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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.

-Janelle Monae

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Redefine What It Means

Janelle Monae

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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.

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More From Janelle Monae

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

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.

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.'

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

Beautiful Things

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

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

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

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.

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.

Perfection Is Often The Enemy Of Greatness.

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.

You Cannot Police Me, So Get Off My Areola

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

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.

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

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

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."

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'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.

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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.

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

Silence Is Our Enemy, And Sound Is Our Weapon.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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

Black And White

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

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

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Perfection Is The Often The Enemy Of Greatness.

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.

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

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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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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Thinking About You

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

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The End Of The Day

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

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