Janelle Monáe on the advice they learned from Prince
Janelle Monáe has discussed the advice they picked up from Prince, and how it informs their creative decisions.
The singer released new album ‘The Age Of Pleasure’ yesterday (June 9) and spoke to Zane Lowe for Apple Music about its creation.
Discussing Prince, who has previously collaborated with the singer, Monáe revealed some words of wisdom from The Purple One about how to overcome nerves and anxiety in music and life.
“Cut it down in half. That’s what Prince would say to his band,” they revealed. “He would be like, sometimes when people have jitters or nervous or whatever, they play too fast or they’re talking fast. He’s like, ‘Cut everything down in half.'”
“And I take that approach in life, cut it down in half,” Monáe added. “Sometimes you have to say no. Sometimes you’ll miss out on opportunities that you think could have taken you to the next level. Because it’s always like, well, what if they don’t call me anymore? That fear, you got to deal with that. I had to deal with it. I was like, you know what? I have to realise being present for me is my north star.
“If I’m split between all these different worlds, and I’m always thinking about what’s next? What’s next? What’s next? Was I here? Did I live? Did I really live, or was I sort of spending so much time planning and worrying and worrying and rehearsing what could happen and what I need to do next?”
Of their past troubles, they added: “My fear was always messing up publicly or doing something that feeds into that perfectionism, that feeds into, I had to deal with rejection, abandonment issues, all of that. I literally had to go back to the root of where is this stemming from? But I didn’t even know I was dealing with it because I was so in it.”
Reviewing ‘The Age Of Pleasure’, NME wrote: “If ‘Dirty Computer’ was a voyage home for Monáe, then ‘The Age Of Pleasure’ is a victory lap celebrating the spoils that only come by embracing your full self.”
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Will Richards
NME
