Janelle Monáe has a new album in the works and has promised her fans that follow-up to 2018’s ‘Dirty Computer’ is en route.
Joking that she has a clone that works away in the studio while she’s filming a movie, when asked in an interview with England’s NME if new music is on the way, the superstar singer/actress replied:
“Actually, you will! You will get new music because I now have a clone. That clone does all of my music, and I have another clone for acting. I’m not going to tell you if it’s me or not. They’re in the studio right now!” “I just feel so humbled and super, super blessed to be doing anything. Doing something like this, you don’t take it lightly.”
Now 37-years old, Janelle returned to the studio after suffering anxiety attacks while recording ‘Dirty Computer,’ admitting that working on the acclaimed LP was difficult due to the political climate in the United States governed by then-President Donald Trump.
Speaking NPR at the time, Monáe stated:
“It was one of the first times I felt very afraid. There was a lot going on in the country during that time and I didn’t know if this was going to embolden them, at the time, to do something to people like me who were speaking out against racism and sexism and xenophobia and Islamophobia, and everything that they represent. I just didn’t know.” “So I started to just have anxiety attacks about it, and I’m thankful I didn’t let that stop me, because I think what that album represented, especially one of my songs, ‘Americans’, … deals with that. It deals with how I’m not going to back down and we’re not going to back down and become silent and quiet and watch this president tear this country apart and tear down the people that helped build this country.” “My ancestors built this country. They helped build the White House. And so that just says: I’m American and you will never take that away from me. And we’re not running, we’re not hiding. We’re not allowing you to dominate us.”
Janelle also addressed her work with the late music icon Prince on the record before his death from an accidental drug overdose in 2016, saying:
“He was working with me on ‘Dirty Computer’ before he transitioned on. Prince was helping, sending me song inspirations and we were going back and forth.” “And so when he transitioned on, I felt that I had to continue to finish that album. And I was always asking myself, ‘What would Prince do?’ in these moments whenever I couldn’t figure out a lyric or music or instrumentation or melody.”
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Author: Al Denté
Photo: Tankboy from Chicago