Janelle Monáe

Janelle Monáe
Background information
Birth name	Janelle Monáe Robinson
Birth date	1 December 1985
Birth place	Kansas City, Kansas, USA
Genre	Psychedelic soul, R&B
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, composer, record producer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2003-present
Associated acts	Erykah Badu Solange Sean Combs of Montreal Big Boi Prince
Singer-songwriter

Janelle Monáe Robinson (born 1 December 1985), is an American psychedelic soul and R&B singer-songwriter, composer, and record producer signed to Bad Boy Records, Wondaland Art Society and Atlantic Records.

Janelle Monáe features on Duran Duran's "Pressure Off" single, released in 2015.

Background

After dropping out of school, Monáe moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she lived in a boarding house with five other women and took a job working at an Office Depot. She self-produced a demo CD entitled Janelle Monáe: The Audition and relentlessly toured local colleges to perform and promote her music. It was on one such tour that Monáe met two like-minded young songwriters, Chuck Lightning and Nate Wonder. The three of them soon founded the Wondaland Arts Society, a record label and artists' collective to promote innovative music and art.

Monáe's big break came in 2005, at the age of 20, when she performed Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly With His Song" at an open mic night. Big Boi, one half of the famous hip-hop duo OutKast, was in the audience and was thoroughly impressed with Monáe's performance. He featured Monáe on two tracks, "Time Will Reveal" and "Lettin' Go," from the hip-hop group Purple Ribbon All-Stars' album Got Purp? Vol. II, released later that year

In 2010, Monáe released her debut studio album, The ArchAndroid, a concept album sequel to her first EP; it was released by Bad Boy Records. This album received critical acclaim and garnered a Best Contemporary R&B Album nomination at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.

Her music has garnered Monáe six Grammy Award nominations.