Janelle Monáe talks “Float,” freedom and more with ‘Ebony’

Janelle Monáe‘s song “Float” was inspired by their experience at Everyday People, a live music event experience and culture platform. In their cover story for Ebony, the singer explains that they wanted to “create a soundtrack to those sorts of experiences” where people are in their “most joyful, loving spaces.”

“We fight to have those moments where we can exist, we can feel free to discover something new about who we are, feel safe amongst each other,” they said. “And being able to curate that experience is the highest honor as an artist.”

“Float,” as Janelle explains, was an “attempt at capturing the beauty around me.” The singer says the song probably wouldn’t have been recorded if they hadn’t come out as nonbinary and pansexual.

“I wouldn’t have been able to make a song like ‘Float’ without reimagining who I can be, getting rid of certain systems that don’t serve me well. Living my life in a binary [sic] isn’t sustainable to my creativity,” they explain. Coming out, Janelle continued, “opened up freer space that allowed me to discover something new about who I can be and how I can say it and how I can do it.”

It also allowed them to realize that they can always pick joy despite the trials and tribulations they may be experiencing in life, and has made them “more radical at appreciating life.”

Other topics discussed in Janelle’s interview include their hunger for music after taking on an acting role, how community has been their lifeline through their journey to freedom and how their current fashion choices honor “the Janelle Monáe that is right here, right now. That looks a little bit more soft.”

The full story can be found on ebony.com.

 

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.