Janelle Monae has revealed that her late mentor Prince served as a sounding board and collaborator on her upcoming album “Dirty Computer,” reports Billboard.
The two have a long history of mutual admiration, dating back to at least 2010 when Monáe performed at the BET Awards show when Prince received a Lifetime Achievement Award. Prince went on to remix Monáe’s track “Q.U.E.E.N.” and appeared as a featured guest on her last album, 2013’s The Electric Lady. Monáe also returned to the BET Awards in 2016 to pay tribute to Prince after his death.
Talking to BBC Radio 1, Monáe discussed the influence that Prince had over her and the album, including its recently released single “Make Me Feel.” she said:
Prince actually was working on the album with me before he passed on to another frequency, and helped me come up with sounds. And I really miss him, you know, it’s hard for me to talk about him. But I do miss him, and his spirit will never leave me.
In another interview with The Guardian, she talks about Prince’s influence on her:
I wouldn’t be as comfortable with who I am if it had not been for Prince. I mean, my label Wondaland would not exist without Paisley Park coming before us. He would probably get me for cussin’, but Prince is in that ‘free motherfucker’ category. That’s the category when we can recognize in each other that you’re also a free motherfucker. Whether we curse or not, we see other free motherfuckers. David Bowie! A free motherfucker. I feel their spirit, I feel their energy. They were able to evolve. You felt that freedom in them.
Dirty Computer is due for release on April 27.
PHOTO: PR Photos
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