Janelle Monáe (born Janelle Monáe Robinson on December 1, 1985 in Kansas City, Kansas) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, producer, actor and performer. She has received ten Grammy Award nominations, and is the recipient of a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Children's and Family Emmy Award. Monáe has also been honored with the ASCAP Vanguard Award; as well as the Rising Star Award (2015) and the Trailblazer of the Year Award (2018) from Billboard Women in Music. She moved to New York to study theatre at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Her original plan was to pursue a career on Broadway, but she soon changed her mind and returned to music. After moving to Atlanta, Georgia in 2003, Monáe founded the Wondaland Arts Society with like-minded young artists, and made a couple of appearances on OutKast's 2006 album Idlewild, where she is featured on the songs "Call the Law" and "In Your Dreams". By 2007, Monáe was ready to release her first solo work, titled Metropolis. It was originally conceived as a concept album in four parts, or suites, which were to be released through her website and mp3 download sites. After the release of the first part of the series, Metropolis Suite I of IV: The Chase in mid-2007, these plans were altered following her signing with Sean "Diddy" Combs' label, Bad Boy Records, later in the year. The label gave an official and physical release to the first suite in August 2008, which was retitled Metropolis: The Chase Suite (Special Edition) and included two new tracks. The EP was generally well-received by critics, gaining Monáe a 2009 Grammy nomination in the Best Urban/Alternative Performance for her single "Many Moons", festival appearances, and opening slots for the indie pop band Of Montreal. Monáe also toured as the opening act for band No Doubt on their summer 2009 tour. In a November 2009 interview, Monáe revealed the title and concept behind her album The ArchAndroid. The second and third suites of Metropolis are combined into this full-length release, in which Monáe's alter-ego, Cindi Mayweather - also the protagonist of Metropolis: The Chase Suite - becomes a messiah-like figure to the android community of Metropolis. Monáe signed a joint venture with Atlantic Records to release her debut studio album, The ArchAndroid (2010), which peaked at number 17 on the chart. The following year, she guest performed on fun.'s 2011 single "We Are Young," which received diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100. Monáe's second studio album, The Electric Lady (2013), debuted at number five on the Billboard 200. Monáe's first single from The Electric Lady, "Q.U.E.E.N.", featuring Erykah Badu, was inspired by conversations Monáe shared with Erykah Badu about the treatment of marginalized people; especially African-American women. The title is an acronym "for those who are marginalized": Q standing for the queer community, U standing for the "untouchables", the first E standing for "emigrants", the latter standing for "excommunicated" and N standing for "negroid". Monáe's third studio album, Dirty Computer (2018)—also a concept album—was released to widespread critical acclaim; it was named best album of the year by several publications. The album peaked within the top ten of the Billboard 200, and was accompanied by both Monae's Dirty Computer Tour and the science fiction film of the same name. Her fourth studio album, The Age of Pleasure (2023) was nominated for Album of the Year at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, becoming her second nomination in the category as a lead artist. She launched her record label, Wondaland Arts Society in a joint venture with Epic Records in 2015, and has signed artists including Jidenna, Roman GianArthur and St. Beauty.