Celebrity – Janelle Monáe
JANELLE MONÁE, 31, is more than just a hot musician, she’s also an amazing storyteller too, making waves on the red carpet.
You’d lose all your style cred if you didn’t instantly think Janelle Monáe whenever ‘best monochrome look on the red carpet’ is mentioned. Since her trendsetting debut, the singer, model and (most recently) actress is slaying the fashion scene and her style is evolving with every star-studded event. At the 2017 SAG Awards, the petite singer rocked runway-staple bold brows, orchid lips and a double bun accessorised with butterfly clips.
The starlet made her 2017 Oscars debut in a dramatic Elie Saab Haute Couture gown, made from many layers of tulle, beading, diamonds and crystals. Her look has been hailed as the most perfect outfit of the night. It befit the occasion especially well as Moonlight, one of the fims she stars in, stole the limelight for winning Best Picture (after La La Land was incorrectly awarded the gong).
Janelle doesn’t set limits with her style, and is evolving into an icon in her own right. Her signature monochromatic colour palette is an ode to her parents. “I call it my uniform,” she explained to biography.com. “My mother was a janitor and my father collected trash, so I wear a uniform too.” Her father struggled with drug addiction throughout Janelle’s childhood. Her parents ended up separating, which led to Janelle, her mom and siblings living with friends and relatives.
“I come from a very hard working-class family who made nothing into something,” Janelle says as she describes her background and early understanding of the perils of drug addiction, which inspired her drive to succeed. “I’ve never forgotten where I come from,” she says. “It’s crazy, but I really want to be the one to show everyone back home that it can be done. Not by selling drugs, but by being
passionate about the right thing – and the right things will come your way.” For her, the right thing came at age 20 in 2005 while performing Roberta Flacks’
Killing Me Softly With His Song at an open mic night, where Big Boi (one half of the famous hip-hop duo OutKast) was in the audience. He was suitably impressed and in no time featured her on his two tracks Time Will Reveal and
Lettin’ Go. A year later OutKast featured Janelle on two more songs, Call the
Law and In Your Dreams. After this, Janelle set out to create her own music and her 2007 EP, Metropolis: Suite I
(The Chase), attracted the attention of famous producer Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs, who signed her to his Bad Boy Records label and released and promoted the EP.
“I was looking for things that were different and innovative. Because if you’re a leader in this industry, you want to be helping to push it forward, and she’s an artist that’d help to push it forward,” Combs said about her in an interview with MTV.
Success followed her after signing with his label. “She was already moving, she already had her records – she had a self-contained movement,” says Combs. He and Big Boi wanted to take their time and build her profile organically – to allow the music to grow rather than put out “a hot single, which everyone jumps on, and then they fade...”
Today the Grammy-nominated musician plays a bigger role – and it’s not dishing out lyrics in studio or on stage, but in the box office. She stars alongside Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer in the movie Hidden Figures, a true-life story about three genius women who attempt to get ahead amidst racial and sexual prejudice at work.
In the movie, Janelle stars as Mary Jackson, the first African-American female aerospace engineer who was noted in the ‘70s for helping black children in her community create a miniature wind tunnel for testing aeroplanes. In an interview with thewrap.
com, the singer revealed that before filming the movie, she had no idea who Jackson was, nor did she know about the three female mathematicians who helped catapult US astronaut John Glenn into space in the ‘60s. “I had no clue who Mary Jackson was, but I made it a personal responsibility to portray her because I didn’t want any other girl, any other human being, any other American, to not know about this history,” she said. “I’m not better than anyone else, but I work just as hard. My experience at NASA has been very rewarding. I absolutely love my job.” Janelle further said that before taking up acting she knew there were other hidden talents, besides her music, which she was set to discover.
“I’ve never viewed myself as just a musician or singer. I’m a storyteller who wants to tell untold, meaningful, universal stories in unforgettable ways. I want to do it all, study it all and find my place in it,” she told The Guardian. Since its release early this year, Hidden
Figures has performed staggeringly well at the US box office. The movie is tipped to take over from La La Land’s overall takings. This is Janelle’s second movie. In 2016, she stared in Moonlight, a timeless story that chronicles the life of a young black man from childhood to adulthood as he struggles to find his place in the world. Janelle related with the movie as, “I felt I knew all of these characters. I had a strong visceral reaction to
Moonlight as I grew up with a drug dealer in my neighbourhood who was a mentor to local young people,” she continued. “I had a family member who was addicted to crack. Another character reminded me of my little cousin – they were all roles I could relate to from my upbringing.”
Born Janelle Monáe Robinson in Kansas City, the singer-cum-actress is rated to be amongst the top ten highest paid singers and songwriters in the world. But that’s not where her acumen stops. She’s estimated to have a total net worth of nearly R52 million, which is an accumulation of smart stock investments, substantial property, and holdings with CoverGirl cosmetics. According to articlebio.com Janelle also owns several restaurants in Washington, as well as a football team. She has her own brand of vodka, Pure Wondermonáe, is tackling the juniors market with a perfume, With Love from Janelle, and a fashion line called Janelle Monáe Seduction.
Janelle’s not the type to openly discuss her private life, which has left speculation around her sexuality. Nonetheless, she keeps mum on who she’s dating. Yet, it is her talent and personal style that the world watches as this star shines.