How Janelle Monáe Built a Creative Empire on Her Own Terms

Editor’s Note (2025):
This conversation with Janelle Monáe was recorded in early 2020, before the world changed in ways we could not have imagined. Since then, Monáe has continued to build an extraordinary career, further cementing herself as a defining voice in music, film, and culture. At a time when LGBTQ+ rights, racial justice, and artistic independence are under attack, her reflections on living authentically and forging an unconventional path feel more powerful than ever. She reminds us that courage is a choice we make daily, not just for ourselves, but for the world we want to create. We invite you to listen with fresh ears, as this conversation offers a message of hope and resistance in a time when we need it most.

Janelle Monáe is a singer, songwriter, actor, and producer.

Monáe talked about her insistence on developing an independent career as a musician.

I didn’t want to just sign directly to a music distribution company and get swallowed up. I was very afraid of that. And instead, I thought it was important to surround myself with artists that I respect, that I love, that challenged my ideas, that I could grow with, that they could grow with me. I want to create an arts collective and let’s change the world like that. You know, the mainstream hasn’t caught up to the things that we love. Let’s just do it. And until, I kid you not, when we started thinking in that way, that’s when Sean Puffy Combs would come down to Atlanta.

Jessica and Ellen talked to Monáe around the unveiling of A Beautiful Future, a series of short films by women directors she commissioned in partnership with Belvedere vodka.

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