Janelle Monáe Talks Being a Queer Icon and Backlash on Her New Sexy Style: 'You Cannot Project Onto Artists'
etonline.comJanelle Monáe, the non-binary, pansexual, futuristic superstar, is opening up about the softer, more sensual and indulgent shift she's taken in life that fans are getting a taste of with her new album, .In an intimate interview for 's Pride issue, the musician and star delves into her new era of liberation, and how the COVID-19 pandemic kicked off her new way to celebrate her autonomy and massive success.The 37-year-old explains to the outlet that she has «reoriented her world around pleasure» from a desire to quiet her mind and remain present. «I want things to feel so true to my life,» she explains. «I used to consider myself a futurist.
I know what that means, to obsess about the next thing. A present tourist is what I'm calling myself right now. I'm actively focusing on being present.»Monáe, who publicly shared her pansexuality for the first time in 2018 and came out as nonbinary in 2022, shared how she began making , after filming in Greece and Serbia through the summer of 2021.
She would test her music at Everyday People parties thrown at Wondaland West, which inspired her when they began in 2020. While her earlier music built a fictional Afrofuturist dreamscape, leans into the worlds that Black people reside in presently.«I think being an artist gets lonely.
Most people don't understand what's going on in my brain,» Monáe says. «Community has been so helpful to me; it's beautiful that I have a title called because it actually re-centers me.
