Janelle Moane

Janelle Monáe Robinson (born December 1, 1985), known as Janelle Monáe (pron.: /moʊˈneɪ/), is an American R&B and soul musician, composer and record producer signed to Bad Boy Records and Atlantic Records. After making a mark with her first unofficial album, The Audition, Monáe debuted with peaking at No. 115 on the Billboard charts in the United States.

In 2010, Janelle Monáe released her debut studio album, The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III), a concept album sequel to her first EP; it was released by Bad Boy Records. This album received acclaim from critics and garnered a nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 53rd Grammy Awards. The song "Tightrope" was also nominated for Best Urban/Alternative Performance at the same ceremony. This album was also more successful commercially officially reaching the No. 17 spot on the Billboard Charts.

Her success has also garnered her several Grammy nominations . In March 2012, "We Are Young", the song by the band fun. on which Monáe makes a guest appearance, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, her first appearance in the US Top 10. In August 2012, Monáe was chosen as the newest addition to the CoverGirl spokeswomen lineup



Early life, The Audition, and career beginnings

"There was a lot of confusion and nonsense where I grew up, so I reacted by creating my own little world ... I began to see how music could change lives, and I began to dream about a world where every day was like anime and Broadway, where music fell from the sky and anything could happen."
—Monae, on her childhood musical inspiration

Monáe was born in Kansas City, Kansas, where she spent her early life; Monáe has stated that the fictional character of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz has been one of her musical influences. She has told reporters that she has dreamed of being a singer and a performer since she was very young.

Monáe moved to New York City to study drama at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. She attended a Performing Arts School called Freedom Theatre, which is the oldest African-American theatre in Philadelphia. After moving to Atlanta, Georgia, where she met OutKast's Big Boi, Monáe founded the Wondaland Arts Society with like-minded young artists and released her first unofficial studio album The Audition.

Monáe later made appearances on Idlewild, where she is featured on the songs "Call the Law" and "In Your Dreams". Big Boi told his friend Sean Combs about Monáe, whom he had not heard of before. Combs promptly visited her MySpace page, and according to Bad Boy Records' A&R Daniel 'Skid' Mitchell in an interview with HitQuarters, the label boss loved it straight away, "[He] loved her look, loved that you couldn’t see her body, loved the way she was dancing, and just loved the vibe. He felt like she has something that was different - something new and fresh." Monáe signed to Bad Boy in 2006. The label's chief role was in facilitating her exposure on a much broader scale rather than developing the artist and her music, because in the words of Mitchell, "She was already moving, she already had her records - she had a self-contained movement." Combs and Big Boi wanted to take their time and build her profile organically and allow the music to grow rather than put out "A hot single which everyone jumps on, and then they fade because it's just something of the moment."