Monae Quotes & Sayings

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. — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

I enjoy how women dressed in the 1920s with the shimmering jewels and rich feathers. — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

People are consuming more than ever, but I think they want a bit of honesty and depth. Adele, Gotye, Janelle Monae - they're giving you a catchy song, but it's also a challenging song at the same time. — Kimbra

People don't ask Jay-Z to take his shirt off when he rhymes, — Janelle Monae

I always feel the need to give the unfiltered truth, (or) what I think is the truth, at least. — Janelle Monae

I always carry my classic black-and-white tux and custom-made George Esquivel saddle shoes. — Janelle Monae

Beauty is about enhancing what you have. Let yourself shine through. — Janelle Monae

Maybe in life, most of us feel inferior because we compare our dress rehearsals to [Janelle Monae's] final performance.
page 113 — Bill Konigsberg

I've cried over string arrangements. — Janelle Monae

My message is that I want to reach the people - the people who work each and every day. — Janelle Monae

I don't even know at what age I started, because it's always been there. Performing ... creating ... it's in my DNA. — Janelle Monae

I love great music and if it doesn't move me I don't listen to it. — Janelle Monae

I love Fun. They're great guys. They're incredible artists and musicians. — Janelle Monae

I feel like Harriet Tubman, except I am trying to free people through underground music, to free themselves creatively and inspirationally. — Janelle Monae

I want people to know about these visionary artists. I want people to know what they stand for and (that) they are representing something unique, something fresh. I am just so excited about their careers. — Janelle Monae

Once you find what you like, it's like it worked yesterday, it works today, it'll work tomorrow. — Janelle Monae

I listen to Prince on my iPad. And I use a Chords & Scales app to warm up before performing. — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

There are months when I'm on a plane every day! — Janelle Monae

Things might not go as planned, but at the end of the day it's up to me to take the risks and do what I love most. And I don't owe anybody an explanation. My journey is my journey. — Janelle Monae

I love the mystery behind things. — Janelle Monae

First, before I'm an artist, before I'm a celebrity, I'm a human being. — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

I'll refer to my music in color, like 'This song needs to be bright red.' — Janelle Monae

I was made to believe there's something wrong with me, — Janelle Monae

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

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. — Janelle Monae

Lauryn Hill's always been a hero of mine. And Bruno Mars, Janelle Monae and Adele, those are the current artists I would reference in terms of who's been able to do really amazing pop records with really cool, organic throwback elements of soul in there as well. — Judith Hill

Bring wings to the weak and bring grace to the strong
May all evil stumble as it flies in the world
All the tribes comes and the mighty will crumble
We must brave this night and have faith in love — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

Even if it makes others comfortable, I will LOVE who I am — Janelle Monae

Silence is our enemy, and sound is our weapon. — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

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.' — Janelle Monae

I'm attracted to things that scare me, like 'Psycho,' my favorite Hitchcock movie. — Janelle Monae

I will not be a slave to my image, nor will I be a slave to anyone else's interpretations of me, — Janelle Monae

I'm a believer that the more I'm giving, the happier I am, and the more beautiful my exterior will be. — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

I believe that imagination inspires nations. It's something that I live by. — Janelle Monae

Don't get high off praises, and don't get too low on critiques. — Janelle Monae

I'm not a politician; I'm an artist. — Janelle Monae

I know what I like; if you go to my closet, I have at least four of everything. — Janelle Monae

I have a very eclectic iPod. So I've got my cardio people - so it's anything from Beyonce to some Jay-Z to Janelle Monae, her song 'Tightrope,' that's a good cardio song. And then I've got Sting. I've got Mary J. Blige. I've got The Beatles. I've got Michael Jackson. I try to pick the songs that I personally love. — Michelle Obama

You are only as beautiful as the many beautiful things you do for others without expectation. — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

I take goldenseal, Echinacea and cod liver oil when flying to boost my immune system. — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

Janelle Monae, she has her own style, and it's specifically hers. — Zendaya

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." — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

Everything is about balance. You can't work, work, work, work without any play. — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

I wanna scream and dream and throw a love parade / Is that okay? — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

Perfection is often the enemy of greatness — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

There are some groups that for years and years have not gotten the rights that the majority of human beings have, and 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. — Janelle Monae

You cannot police me, so get off my areola — Janelle Monae

I'm inspired by the words: 'electrifying', 'epic', 'minimalistic', 'transcendent', 'timeless' and 'rock n' roll.' — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae

I believe it's time that women truly owned their superpowers and used their beauty and strength to change the world around them. — Janelle Monae

When I was growing up, both my grandmothers would play the organ, and we would all sing. — Janelle Monae

It's a big universe. To stay in one tiny place is doing a disservice to yourself. — Janelle Monae

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. — Janelle Monae