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I Will Not Be A Slave To My Image, Nor Will I Be A Slave To Anyone Else's Interpretations Of Me.

-Janelle Monae

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I Will Not Be

Janelle Monae

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I Will Not Be A Slave To My Image, Nor Will I Be A Slave To Anyone Else's Interpretations Of Me.

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You Are Only As Beautiful As The Many Beautiful Things You Do For Others Without Expectation.

Beautiful Things

I Know What I Like; If You Go To My Closet, I Have At Least Four Of Everything.

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.

Don’t Get High Off Praises, And Don’t Get Too Low On Critiques.

I Enjoy How Women Dressed In The 1920s With The Shimmering Jewels And Rich Feathers.

I'm Always Thinking About That Young Girl Or Young Boy Who Doesn't Quite Know If Their Music, Their Messaging, Their Imaging, Their Voice Is Going To Pop, If People Are Going To Understand Them. So I Represent The Other And Those Who Feel Like They Don't Even Want To Be Normal. They Embrace The Things That Make Them Unique.

No Matter If You Wear A Small Amount Of Makeup, No Makeup, Or Heavy Makeup, As Long As You Feel Beautiful Internally And You're Doing Beautiful Things For Other People, And Not Just Focusing On The Exterior To Make Yourself Happy, I Think You Should Do What Works For You. You Should Rock On.

Android Is A New Form Of The Other, But You Can Parallel The Other To So Many Different Types Of People. Even If You Don't Consider Yourself To Be The Other, At One Point In Time I'm Sure You Felt Like That.

Redefine What It Means To Be Sexy And What It Means To Be A Woman. Showing My Skin Is Not What Makes Me Sexy. I Like Skirts And Dresses Just Like Everyone Else, But I Had A Message I Needed To Put Out There. It Was Up To Me To Show People And Young Girls There Was Another Way.

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'm Inspired By The Words: 'electrifying', 'epic', 'minimalistic', 'transcendent', 'timeless' And 'rock N' Roll.'

I Believe It's Time That Women Truly Owned Their Superpowers And Used Their Beauty And Strength To Change The World Around Them. Becoming A Covergirl Is Truly And 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.

The Colors Black And White Are My Uniform, To Honor The Working Class. People Like My Parents, Who Were Janitors And Had To Wear A Uniform Every Day. It Keeps Me Grounded.

Black And White

I Believe That Imagination Inspires Nations. It's Something That I Live By.

I Believe It's Time That Women Truly Owned Their Superpowers And Used Their Beauty And Strength To Change The World Around Them.

I Love The Mystery Behind Things.

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.'

I'm Attracted To Things That Scare Me, Like 'psycho,' My Favorite Hitchcock Movie.

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've Cried Over String Arrangements.

First, Before I'm An Artist, Before I'm A Celebrity, I'm A Human Being.

I Will Not Be A Slave To My Image, Nor Will I Be A Slave To Anyone Else's Interpretations Of Me.

I'm A Believer That The More I'm Giving, The Happier I Am, And The More Beautiful My Exterior Will Be.

It's A Big Universe. To Stay In One Tiny Place Is Doing A Disservice To Yourself.

I Hope Women Feel Confident With Themselves And Realize That We Don't All Have To Look Alike Or Be The Same Size To Be Beautiful. I Hope They Feel Like Representing What It Means To Be An Individual And To Remain Comfortable In Your Own Skin.

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.

Perfection Is The Often The Enemy Of Greatness.

As A Businesswoman You Have To Be Open. I'm Always Open To Listening And Learning And Considering. However, I Don't Look At Business As Anything Other Than A Partnership. And In Any Partnership Both Parties Need To Leave The Table Happy.

It's Hard For Me To Be Serious. I Can't Really Rub Oil On Me And Go All The Way With It [laughs]. I Hear Some Screams And I Laugh To Myself. I Always Get A Kick Out Of It. I'm Three Feet Tall, Basically.

There Are Some Groups That For Years And Years Have Not Gotten The Rights That The Majority Of Human Beings Have, And I Think That It's Important To Continue To Draw These Parallels So That When We Think About Our Future We Can Change Some Of The Lives Of People Who Love Differently Than We Do, Look Different Than We Do, Who Come From A Different Class. It's All About Bringing Awareness To How Important It Is To Be Accepting Of People...and There Will Be Oppression If One Group Thinks They're More Important Or Superior.

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.

Everything Is About Balance. You Can't Work, Work, Work, Work Without Any Play.

I Wanna Scream And Dream And Throw A Love Parade / Is That Okay?

I Really Just Want To Encourage And Inspire People To Use Their Freedom In A Positive Way And In A Way That Is Inspiring To Other People. I Want To Continue To Pass Down The Seeds Of Change Within The World. I Think That It Can Start With Just One Person. Just Like A Rumor Can Get Carried On, So Can Inspiration.

Beauty Is About Enhancing What You Have. Let Yourself Shine Through.

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.

You Had To Change Who You Were To Become Famous. I Thought That For A Very Long Time. Even After Signing A Record Deal, And Then Eventually Getting My Own Recording Company, Wonderland Records, I Had To Say No To A Lot Of Opportunities To Become Well Known. If It Didn't Align With My Values And If It Didn't Support The Image I Had Created For Myself, I'd Pass.

I Think If People Genuinely Want To Help ... That'll Shine Through, No Matter What Color Or What Race. We Cannot See Race Before Compassion.

Silence Is Our Enemy, And Sound Is Our Weapon.

I'm Not Focused On Being Perfect. I Like Trial And Error. You Learn Through Uncomfortable Experiences. And Now I Know What Doesn't Work For Me, And I Know What Does.

Things Might Not Go As Planned, But At The End Of The Day It’s Up To Me To Take Those Risks And Do What I Love Most. And I Don’t Owe Anybody An Explanation. My Journey Is My Journey.

The End Of The Day

I Love Great Music And If It Doesn't Move Me I Don't Listen To It.

Embrace What Makes You Unique, Even If It Makes Others Uncomfortable.

I Don’t Even Know At What Age I Started, Because It’s Always Been There. Performing … Creating … It’s In My Dna.

I'm Always Thinking About Young People First When I'm Writing Music. Whenever I Can Reach That Young Person And Inspire Them To Go After Their Own Dreams, Start Their Own Movement Just Like I Did With Wondaland. Starting Their Own Tribe And Showing People That We Are Not All The Same, We're Not All Monolithic. I Think That's What It's All About For Me.

Thinking About You

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.

Part Of What My Music Represents Is To Stand Up And Be The Voice Of Those Who Feel Like They Are Not Heard And Want To Be Treated With Respect Regardless Of Race, Color, Orientation - Android, Cyborg, Whatever.

Perfection Is Often The Enemy Of Greatness.

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.

Embrace What Makes You Unique, Even If It Makes Others Uncomfortable. I Didn't Have To Become Perfect Because I've Learned Throughout My Journey That Perfection Is The Enemy Of Greatness.

I Take Goldenseal, Echinacea And Cod Liver Oil When Flying To Boost My Immune System.

I Love Fun. They're Great Guys. They're Incredible Artists And Musicians.

Even If It Makes Others Comfortable, I Will Love Who I Am

You Cannot Police Me, So Get Off My Areola

People Don't Ask Jay-z To Take His Shirt Off When He Rhymes.

I Always Carry My Classic Black-and-white Tux And Custom-made George Esquivel Saddle Shoes.

Black And White

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.

When You Realize It's Your Responsibility To Be A Leader And Create The World That You Want To See, You Have To Do It.

I Was Made To Believe There's Something Wrong With Me.

I'm Really Thankful To Have My Own Record Label. I've Always Looked Up To People Like Madonna When She Launched Maverick Records. Even Jay Z And Sean "puffy" Combs, Who's A Mentor And Also Gave Me A Shot When I Was An Independent Artist In Atlanta. He Came To My Show, And He Said, "i Just Want People To Know About You."

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