The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - Janelle Monae Embraces Uniqueness with "Dirty Computer"

Episode Date: March 8, 2019

Recording artist Janelle Monae discusses the process of creating her Grammy-nominated album "Dirty Computer" and how the movie "Hidden Figures" helped inspire it. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Hey, everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient-to-bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but

how many of them come out on Thursday. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart wherever you get your podcast. Please welcome, Janelle Monet. I'm finally here. 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 nomination. Thank you very much. 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 don't create to win, to sell, to do a thing. I mean, these are byproducts of it, but you've always struck me as an artist, artist. But being nominated, that hit you, right? Oh, yeah. I've been wanting, you know, to do this album for a while now. It was actually supposed to be the album I did before my first album, the Ark Android.

Right. And so I went through a lot to get this album done. A lot of conversations I've had to have with myself, or my family. You know, as I became a young woman, my perspective started to change and the way I wanted to create art 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 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 at my truth. Right. Other folks, you know, saw themselves in this project, so it just feels like,

you know, it's a great acknowledgment to me and the community of people I wanted to celebrate. 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. Some people said that this was a proud celebration of womanhood for all women. Some said no, this is a proud celebration of being gay, of being queer. This is, this is, and at the same time it feels like it's all of those things. th. th. th........... We. We. We. We. We. It's, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, th. It's, the, th. It's, th. It's, th. It's, th. It's, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. th. the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, to, the, to, to, to, to, the, the, to, the, their, the, this is, and at the same time, it feels like it's all of those things.

When you were constructing the album, when you're writing these songs, are you thinking of the message in the song, or do you write the song, and then you realize that it has a message? How way to the dentist. I had a song on the album that I wrote called So Afraid. Right. Oh, that makes sense. Yeah, I was having to. Exactly. Because I am indeed afraid of the dentist.

Right. But yeah, I was in my car and only at stop lights. I would stop and be like, ah-ah-ah. And just singing the background background, then once I was in the chair, I was still mouth open. Ah, came back and told, you know, my lead producer Nate Rocked Wonder how I wanted the song to go.

And he helped me realize that there were moments where I would wake up out of my sleep and have a voice melody in my head and have to put it on my voice memo. And then there were just moments where I would collaborate with incredible people, like Zoe Kravitz, Stevie Wonder, these are people on the album, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. Right. Forrell Williams, Grimes, you know, so many amazing folks who came together and said,

we believe in what it means to be a dirty computer, what it means to have us, you walking in your truth so that other marginalized groups can have a soundtrack to their life. Wow. When you, um, when you, um, when you released Dirty Computer, I remember watching the full film as I mean, it's a film. I did, I told you about this. It's beautiful. 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 such a beautiful story. Tessa Thompson stars in and she's amazing as well. Shout out to Tessa. Incredible. It really is amazing. And in that clip that we saw of Pink, 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 that, and everyone's given them a different name.

People would be like, are those the vagina pants? Are those the vulva pans? Are those the, but what was that about? Why was that so significant? Because I know it went beyond just like, it wasn't like shock value, it's a beautiful, artistic form, but what was the message behind all of that for you? and why th all so different? Well, the messages on the album start with me first. And as a woman, as a black woman, who is, you know, I own my sexuality.

And 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. And so, I wanted to celebrate women who share those same beliefs as well as other women who may not. Just all of us coming together, embracing those things that make us unique, even if it makes others uncomfortable, I wanted it to just be a love fest of women saying, hey girl, I see you.

You know? I support you. It feels like. It's that. It's that. I that. I that. I that. I that. I that. I that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that th th th th th tho tho tho tho tho tho that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that th. I th. I th th th th th. I th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi thi thi tho tho tho thooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo to tho tho to to to to just be a love fest of women saying, hey girl, I see you. You know? I support you. It feels like it's done that. I mean, I know now it's going to be the Grammys push. Now it's going to be that, you know, that monumental, you know, weights. 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. Thank you. I know where you're trying to go, but what are you trying to do with your work moving forward, both in acting and in music? I love storytelling. I love telling these universal stories in unforgettable ways. And with moonlight and with hidden figures, it was just such an honor to be in those films, because they could have been erased. They could have been erased. You know, I didn't know about the three black women,

or all the women who helped get John Glenn into orbit. I didn't realize we were at NASA literally calculating and making sure that our astronauts went to space and came back safely. We were the human computers and it's crazy. I was working on dirty computer when I was shooting 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. th th th th th th th th th th th to to the th to the the to the to the the to to the the the the to the the the to the the to th, to to to to to to to to to to thirty, to to to to to to to to to to to to th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I, th. I, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thi. I thr. I thr. thr. thr. thr. thr. toee toe. toe. to to thr. toe thr. thr. thr. thr. thr. thr.. 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, my story could be a race. There's nobody who could have done that album except for me.

And so I had to make myself available and like really, you know, take the th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th to to to taken us to to have to to to have to to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the the the. the. ta. ta. taugh. toe. toda. toea. tooea. toooomoomorrow. toea. toea. toea toe an 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 thank you for being on the show. Thank you for having them too for them. Welcome to Mowen. The new movie Shazan will be in theater December 21st. She'll be touring Europe this summer and dirty computer is available now. Janelle Mon, everybody. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central app.

Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart wherever you get your podcast.

This has been a Comedy Central podcast. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient-to-bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast.