As a teen, Janelle Monáe (born Janelle Robinson) felt suffocated by the limited resources offered to her in her native Kansas City, so after high school she moved to NYC to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. However, she soon realized that the roles that she wanted didn’t exist. So she did what anyone would do upon realizing that the are headed in the wrong direction in life: she moved to Germany, then Atlanta with the hopes of becoming “the first pompadour wearing horse jockey”.
This article appears in May 27 – Jun 2, 2010.