Janelle Monáe teared up live on air when she heard that her latest album, “Dirty Computer,” was nominated for the Grammy Award for album of the year.
The R&B star and actress was on the set of “CBS This Morning” on Friday to assist co-host Norah in presenting the 2019 Grammy nominees. Monáe’s emotional reaction was captured when she heard her name announced for album of the year category.
“This album is so much bigger than me,” Monáe said, getting choked up. “It’s not about me. It’s about community of dirty computers, of marginalized voices.”
“Being a young, black queer woman in America, there was something I had to say. There was a group of people that I wanted to celebrate. I’m happy to be representing them. I hope they feel seen. I hope they feel heard. I hope they feel loved, and I hope they feel celebrated.”
Other album of the year nominees included Invasion of Privacy (Cardi B); By The Way, I Forgive You (Brandi Carlile); Scorpion (Drake); H.E.R. (H.E.R.); Beerbongs & Bentleys (Post Malone); Golden Hour (Kacey Musgraves); and Black Panther: The Album, Music From And Inspired By (various artists).
Twitter user @madz_johnson reacted to the 2019 Grammy nominations by noting: “how could u still think grammy’s matter?? post malone is nominated for the same grammy as janelle monáe, who has been building a visual-musical-theoretical world with her music for over a decade. post malone sounds like a playstation controller with cum and mountain dew on it”
On Thursday, Monáe was honored with the Trailblazer award at Billboard’s 13th annual Women in Music ceremony. “Being a trailblazer is about diving into spaces unseen and undiscovered,” she said at the event. “For me, that meant uncovering aspects of who I am in order to make spaces for others.”
In related news, Ms. Monae is joining Julianne Moore in the Gloria Steinem biopic “The Glorias: A Life on the Road.” The songstress Monae will be playing Dorothy Pitman Hughes, the women’s and civil rights activist that co-founded Ms. Magazine with Steinem. Julie Taymor is directing from a script based on Steinem’s memoir, per THR.
