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The monochrome mistress, Janelle Mone is back and ready to
electrify your speakers once again. Gloria Ogunbambo sat down with
the most original woman in music to talk self-acceptance, why shes
sticking to black and white, and whys shes staying natural until
shes six feet under.
STEP BACK!SHES ABOUTTO BLOW!
Im at a plush hotel in Marylebone, on a crisp Sunday afternoon,
talking to Janelle Mone about paintings. Not just any paintings
mind you. Were talking specifi cally about her own creations: the
works of art that have inspired her latest masterpiece her
sophomore album, The Electric Lady. I kept painting this one
drawing of a womans silhouette, she starts in soft, velveteen
tones. For the past two years, Ive been doing that and thinking:
Whats going on with me? Why am I drawing this same woman? Only it
wasnt the same woman. She came in different shapes,
different sizes and different colours.
Statements of that nature are just par for the course when you
attempt to view the world through the kaleidoscopic lens of Ms.
Mone: the 27-year-old, fi ve-foot-nothing, extremely hard to
pigeonhole, singer, songwriter, artiste and all around force of
nature. As expected, the musical maverick is clad in her trademark
black and white: patent black loafers, slim black tuxedo pants,
pristine white shirt, and a bowler hat perched just so, allowing
her perfectly pouffed pompadour [it only takes me 7.5
minutes] to have a moment. For those still wondering, her
self-imposed monochromatic uniform is less a sign of a woefully
inactive imagination and more a matter of principle. I took what I
like to call the How dare she approach. You know, How dare she wear
that black and white tuxedo every day? Its about me exercising my
right as an artist and also about wanting to be tied with the
working class. My mother was a janitor; my father was a trash man,
and my stepfather, who treated me like his own daughter, worked at
the post offi ce. They all wore uniforms.
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CoverSTEP BACK!SHES ABOUTBLOW!
It should be said, that thats as close to conformity as this
Kansas native (she now resides in Atlanta) will ever get. You see,
Janelle Mones not one to play by the rules. To hell with society
and its patriarchal views on how a woman should be! Janelle Mones
the type of sista who marches firmly to the beat of her own drum so
dont be surprised when she goes wild on stage and decides she wants
to play it too. If its the status quo that youre offering her,
shell gladly pass. For me its all about being free, and knowing
that youre in possession of your freedom. Ive always had this
rebellious spirit that rises up and surfaces whenever I feel like
anybody is trying to treat me like a robot. But Im certain thats
something shell never be.
It speaks volumes about an artist, and their true status as an
individual, when its a struggle to compare them to anybody else,
especially anybody else of their own gender. Mones music spans
traditional RnB, soul, funk, opera and rock and her show stopping,
frenetic live performances are the very definition of theatrical.
[The day after this interview, at her album playback, Mone would
order unsuspecting journalists and music industry types to remove
their shoes and literally dance like they were on fire on a
I WILL COnTInUE TO
BE nATUrAL UnTIL THE
dAy I dIE. ITS jUST WHO I Am.
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Covergrass carpet.] Raised on a musical diet of everything from
Judy Garland to Stevie Wonder, James Brown, David Bowie, Prince,
Earth Wind & Fire its no shock that shes drawn comparisons to
many of those iconoclastic figures. And my gosh, is she a breath of
fresh air.
In a sea of oversexualised, questionably talented, female stars
whove pretty much shown us everything save their internal organs,
Janelle Monae stands out like an African in Antarctica, single-
handedly challenging the norm and redefining what it means to be
sexy. Sexy isnt defined by the word; its defined by the person. Ive
always said its up to people to embrace the things that make them
unique even if it makes others uncomfortable. If you wear this
youre sexy; if you wear that youre masculine, lets push those lines
away. I actually feel sexy in a tuxedo! I feel sexy in my white
shirt with just two buttons down. I do have dresses, I have skirts,
I have heels, I do all that as well but its so important not to
play into gender roles or play into sexism. Is anybody telling
Kanye or Andre [3000] theyre less sexy because of what they
wear?
If theres one thing Ive learned about Janelle, its that
explosive elements often come in small packages. She may be petite
and possess disarmingly beautiful, angelic features but those eyes
tell a slightly different story. Sure, they light up and glint in a
way that makes you feel like youre privy to some awesome secret,
but within them also lies a steeliness that tells me shes not the
type who suffers fools gladly. And its that ferocity, that
willingness to take a stand over the issues she feels most
passionately about that have made her, for better or for worse, a
role model. I dont let that term get in the way of me being a human
being. We all make mistakes; we all fall short of someone elses
expectations but Im somebody who really focuses on putting myself
in situations where I can really grow and blossom and become a
better person
than I was last week, last month, or last year. I want to
redefine what it means to be a young, black woman. I want to
inspire, to be someone with a different perspective that others can
aspire to.
So armed with grace, poise and an air of self-assurance is
Janelle Mone, that its unfathomable to think that shes ever
suffered a crisis of confidence. Heres a woman with absolutely zero
interest in being a part of the herd in fact shell gladly separate
herself from the pack describing herself as an android several
times during our conversation, and far from proffering mock
self-deprecation in a thinly veiled attempt at appearing down to
earth, shell tell you when shes due credit and when shes not. Am I
a trendsetter? Absolutely. I will humbly say that. I didnt invent
the tuxedo but, when I came out, I didnt see any females wearing
them. I never saw a young African-
American, android female, in a tuxedo. Now, everybodys in black
and white, so I definitely feel like I have been a direct influence
on the fashion world. Yet beneath the super confident exterior,
shes still human and just like the rest of us, shes had her fair
share of shaky moments. Ive definitely felt the pressure to look a
certain way. Growing up I read magazines, I watched TV, and I saw
the ads just like you and it always seemed to me that there was
this stereotype; this monolithic approach to how women should look.
You really do have to ask yourself, mentally say: How long is this
going to keep going on? When am I going to give in to what I was
given? When am I going to just love my face, who I am, and figure
out how to rock that and be the best that I can be? Embracing that
and
finding that balance is something that Ive learned over time.
Thats why it means a lot to me that Im natural. Its cool to me it
gives me more options and more room to be creative. I will continue
to be natural, probably until the day I die. Its just who I am. I
love that its become this whole movement now. [When I was coming
up] I didnt see many mainstream artists with that trend. It was
just Erykah [Badu], Jill Scott and Lauryn [Hill] but no one of my
generation. Its so important for me to feel like Im representing
what we naturally are.
Those themes of self-love, self-acceptance and
self-actualisation are definitely at the heart of her forthcoming
release, The Electric Lady. So far, Janelles managed to keep the
vast majority of the album under wraps but after being granted a
little sneak peek, I have to say that Primetime, a
stunning duet with Miguel, and the titular track Electric Lady,
a throwback 90s jam featuring
Solange, will take some beating. In addition to that, the album
will
feature an appearance from one of Mones self-professed
musical
heroes a little known artist who goes by the name of Prince
Rogers
Nelson.
A long time ago I asked myself what position I was going to
play, begins Mone when I ask how she hopes people will feel when
they hear her new body of work. Was I going to play it safe? Or was
I going to be true to who I am? I want people to use this album in
their daily lives. I want them to feel like its their Bible. I want
it to inspire, enrich, uplift, spark dialogue, make you want to
rebel, make you fall in love. Most of all I want people to feel
empowered and to take the realisation of those super powers and go
out and be the Electric Ladies they can be. And with that were
done. As I exit the suite, I say my goodbyes to her manager, who
congratulates me on my interview. Janelle always texts me if shes
had a bad interview, so well done! he exclaims. Like I told you,
Janelle Mone doesnt play. P
Am I A TrEndSETTEr?
ABSOLUTELy. I WILL
HUmBLy SAy THAT.
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