The wikipedia short article - Janelle Monáe

Janelle Robinson (born 1985 in Kansas City), better known by her stage name Janelle Monáe  is an author and composer of the soul and R&B music. She studied in American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York with in order to start a career in music-hall, but finally turned to music. She has been nominated for Grammy Awards for her single Many Moons in 2009. She released one EP (Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase) in 2007) and 2 albums (The ArchAndroid in 2010, and The Electric Lady in 2013) yet and they were all well reviewed by publications devoted to music criticism. Her last album “Electric Lady” features songs recorded with other artists, such as Prince, Erykah Badu, Miguel and Solange.