It's been a whopping four-and-a-half years since Janelle Monáe blessed the world with a full-length album, and we're eagerly awaiting the R&B queen's return with Dirty Computer. In this week's #TBT installment, we look back at the "Q.U.E.E.N." singer's 2013 Fuse interview on the vision behind The Electric Lady and how she stays true to her music.
"The Electric Lady was inspired by my paintings. I would paint this image of this female silhouette every night singing in front of thousands of people," Monáe explains. "I was encouraged by my therapist and friends to name her. So I just listened to the energy that I got from looking at each painting, and the words that came to my spirit were 'the electric lady.' I started to think about a world where there was a new breed of woman—a new 21st century woman."