ABSTRACT
This article discusses Janelle Monáe’s musical work, with a particular focus on Dirty Computer in 2018. Monáe’s first albums all relate back to Fritz Lang’s 1927 film Metropolis, whereas this article argues that Dirty Computer can be seen related to Ridley Scott’s 1982 Blade Runner. In this way Monáe uses classical science fiction stories and reworks them through a lens of African-American history to speak to the Black, female queer experience in the United States. Through the film version of Dirty Computer, an overall story is told in addition to the musical tracks, where Monáe moves between utopian and dystopian topics, all relevant for her performance of race and gender.
