Janelle Monáe Teases New Album: “I Now Have a Clone”

In the four years that Janelle Monáe hasn’t released an album, they have been hard at work landing roles in lauded film projects. In an interview for their latest endeavor, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Monáe joked that they now have a “clone” specifically made for music.

Monáe was last heard on the 2018 album Dirty Computer. During a press junket for the film, their hiatus was brought up to which they replied, “Oh you’re really going to remind me of that?”

Monáe continued, “Actually, you will! You will get new music because I now have a clone. That clone does all of my music, and I have another clone for acting. I’m not going to tell you if it’s me or not. They’re in the studio right now!”

They continued, “I just feel so humbled and super, super blessed to be doing anything. Doing something like this, you don’t take it lightly.”

Her co-star, Daniel Craig, was then asked if he too had a clone to which he replied, “I don’t know, maybe. If I do they’re not as useful as Janelle’s clone!”

The lighthearted exchange should satiate Monáe’s fanbase, assuring them that new music could be right around the corner.

Though their last full-length was in 2018, Monáe did share a song for the Netflix show We The People last year titled “Stronger.” They also released the protest song “Say Her Name (Hell You Talmbout) named after the social movement founded by Kimberlé Crenshaw.

During the same interview, Monáe also talked about her role in the film.

“This is a murder mystery whodunnit film that is meant to take people on a ride and an experience first,” said Monáe. “The other beautiful thing about it is because the characters are modernized, the audience members will take away from it who they are and what experience they know.”

They added, “I hadn’t done comedy. There are so many comedic moments in a specific tone that Rian [Johnson] has created. I think he’s been very innovative in this whodunnit space.”

Photo by Theo Wargo/WireImage