, my goal was to be some best friend. The sidekick. I thought that would be an accomplishment.
I spend a lot of time in the future, But to help the future, sometimes you got to go back to the past, and sometimes you got to stay in the present.
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.
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.
When I got into the music industry, I wasn't focused on being the most famous artist or even getting a major record deal. It was just to make music on my own terms or create my own image, do my own hair, do my own makeup.
I love the mystery behind things.
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've never viewed myself as 'just' a musician or singer.
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 was constantly involved in music and theatre all through middle school and high school.
I'll refer to my music in color, like 'This song needs to be bright red.'
Everything is about balance. You can't work, work, work, work without any play.
Donald Trump is trying to build a wall. I'm trying to burn walls down and build more bridges.
Music is an art form that I love dearly, and it's allowed me to bring so many people together and meet so many people.
I feel myself becoming the fearless person I have dreamt of being. Have I arrived? No. But I'm constantly evolving and challenging myself to be unafraid to make mistakes.
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'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.
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 take goldenseal, Echinacea and cod liver oil when flying to boost my immune system.
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