4. Janelle MonaeThe ArchAndroid
My music taste was always quite varied; this meant that when going to school, it was kind of hard to explain all the music that I was into. At the time, I was also trying to discover who I was. If you’re going to a majority white school, you already feel that element of being a minority very viscerally, because unfortunately some of the people that did go to the school weren’t the nicest. I really wanted to make sure that I represented myself as a POC woman and realised very early on I was queer, so I had to hide this. I was trying to find ways to do that, and then found the artist that would allow me to be able to, which was Janelle Monae. I discovered her via Nick Grimshaw and Annie Mac on Radio 1. I’d listen to that really late at night before bed and before school. I remember hearing her music and going, wow – she’s amazing.
It was because of the way she dressed, the way she carried herself unapologetically being a Black woman. Not realising at the time, I was probably also gravitating towards her because she was queer, and I really appreciated her taking up space. I appreciated that she would wear a suit and make it look really cool, so I would also buy ties and bow ties. I could get away with being gay and then being like, but Janelle Monae does it! She’s not gay!
The foreshadowing was crazy, but I feel she helped me a lot with my own identity. And I think The Archandroid album is hands down one of the best albums ever made. The first three or four songs might as well be like a street fighter combo round, because it doesn’t break. It feels like one big orchestral piece, like you’re watching a play.
And again to stress, when you’re growing up in a largely white school – because unfortunately the schools in my area at the time in Walthamstow were so bad that I couldn’t go there – I needed someone like her. She felt almost like a superhero movie character that I could be vicariously and look vicariously through. I have a lot to thank her for.
