Janelle Monáe is on the July 2018 cover of Allure’s Freedom issue and she speaks on choosing freedom over fear, among other things.
In the interview on living free as a queer African-American woman, Janelle mentions a piece of advice Stevie Wonder gave her when she was dealing with anger and trying to start recording again. After listening to Janelle’s feelings and frustrations Allure said, the music giant asked her to pull out her phone and record what he said next:
Even when you’re upset, use words of love / ’Cause God is love / Allah is love / Jehovah is love / So don’t let your expressions, even of anger / Be confused or misconstrued / Turn them into words of expression / That can be understood by using words of love
The recording would later become an interlude called Stevie’s Dream on her third studio album, Dirty Computer released on April 27, 2018.
“I was challenged,” she says. “It’s easy for me to just stay angry, but it’s harder for me to choose love.”
