One of my mantras is, 'Embrace what makes you unique, even if it makes others uncomfortable.' I keep that with me in my back pocket. Shoot, I keep it in my front pocket! I keep it in my hair.
Janelle Monae
I feel myself becoming the fearless person I have dreamt of being. Have I arrived? No. But I'm constantly evolving and challenging myself to be unafraid to make mistakes.
You are only as beautiful as the many beautiful things you do for others without expectation.
Some songs you get. Some songs you may not. And I think that's the beauty of art: to question and to ask, to understand the deeper meaning after two or three or four listenings.
I enjoy how women dressed in the 1920s with the shimmering jewels and rich feathers.
Donald Trump is trying to build a wall. I'm trying to burn walls down and build more bridges.
It's a big universe. To stay in one tiny place is doing a disservice to yourself.
I believe it's time that women truly owned their superpowers and used their beauty and strength to change the world around them.
I'm attracted to things that scare me, like 'Psycho,' my favorite Hitchcock movie.
My grandmother was the matriarch. If you didn't have a place to stay, if you needed food, if you were just coming out of jail or rehab, you went to her. Watching her in our family and our wider community was what inspired me and still does.
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.
I'm a believer that the more I'm giving, the happier I am, and the more beautiful my exterior will be.
One of my core values is to help redefine what it means to be a strong and beautiful woman in the music and fashion worlds and to empower the wonderful things that make us unique.
I believe that imagination inspires nations. It's something that I live by.
Lauryn Hill, P-Funk, Marvin Gaye, Public Enemy - I have a very diverse palate for music. I can go from Judy Garland to Jimi Hendrix to Stevie Wonder to Rachmaninoff. I just love great music.
I love men. But evil men? I will not tolerate that. You don't deserve to be in my presence. If you're going to rule this world, I am not going to contribute anymore until you change it.
Music is an art form that I love dearly, and it's allowed me to bring so many people together and meet so many people.
I love Fun. They're great guys. They're incredible artists and musicians.
Everything is about balance. You can't work, work, work, work without any play.
I spend a lot of time in the future, But to help the future, sometimes you got to go back to the past, and sometimes you got to stay in the present.
I just think my own ambition would not allow me to sit on the gifts that my creator had given me. And so that's when I realized that I could actually go away.
Black history is part of American history, and it should be treated as such.
I have not lost any of my crazy, fearless, raw, soulful, eclectic side and I plan on continuing to tell universal stories in an unforgettable way.
I'm inspired by the words: 'electrifying', 'epic', 'minimalistic', 'transcendent', 'timeless' and 'rock n' roll.'
If you walk into a room that's bro'd up, and you're in power, bring more women into the room.
Maybe I'm outdated in thinking this, but because I'm a young black woman and don't see very many being the lead in a film, I have this fear: 'Will I be working?'
Children go with whatever makes them feel good - like if that's the color green or orange, they do that with their clothes. As I've grown older, everything reversed. My music, my personality - onstage those things became my colors.
People in my family and camp who grew up listening to rap music love 'We Are Young.' I've heard it play at weddings. I've heard it in graduation parties. It's a big idea and big song.
I always carry my classic black-and-white tux and custom-made George Esquivel saddle shoes.
I know what I like; if you go to my closet, I have at least four of everything.
I don't do a lot of collaborations that I don't believe in. Actually, I don't do any collaborations that I don't believe in.
It's unfortunate that a lot of people think African-American female artists are monolithically R&B this-or-that, don't have to do anything by default.
I always think about the next generation and creating a different blueprint for them. That's my goal: to let them know there's another way.
I've never viewed myself as 'just' a musician or singer.
When I first started in this industry, my goal was to be some best friend. The sidekick. I thought that would be an accomplishment.
I take goldenseal, Echinacea and cod liver oil when flying to boost my immune system.
I was constantly involved in music and theatre all through middle school and high school.
We don't all have to take the same coordinates to get to the same destination. Being a young African American female artist, I want to open doors for young black girls.
I have mentors like Erykah Badu. She's been like a big sister to me.
I don't even know at what age I started, because it's always been there. Performing... creating... it's in my DNA.
Becoming a CoverGirl is truly an honor and a gift. It opens up a new platform for me to inspire women to feel stronger, braver and more beautiful inside and out.
I'm about women's empowerment. I'm about agency. I'm about being in control of your narrative and your body.
Honestly, I don't believe in menswear. I focus on what pieces are most timeless, transcendent, match my lifestyle, remain remarkable, and command intriguing attention across the room at an art gallery.
I wouldn't be as comfortable with who I am if it had not been for Prince. I mean, my label 'Wondaland' would not exist without 'Paisley Park' coming before us.
Once you find what you like, it's like it worked yesterday, it works today, it'll work tomorrow.
I'll refer to my music in color, like 'This song needs to be bright red.'
I love the mystery behind things.
When I got into the music industry, I wasn't focused on being the most famous artist or even getting a major record deal. It was just to make music on my own terms or create my own image, do my own hair, do my own makeup.
I've cried over string arrangements.
When I was growing up, both my grandmothers would play the organ, and we would all sing.
