Growing
up in a working-class Kansas family, Janelle Monáe explored her own
racial and sexual identity to find success as a singer-songwriter. A
film career followed, with acting roles in the commercial and critical
successes Hidden Figures and Moonlight. Now, at age 34, she’s mentoring and managing other artists as the founder and CEO of her own label, Wondaland Records.
Erin Patrice O’Brien/Redux
HBR: As a child, what was your image of work?
Monáe:
My father was a trashman. My mother was a custodian. My stepfather
worked at the post office. My grandmother served food at the county
jail. I saw them getting up every single morning, putting on their
uniforms, living check to check, working hard. My idea of working was to
work hard and contribute to your community. It’s my truth.
What was your first job?
I
was a waitress at Ponderosa Steakhouse. I also worked at Foot Locker
and as a maid at a service where I would drive around with other women
and clean middle-class homes to pay for school.
Which boss was your best?
Probably
the one that fired me. I worked at Office Depot during the day and I
was in the studio really late at night sometimes. Work was getting in
the way of my focusing on what I needed to do as an artist. When they
fired me, I had no excuse. I had to go all in on my career.
How did you find your artistic voice?
I
found it when I felt like my voice was being silenced. Early in my
career I would show up at a photo shoot, and stylists would say, “Hey,
you’re in this tuxedo, and you’re wearing your hair natural. It’s a bit
avant-garde. How can we sell that? Perhaps you should look like this.”
Or record label execs would say, “You’re this Black girl talking about
science fiction and technology. It’s not marketable. How about you just
get a more simple song and not have your work be so dense?” Those
conversations made me think, Okay, if I don’t find my voice, if I don’t speak up for myself, somebody else is going to do it.
People describe you as authentic and uncompromising.
I
don’t shy away from my lived cultural experiences. I’m a Black queer
woman from the middle of America. I bring that with me everywhere I go. I
wear it proudly. I might show up in a meeting with an astronaut suit
on—I have several times, actually. We embrace the things that make us
unique.
What attracts you to projects?
It has to do with following your inner compass and your gut. I don’t think I knew that Moonlight
would win Best Picture. I was just doing a film with a story that I
felt needed to be told. It connected to my story and highlighted other
marginalized voices that don’t get the mic a lot. It just aligned with
who I am. I love making radical art that pushes a culture forward, that
says something different and cuts through. I ask myself, “Who do I want
to celebrate?” “Who am I okay with pissing off?” and “Who do I want to
be included in this process—what kind of community?” I also want to like
the people I’m collaborating with. Sometimes you learn from folks who
might not have the same communication style and belief systems as you.
But I’ve walked away from experiences that I thought would be stressful.
I ask myself, “Do I need this in my life?”
How do you credit contributors when you’re the star?
I
have no ego when it comes to giving credit, especially when people have
taken their time and put love and care into the project.
What’s your management style?
When
I’m collaborating, I want to hear from everyone. I’m looking for them
to persuade me that this is the best idea for the team. What do you
think? What do you think? What do you
think? I’m taking in people’s thoughts and asking them to be very
transparent about what’s moving them or not. I listen. I compromise
more. I look for the greater good. Sometimes these conversations are long.
When
I’m working on my own projects, such as an album, I have to take a more
insular approach. It’s about where my heart is in that moment. I still
like to know what others think; I just make the final decision.
How do you decide when to use your voice for activism?
I’m
not a politician. I’m an artist. I’m an American, and I care about this
country. So I think I can critique certain things that I feel might be
cancerous to the United States. Especially when the rights of those I
love that come from my community are being trampled on, I feel a
responsibility to use my platform to say something. These days I’m more
about partnering with people who are doing the work on the ground,
trying to get folks registered to vote, helping lower-income folks, and
lobbying for women’s reproductive rights, protection for LGBTQIA+
communities, and racial justice. These are the issues I care about.
What’s inspiring you right now?
I
love the camaraderie and the collaboration that’s happening with women
in the music world. You obviously have the #MeToo movement. You just see
us realizing that we are indeed stronger and more powerful and more
badass together. Obviously not every woman is for that cause. But I do
see a concerted effort by women in leadership positions to squad up, so
I’m really inspired by building that around the world.
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