Annotated Bibliography Plummer 1

Rachel Plummer

Intermediate Composition ENGL2089

Professor Aaron Kerley

Annotated Bibliography

Janelle Monáe Research: Annotated Bibliography

Bascomb, Lia T.,“Freakifying history: remixing royalty.” African and Black Diaspora: An

International Journal, 9(1), p. 57-69. Talor & Francis, 2015,

www.tandfonline.com/doi/citedby/10.1080/17528631.2015.1056403?scroll=top&needAc

cess=true, Accessed 13 Oct 2018.

In “Freakifying History”, Lia. T Bascomb describes the music video for "Q.U.E.E.N." by

Janelle Monáe and picks out the imagery and historical and cultural references Monáe uses to

question what it means to be a “freak”. Bascomb introduces a parallel work by performance

artists Coco Fusco and Guillermo Gomez-Pena, who staged themselves in a cage in an

anthropological museum in Madrid and acted as "newly discovered" indigenous peoples. Their

efforts were similar to Monáe’s, forcing people to look at the outsiders of society and ask

themselves if racism and maltreatment has actually been eradicated. Then Afrofuturism is

discussed as an entire concept of reimagining the past and configuring a future that is based in
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the progress and success of Black peoples. Bascomb writes Janelle Monae’s role in music as it

relates to other Black female artists like Erykah Badu, Queen Latifah, and Betty Davis. The

journal probes the symbolism of the lyrics, scenery, and outfits in the “Q.U.E.E.N.” music video

– there are comments on sexuality and autonomy, and criticism of Western hegemony for

denigrating the bodies and agency of Black women. Bascomb makes important references to

Sarah Baartman and other “freaks” of the past. In all, Bascomb provides an insightful analysis of

Monae’s dissection of the term “freak” and how she reclaims it with dignity and royalty.

“Freakifying History” is a scholarly journal of the artistry and intent in Janelle Monáe’s

music video, “Q.U.E.E.N.” As a lense into the symbolism of Janelle Monáe’s work, it is well-

written and informative. Its notable downside is that, relative to Janelle Monae’s complete body

of work, the scope of this text is very narrow. However, that is only an issue if this journal were

to serve solely as an informational source on Monáe as a musician, which is not the case. It also

contributes to my research of discourse, and the differences in rhetorical devices and tone that

exist in scholarly journals compared to magazines and video documentaries. Like other academic

sources I have read, it opens up topics of politics, Afrofuturism, religion, and sexuality, and

allows me to better view the multi-faceted projects of Janelle Mone, with just one music video as

an example.

Battan, Carrie. “Mind Control.” Pitchfork, Pitchfork, pitchfork.com/features/cover-

story/reader/janelle-monae. Accessed 19 Sep. 2018

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This Pitchfork cover story was written by Carrie Battan in a sequence of her following

Monáe’s schedule and process. First, she visits the Wondaland Arts Society Headquarters, and

observes the wacky and creativity-inducing elements of the building: specialized menus, grass

carpet, single-serve teepees. Here, Janelle Monáe and her team workshop to brainstorm for the

album and think of ways to achieve the effect they want. Some grooves even need to be tested

with dance parties.

Secondly, Battan watches Monáe’s rehearsal for the televised BET Awards and screens

some new promotional videos as they are edited. She talks of Monáe’s position as full of

potential and backed by power players like Prince, but still not fully connected to the public as

she could be. As she discusses the inspiration for her single “Electric Lady”, Monáe shares that

she has been attending therapy, even though there is a stigma around it in the Black Christian

community, as there is anywhere.

Then, Battan gives background information of Monáe’s artistic rise, focusing on her days

of self-promotion before the release of her Metropolis EP and signing to Bad Boy Records.

Monáe was the daughter of working-class parents who supported her plan for music. She had to

force gigs for herself into the Atlanta University Center Consortium to earn a name amongst

college kids. She continued her moves in music by networking and meeting inspirational

collaborators Chuck Lightning and Nate Wonder. Keeping an online presence through MySpace

and continually pushing her music, she caught the attention of Big Boi and Sean Diddy Combs,

the latter with whom she joined an “artistic partnership”.

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Battan finishes by reflecting on Janelle’s image and persona. Monáe builds up a wall by

means of a fantastical, intergalactic alter-ego, but is very honest while exposing her inspiration

and intention. She aims for some radio hits, but while keeping her sound fresh and not tied down

to a stressful goal. She is always adapting to the role she sees for herself in music, and the future

of her genre.

Pitchfork delivered a story that covered all the bases that I would expect: career

beginnings, performance stylings, recent critique and acclaim, and where she’s going next. In the

scope of my biography, this article adds a few key moments of her life and her growth about her

as a musician. However, it is mostly a narration of Battan’s impressions of Janelle Monáe, her

headquarters, her studio, with small sensory details and recorded quotes. This source was helpful

to me to see one form of musical review which focuses on the person’s background and behavior

rather than an album or concert. It also gives me a sense of Monáe’s personality and her

approach to her creative process. Probably about a third can be incorporated into my biography

and the rest will inform my analysis.

Blair, Iain. "Janelle Monáe." Variety, Business Insights: Global, Penske Business Media, LLC., 6

Jan. 2014,

bi.galegroup.com/global/article/GALE%7CA357147349?u=ucinc_main&sid=summon,

Accessed 12 Sept. 2018.

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Variety magazine gives a glimpse of Monáe’s musical career and gradual success. It

credits Monáe for great creativity and talent, then discusses how her success came despite

humble beginnings. The text runs through the sequence of her releases, giving light background

information. It finishes with a quote from Monáe explaining that she’s been having fun working

with Prince on new music for 2017.

As expected of an article from an entertainment trade magazine, this text focuses on

relevant business and career information about Janelle Monáe, while including a few interesting

details. Quotes directly from Monáe are sprinkled throughout in order to give insight into her

voice. The author of the article seems informed and keeps an admiring tone. This text is pretty

basic on its own, but useful as a supplement to a larger body of biographical info.

Caulfield, Keith "Post Malone’s ‘Beerbongs & Bentleys’ Breaks Streaming Record, Debuts at

No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart’." Billboard, Prometheus Global Media, 06 May

2018, www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8454698/post-malone-beerbongs-

and-bentleys-no-1-billboard-200, Accessed 11 Oct 2018.

This source goes through the achievements of several artists who released albums in May of this

year, particularly of Post Malone. While this article stretched from Post Malone’s album

beerbong & bentleys to the music of Keith Urban and Godsmack, I only read the section about
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the commercial success of Janelle Monáe’s album, Dirty Computer. She is named the “third-

biggest debut of the week” and Caulfield notes how Monáe has grown in sales over her last

albums.

This review of that week/month’s music scene appropriately included different artists of

different genres’ standings and status. It is equal parts statistics of loss/gain and personal

commentary by the knowledgeable Keith Caulfield, who is a co-director of charts at Billboard.

This source was necessary for me to gather some data on Monáe’s standings on the music charts,

but unexpectedly also helped me by giving me artists to compare her to, even if their audiences,

genres, and modes of music release are different.

Frye, Caitlin. “The religion and political views of Janelle Monae.” The Hollowverse, The

Hollowverse, 04 Mar. 2013, https://hollowverse.com/janelle-monae/. Accessed 21 Sep

2018.

Hollowverse is an online wiki that consolidates records of popular figures giving insight into

thier religious and political beliefs. This page is about Janelle Monae. It first follows her

religious life from attending her family’s church as a child to her comments in a recent Rolling

Stone interview. For Monae’s political views, it calls out various instances on social media

where she has shown support or disappointment in U.S. government and politicians.
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The article was a good collection of information gathered from different points in Janelle

Monae’s life and career. However, it lacks some authority and validity because it was authored

by someone equal to any random observer; this article is not the absolute authority for Monae’s

political and religious views. Moreover, because this article was last updated in 2013 and

contains only a few publicized tidbits of information, it is not the most thorough or complex

representation of Monae’s total beliefs. However, it provided some help as I pieced together my

biography.

"Janelle Monáe." Billboard, Prometheus Global Media, www.billboard.com/music/janelle-

monae. Accessed 11 Oct 2018.

This source is a single page of Janelle Monáe’s history in Billboard’s database. It links to her

music videos, speeches, chart history, and latest news.

This page is not very substantial; it is helpful as a starting point for looking at what’s up with

Janelle Monáe, and by extension, any artist. It does not offer any commentary on her career, only

necessary official records of her music on Billboard charts.

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"Janelle Monáe." Contemporary Musicians, vol. 72, Gale, 2012. Biography In Context,

link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1608005783/BIC?u=ucinc_main&sid=BIC&xid=107da1d

c. Accessed 22 Sept. 2018.

This page contains unembellished, plain, and well-paced biographical information about

Janelle Monáe. She was born Janelle Monáe Robinson in Kansas City, in a turbulent and historic

neighborhood. Her family endowed her with strong Christian values and worked hard to support

her dreams, even when she was very young.

She left her dilapidated neighborhood, graduated high school, and attended the American

Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City for one year. She then promoted her

homemade EP around the campus of Atlanta University to create a fanbase.

She founded the Wondaland Arts Society and was “discovered” by Big Boi of Outkast.

Monáe released her first EP, Metropolis, a sci-fi collage of hip-hop, funk, soul, and new wave.

Sean “Diddy” Combs set up a distribution deal with her in 2007, and under his record label,

Metropolis charted well and was nominated for a Grammy.

She then spent a year promoting through concert performances, magazine shoots, and TV

appearances. Her next release, The ArchAndroid, which continued her saga of Cyndi

Mayweather, reached new heights on music charts and earned much praise.

Monáe serves an offbeat, eccentric aura. She has spread her talent across a variety of

genres and musical stylings, and she has been appointed as the spiritual successor to musical
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greats like Prince and James Brown. She tries her best to unite different kinds of people with

music and inspire youth of disadvantaged backgrounds.

This reading from Biography In Context was a good read – I don’t know why I didn’t

start here, because it has a full bio (up to the date of its publishing) that treats each part of

Monáe’s life with equal attention. It is devoid of a tone or opinion from the author. There is just

a proper overview of her life as a person, a young aspiring artist, and now a respected figure in

the music industry. I appreciate the number of performances referenced in this text, because I can

look up those videos and understand the growth she has experienced through different eras in her

career. I am glad to get information about her birthdate, birthplace, and other such details that I

think a biography would be incomplete without.

“Janelle Monáe.” Who’s Who Among African Americans, Gale, 2017,

link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1645547214/BIC?u=ucinc_main&sid=BIC&xid=3dd9aec

d, Accessed 21 Sep. 2018.

This extension of Biography In Context is a short list of essential information about Monáe, It is

rather bare, just naming her birthdate, birthplace, nationality, career type, and awards. I used it

for fact-checking, but it did not provide any more profound information than that. It was an

adequate amount of information for a simple entry in a who’s-who.

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“Janelle Monáe - A Revolution of Love (Artist Spotlight Stories).” Youtube, uploaded by Janelle

Monae – topic, directed by Emma Westenberg, 17 Sep. 2018,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIz5MHKV1nk. Accessed 21 Sep. 2018

“A Revolution of Love” is a visual manifesto directed by Emma Westenberg, who also

directed Janelle Monáe’s music video for the song “Pynk”. In its beginnings, Monáe defines love

as a force of change, which proves to be a thread through her growth as a person and artist. The

video first flashes through clips of her performing at shows and speaking at rallies. The

production staff then refers to Monáe’s mother, who speaks about her daughter’s spirit and

passion even when she was a child. Monáe visits sits from her past where she lived, learned,

busked, and tried to reach out to an audience. There is a tour of Wondaland HQ, showing her

musical partners. Monáe speaks on her more candid writing, especially on the latest record,

“Dirty Computer”, which reveals her personal thoughts. She then explains concepts of

oppression and social conformity in her emotion picture “Dirty Computer” and music videos. All

in all, this video documents Janelle Monáe encouraging a movement of using love and art as a

means of social reform.

This is the first video source that I have referenced in my research, so I do not have any

specific video with which to compare its contents. But with video as a medium, any subjective

tinge to the delivery of the information is usually up to the editor and director. Emma
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Westernberg is the director, and because she has worked with Monáe as an artist, she focuses on

Monáe’s perspective and creativity in a positive light. YouTube is the producer/sponsor of the

video, because it is a YouTube special artist spotlight film; however, YouTube is to be credited

for allowing communication between artists and fans. After watching the video I looked at

comments to gauge fans’ opinions. Many said Monáe had a natural positive energy, they are

proud of her, and they identify with her. One great thing about this artistic film is that it has

auditory and visual components which don’t exist in text articles. This video is also useful

because it utilizes primary sources rather than secondhand retelling. There is direct discussion

with her colleagues of the Wondaland Arts Society, her family, and her Atlanta fans.

“Janelle Monáe Biography.” Biography, A&E Television Networks, 27 April 2018,

www.biography.com/people/janelle-monáe-17178736, Accessed 21 Sep 2018.

Biography.com lists facts and provides a narrative for Janelle Monáe’s life and career.

The page begins with quick facts and a briefing of her role in the entertainment industry. Then, it

scrolls through all the important aspects of Monáe’s work with a redundant and average

structure, but throws in loads of extra facts and quotes that are helpful and interesting. The page

gives info about Monáe’s adolescence, her career beginnings, successes, acting stints, and public

image.
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At first, I thought this source to be a little generic and lackluster because maybe Biography.com

has such a vast coverage of biographical work they cannot thoroughly research everyone. Also,

this was one of the last sources I used, so I knew a lot of the information, quirky anecdotes,

memorable quotes mentioned by the media about Monáe. However, rereading it, rather than

treating the subject distantly, like one would expect from the academic tone of an encyclopedia-

type source, Biography.com does a good job of connecting details about Monáe’s first jobs, the

concepts of her albums, and the cultural context of her work. The text relies on direct

explanations from Monáe herself, which make the biographical information more intimate and

more accurate.

"Janelle Monáe Comes Out as Queer." Windy City Times, 33 (33), Windy City Media Group, 02

May 2018, p. 18. Proquest LLC., GenderWatch, Proquest, 02 May 2018.

search.proquest.com/docview/2036983097?accountid=2909 Accessed 22 Sep. 2018

The Windy City Times has a small feature on Janelle’s latest announcement that she

identifies as queer. It says that her sexuality has been a point of speculation due to the videos and

lyrics of her latest singles “Make Me Feel” and “Pynk”. Monáe says she is free, open-minded,

and still learning about herself. The text closes saying Monáe has earned acclaim for both her

music and film endeavors.

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This short article was an interesting tidbit of information but adds nothing much of

consequence to my research. I am glad that it shows a connection between her personal growth

and the direction in which she’s taking her music. My analysis doesn’t include a political or

social agenda, but the fact that she is open about her life, especially when it diverges from the

norm, is tied to her progressive stand in the message of her work.

“Janelle Monáe Explains Dirty Computer Visuals, What Pansexuality Means to Her, and more!.”

Youtube, uploaded by Power 106 Los Angeles, 03 May 2018,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGhNbcIRKfI. Accessed 03 Nov 2018.

Power 106 Los Angeles, a hip-hop music broadcasting radio station based in Los Angeles, hosts

Janelle Monae in their studio and asks her about the newly released album “Dirty Computer”

The radio show hosts raise questions about the album-making process, her relationship with

musical artist Prince and how he advised her, and how that may have contributed to the “Dirty

Computer” emotion picture. Monae reveals her intentions behind her music videos, costumes,

image, and overall execution of “Dirty Computer” as an album and experience. Through the

entire interview, almost a half-hour long, she freely talks about personal subjects of sexuality,

her mental and physical status, and her presence on social media. On top of her reactions to

recent news, such as the Bill Cosby sexual assault case, and people in prison streaming on

Facebook Live from their cells.

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Radio station interviews are an extremely common platform for musical artists to discuss

themselves, their lives, and their musical works. Despite that, this was the only radio interview

that I looked at during my research; they simply are not worthwhile sources for the kind of

research and analysis that this project needs. They are beneficial to the radio stations to draw

listeners and beneficial to the artists to promote and air their new music. So it follows that radio

interviews are in abundance and are often full of chitchat and repetitive questions. However, I

did need a useful interview to model my Praxis after, and for that purpose, one-on-one radio

interviews are more effective than magazine articles. Magazine articles contain much of the

author’s voice and the subject’s quotes get chopped up and spread around paragraphs. But the

way this interview was conducted was like a friendly celebration of “Dirty Computer” and it

tactfully and deeply addressed lots of aspects of Janelle Monae’s life and thoughts. The hosts

created a nice environment and did not interrupt, which made this source very useful for picking

out her answers and using them for my project.

“Janelle Monae takes on the art world.” Youtube, uploaded by Associated Press, 8 Dec. 2017,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1bthy9CuBg. Accessed 21 Sep. 2018

This YouTube video records the scene of an art exhibit constructed by Janelle Monae,

entitled “What’s Your Frequency”. It exhibits the installation and contains short commentary by

Monae herself about how she is trying to portray the “weaponization of technology, cultural
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uniformity, and mass surveillance.” People of the general public are shown enjoying the art and

there are comments made by famous singers and actors, like Kathryn Hahn.

This video allowed me to experience, to a small extent, what Monae’s art exhibit was

like. I only needed documentation to prove that she had ever entered the art world, but this

recording offered more than that. The video has just several hundred views and no comments, so

there was no external discussion from fans and viewers, but different celebrities give their

perspectives and approval of the event in the video, which adds context to what Monae is trying

to achieve in the community.

Jones, C. L.. “’Tryna Free Kansas City’: The Revolutions of Janelle Monáe as Digital Griot.”

Frontiers, 39(1), p. 42-72. University of Nebraska Press, 2018,

search.proquest.com/docview/2025302175?accountid=2909, Accessed 22 Sep. 2018.

The article, “Tryna Free Kansas City” by Cassandra L. Jones, featured in scholarly journal

“Frontiers” offers a wide overview of Janelle Monáe’s assumed duty as a “digital griot” in our

time. It starts with an introduction to what a griot is (a traveling storyteller that maintains oral

accounts of tales and history), as well as the concept of Afrofuturism. Throughout the text, Jones

cites ideas of music critics, feminists, poets, and other relevant figures, like Alondra Nelson, Sun

ra, Larry Neal, and Amiri Bakara.

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The article talks about some different novelists and scholars use of Afrofuturism and how

Blackness is always portrayed as anti-technological. The invention of time travel is integrated

into narratives of escape and rebellion; for example, Paul D. Miller has written that success is

defined by a late capitalist model, but the development of technology has extended the reach of a

content creator and connected them to many different places and people. Following on that, DJ’s

and music makers are “rhythm scientists” who experiment with sounds of the past, present, and

future to affect their audiences and bridges generations across time and space.

There is explication of Janelle Monáe’s music videos for “Q.U.E.E.N.” and “Many Moons”

and the imagery and symbolism within them, for example, auctions for cyborg model, which

symbolizes political movements being forced into fashion trends. Jones looks deeply into the

Wondaland activist group outlined in Monáe’s created universe and their manipulation of music

into weaponry by means of codes and time travel.

There is then general talk of music containing the ability to transcend time and space,

especially a piece of music with cultural significance, like one usually performed at a ritual or

celebration. Ergo, someone may perform an old slave spiritual in dialect, and essentially, they

become a time traveler. At the same time, they are accessing a cultural artifact that only a

member of their in-group can access and understand.

Jones claims that being deemed an enlightened human has so continually been reserved for

white people that for Afrofuturists, it has become more appropriate to identify with post-human,

alien/robot beings. There is then the opportunity to explore themes of liberty and utopia without

being restricted by realities of capitalism, poverty, and civil unrest.

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And Cyndi Mayweather, who exists as a non-human machine, represents many different

people. In the lyrics of Monae’s songs and the imagery of her videos, she calls out prisoners in

particular.

Jones expresses the importance of placing black women into active roles of engaging with

our growing technological systems. A connection is made to the mass of Black Lives Matter

tweets that brought attention to underreported injustices.

Then, Jones discusses Black artistry being set within the boundaries of western cultural

aesthetics and evaluation. Monae will play with this with phrases in her lyrics, for example,

mentioning Marie Antoinette in her song “Q.U.E.E.N.” and rejecting that stereotypical portrait of

royalty. Monae’s use of the word “queen” also reflects her emphasis on feminism and advocation

for the LGBTQ+ community. She acknowledges issues within the Black community, like the

neglect of Black women’s issues evident during the time of Black Power and the Black Panthers.

She remixes history to include Black people of all genders, sexualities, and identities. Her music

is compared to the funk of George Clinton and Parliament, but with more feminine views and

self-consciousness.

Jones presents our need to reconcile a fantastical “escape hatch” while showing that the

black culture that we have established in real life is valuable and not shameful.

Technology is complex, but Monáe uses it to bring together class, race, sexuality, gender,

and history to depict challenges and struggles that she is trying to rebel against. Her creativity

becomes her indecipherability as she attempts to flip overlooked, insulted, “low-culture” aspects

of minority life into empowering and artistic weaponry.

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This article is super informative; it taught me a lot of terms, spanning political, literary, and

rhetorical meanings – like griot, la petit mort, and Astro Black Mythology. It also lent insight to

the bending of science fiction, horror, and fantasy into social critique, as we see these days in

popular culture with films like Get Out and Black Panther.

This article was written by Cassandra L. Jones, who teaches Africana Studies here at the

University of Cincinnati. Her analysis of Monáe’s latest work, coupled with her background in

researching Afrofuturism and the diaspora of African culture and identity in America, definitely

proved the level of intent, intelligence, and craft behind Janelle Monáe’s music and movement.

Some of it went over my head, in terms of the philosophical, political, and anthropological

theory involved, but it was really interesting. It is a well-researched and provocative source that

tied historical and scientific sources to Monáe’s artistry, and it was the exact type of article I was

searching for and not sure I could find.

The other main message of this article, besides scholarly analysis, was the inherent context

and highlighting of how historical and contemporary problems intersect. That popular figures of

this day and age, like Janelle Monáe, talk about historical eras like the Civil Rights movement,

and open up activism to young people. Lastly, this article even gave me a better understanding of

this class as a whole because I see better that musicians create stories that require intense

attention to culture, language, and delivery.

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Metz, Brooke. "Amandla Stenberg, Janelle Monáe Get Real on Racism: 'Now is the Time to

Stand Tall'." USA Today, USA Today, a division of Gannett Satellite Information

Network, Inc., Aug 15 2017,

search.proquest.com/docview/1928935041/fulltext/303739751C554B9APQ/1?accountid

=2909, Accessed 22 Sep. 2018 .

USA Today restates a Teen Vogue interview with Janelle Monáe and Amandla Stenberg

discussing progress for black women in America and maintaining a healthy mental state. Monáe

talks about the vital historical figures she had the honor to portray in film “Hidden Figures”, and

the importance of black women who hold communities together.

This short text doesn’t do very much to add information to my research. It serves only to

confirm Monae’s values and how she wishes to use her visibility. It also shows her presence as a

celebrity by relating her to another young, influential face on the screen, Amandla Stenberg.

Spanos, Brittany. “Janelle Monae Frees Herself.” RollingStone, Rolling Stone LLC, 26 Apr

2018, www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/janelle-monae-frees-herself-629204/.

Accessed 03 Nov 2018.

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The recent Rolling Stone article “Janelle Monáe Frees Herself” talks with the artist

herself about family, image, mental health, sexuality, and a number of personal topics that

explain who Monae it as a musical artist and person. The article first paints the scene of Janelle

Monae emotionally admitting that she is a flawed human being, not a fictional character. She

always tried her best to present the most perfect form of herself. After talking about her mental

health and sexuality, the article runs through the projects Monae has tackled, from acting to

producing an “emotion picture”. Author Brittany Spanos accompanies Monáe to her home

neighborhood of Quindaro, Kansas City, meets her family, and pores over old memories of

Monáe childhood and her gradual rise to success. At Wondaland Headquarters, Monáe talks

about her inspiration and some behind-the-scenes stories come out. The article closes talking

about Monáe’s goal to bring to light all the problems “dirty computers” face through her

activism and music, and make sure she uses her voice to inspire hope and change.

In this cover story from Rolling Stone’s April 2018 issue, Brittany Spanos dedicates time

to document and understand Janelle Monae as a creator and musician, and shares her experience

with the reader. The story covers details of Monae’s personal narrative, like her struggles with

baring her true self in her music and announcing that she is pansexual. Janelle Monae provides

many quotes and plentiful insight to her life and mind, but the words are also passive because

they are transmitted through Spanos. Yet, Spanos does a proper job of starting deep, new

conversations with Monae and enters territory that is probably welcome, rather than rejected,

because she does so with diligence and sympathy. RollingStone articles are trusted by the

general, music-loving public because of their historyand ethos. This source proves to be useful

and reliable because it spans many interesting topics critical for understanding Monae as a

human, and also explains the experience with Monae with knowledge and relatability.
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WDAF FOX 4 Kansas City. “Janelle Monáe Remembers Her Roots,” Clip Syndicate, 18 Aug

2011,

www.clipsyndicate.com/video/playlist/10833/2766445cpt=8&title=cengage_broadcast&

wpid=6424. Accessed 21 Sep 2018.

WDAF FOX 4 Kansas City covers Janelle Monáe opening for Katy Perry’s concert. They

go to a video of Monáe singing her set, then speak with her. She discusses the pride she has in

her success relative to the circumstances she grew up in. She says she wants youth in Kansas

City to know “there is nothing you cannot do, with a great team, people who believe in you [and

if] you believe in yourself”.

The news channel that broadcasted this report was FOX Kansas City. Therefore they had

special impetus to report Janelle Monáe’s performance. Her success brings hope to the whole

city, especially in troubling times when youth are threatened by violence on the street. The

organization and delivery of the information could have been improved; they likely wrote the

story with short notice. This report is about the length and depth expected from a non-urgent,

feel-good highlight on the local news.