You are finally here.
I have been a fan of yours,
chasing you around from event to event.
I have loved everything that you have done for so long.
First of all, congratulations on your Grammy, uh, nominations.
-(cheering and applause) -Thank you. Thank you, guys.
Thank you so much.
You've always struck me as somebody who creates
because you love creating, you know?
You-you don't create to win,
to-to sell, to do a thing.
I mean, these are byproducts of it.
But you've always struck me as an artist's artist.
But being nominated,
that-that hit you, right?
Oh, yeah. (chuckles)
I've been wanting, you know,
to-to do this album for a while now.
It was actually supposed to be the album I did befirst my--
-before my first album, The ArchAndroid. -Right.
And so, um, I went through a lot to get this album done.
A lot of conversations I've had to have with myself,
with my family.
Um, you know, as I-I became a young woman,
uh, my perspective started to change
and the way I wanted to create art,
uh, started to evolve.
And, you know, it just took a lot.
And I worked with a lot of amazing people to get it done.
And-and, uh, I was very shocked and humbled
that, you know, I could do an album that was so much about me
and about my truth.
And because I was walking in my truth,
other folks, you know, um, saw themselves in this project.
So it just feels like, you know, it's a--
it's a great acknowledgement to me
and-and the community of people I wanted to celebrate.
-(applause) -That's something that's really beautiful about--
Yeah. Something...
that I found really powerful about Dirty Computer
is that you created this passion project
that said everything you wanted to say,
but, at the same time, it felt like it was speaking
to all of us in our individual ways.
You know, some people said
that this was a-a proud celebration of womanhood
for all women. Some said, "No, this is--
"this is a-a proud celebration of-of being gay,
of being queer. This is-- this is--"
And, at the same time, it feels like it's all of those things.
When you were constructing the album,
when you were writing these songs,
are you thinking of the message in the song? Or-or do you write
the song and then you realize that it has a message?
How was that working when you created all of this?
Well, it went through many stages.
There were moments where I would write songs
on the way to the dentist. (chuckles)
I have this song on the album that I wrote called "So Afraid,"
-and I was-- my-my-- -Right. Oh, that makes sense, yeah.
Yeah, I was having-- E-Exactly.
Because I am indeed afraid of the dentist.
-Right. -Um, but, yeah, I was-- I was in my car.
And-- only at stoplights-- I would stop and be like...
♪ Ah. ♪
And just singing the background vocals.
And then, once I was in the chair,
I was still-- mouth open... ♪ Ah. ♪
Came back and told, you know,
my-my, uh, lead producer, Nate "Rocket" Wonder,
um, how I wanted the song to go.
And he helped me realize that there were moments
where I would wake up, uh, out of my sleep
and have a voice melody in my head
and have to put it on my-my, um, uh, Voice Memo.
-Right. -Uh, and then there were just moments
where I would collaborate, uh, with incredible people
like Zoë Kravitz, um, Stevie Wonder.
-(whooping) -These are people on the album.
Um, uh, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.
-Right. -Um... (chuckles): Pharre--
Pharrell Williams, Grimes,
um, you know, so many amazing folks
who came together and said, uh,
"We believe in-in what it means to be a dirty computer,
"what it means to, um, have us--
"you walking in your truth so that other marginalized groups,
uh, can-can have a soundtrack to their life."
-Wow. When you, um... -(cheering and applause)
When you released Dirty Computer,
I remember watching the full film as a...
-Oh, you watched it? -I mean, it's-it's a film. I did.
-I told you about this. It's-it's beautiful. -Thank you.
It's a story that you watch from beginning to end.
And-and it's a journey of lovers and it's a journey of the world.
It's-it's such a beautiful story.
-Tessa Thompson stars in it. -Thank you.
-She's amazing as well. -Yes. Shout-out to Tessa.
-And it really is amazing. -An incredible artist. -(cheering)
And-and in that-- in that clip that we saw of "Pynk,"
that was something that got people buzzing.
I mean, some people in the audience
haven't seen that video,
and I saw some of you were watching that,
and you were like, "Are those...? Is...?"
-(laughter) -"Is... is that...?
Are those...? Uh, is that...?"
And everyone's given them a different name.
People would be like, "Are those the vagina pants?"
-Right. -Or, "Are those the vulva pants?"
-Right. -"Are those the...?"
-Yeah. -But-but... but what was...?
What was that about? Why was that so significant?
'Cause I know it went beyond just like...
It wasn't, like, shock value. It's a beautiful, artistic form.
-Sure. -But what was the message behind all of that for you?
And why were they all so different?
Well, the messages on the album start with me first.
-Right. -You know, um, and as a woman,
as black woman who is, you know...
I own my sexuality,
and, um, I have agency.
If I want to show my skin, I can.
If I don't want to, I don't have to,
-but it's up to me to make those decisions. -Right.
-(applause and cheering) -And so, um,
I wanted to celebrate women
who-who... who share those same beliefs,
as well as other women who... who may not.
Just all of us coming together,
embracing those things that make us unique,
even if it makes others uncomfortable.
I wanted... I wanted it to just be a love fest of women saying,
-"Hey, girl, I see you." You know? -WOMAN: Yes!
-(applause and cheering) -"I support you." Yeah.
It feels like it's done that.
Um, I mean, I know now it's going to be the Grammys push.
Now it's gonna be that, you know,
that-that monumental, you know, weight.
-Mm-hmm. -I mean, everyone has it before the Grammys come up.
But this has been a chapter in your life.
We know that you're acting, as well, now.
You are phenomenal.
I mean, you've been in-- I don't know--
is it now two Academy Award-nominated films?
You've been amazing in all of them.
(applause and cheering)
Thank you.
I know where you're trying to go,
but what are you trying to do with your work moving forward?
-Mm. -But in acting and in music?
I love story-telling.
I love telling these universal stories
in unforgettable ways.
And, um, you know, with Moonlight
and with Hidden Figures, it was just...
it was such honor to be in those films,
because they're-they're...
They could have been stories
-that could have been erased. -Uh-huh.
You know, I didn't know about the three black women,
or all the women who helped, uh, get John Glenn into orbit.
-Right. -I didn't realize we were at NASA
literally calculating and making sure that our astronauts
-went to space and came back safely. -Right.
First computers, yeah.
We were the human computers, and it's crazy.
I was working on Dirty Computer
-when I was shooting, um, Hidden Figures. -Right.
And when they referred to me as a computer on set,
it was always a reminder of, oh, my gosh,
I have to continue to write this album.
Because in the same way
that we're telling these stories of these women,
um, my story could be erased.
There's nobody who could have done that album except for me.
And so, I had to make myself available,
and, like, really, um, you know,
take the time to just dig deep.
You've dug deep, you've taken us with you.
It's amazing. You have the nominations to show for it.
-Thank you for being on the show. -Thank you for having me.
-Truly phenomenal. Thank you so much. -Thank you so much.
Welcome to Marwen, the new movie she's in,
will be in theatres December 21.
She'll be touring Europe this summer.
And Dirty Computer is available now.
Janelle Monáe, everybody.