Janelle Monae seems to revel in her ability to baffle and confuse both her fans and the media. Her carefully-constructed, icy veneer is in keeping with her alter-ego, Cindi Mayweather - an android from the far-off year of 2197, who is on the run from the authorities. This backstory feeds into her own career as Monae is desperate to keep herself apart from mainstream hip-hop and R'n'B. In fact, her whole music is out of sync with modern music. "When you're a time-traveller, it's hard to keep up with the time of how things are created," Monae says.
Her third album, The Electric Lady, has received almost universal praise across the board. Continuing on from her previous album and EPs, it's based on the Cindi Mayweather alter-ego and concept. Split into two, with a unique story and sound, the album has a real cinematic scope in terms of ambition and the music itself. There are overtures, theme songs and little references here and there. "I try to use the album to take a cinematic approach. We're all inspired by that. We already have a screenplay written for the album." Monae goes to cite Tim Burton and Steven Spielberg as influences.
Her output, to date, has been built around this concept but won't be for much longer. Her next album will mark the end of the Cindi Mayweather saga. "I have a lot of different ideas, and I guess the world will have to wait and see what's next," Monae explains.
The album features collaborators such as Solange, Erykah Badu and Miguel. The lead single, Givin' Em What They Love, features fellow hip-hop and concept album lover Prince. "He's a friend, he's a mentor and I was very honoured and humbled to have his presence on the album. That third verse on Givin' Em What They Love, I wrote that for him. There's lots of great stories that I'll talk about later in life, I guess. But for now, yeah, it was very cosmic and very incredible experience."
Janelle Monae is in Dublin for Arthur's Day, although no information is available at time of writing as to where she's playing.
