As part of Black History Month, NewsNation is celebrating artful and creative pioneers within the Black community who have left an indelible mark on the arts and shattered barriers for minority artists in the U.S. and around the world. Read about more impactful artists here.  

(NewsNation) — You can’t put Janelle Monáe in a box. At 38 years old, the Kansas City native is a successful singer, songwriter, actress and fashion icon.

Born in 1985, Monáe grew up in a working-class community in a large Baptist family. It was at church where she learned to sing and from a young age many could see she would be a star. Her enthusiasm for music was so great that at one point, she got escorted out for insisting on singing Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” in the middle of church, as told in a cover story for Rolling Stone.

Monáe started writing musicals as a child and moved to New York City after high school to study musical theater at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. While there, she was the only Black woman in her classes, she told LAIst in a 2016 interview.

“It was hard sometimes feeling like, ‘I don’t think I have anyone in here who understands me,'” she said.

She eventually dropped out and moved to Atlanta where she attended Georgia State University’s Perimeter College and started writing her own music while working at Office Depot.

In 2003, Monáe released a demo album called “The Audition” which she sold out of the trunk of her Mitsubishi Galant. Around that time she started collaborating with prominent figures in the music industry and was soon signed to Puff Daddy’s Bad Boy Records.

Monáe’s debut studio album “The ArchAndroid” was released in 2010 to widespread critical acclaim and nominated for a Grammy. Pitchfork’s critic said the album was “as bold as mainstream music gets,” likening the sound to “Michael Jackson and Prince in their prime.”

Since then, her list of musical achievements has only grown. She’s received ten Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year twice as lead artist for her third and fourth studio albums “Dirty Computer” and “The Age of Pleasure.”

Known for her signature tuxedo wardrobe, Monáe has become a fashion icon and also found success on the big screen, starring in films like Moonlight and Hidden Figures.

“I’ve always had a world-building mind,” she said of her creative interests in 2022. “I never saw my music career as something that should limit this. David Bowie did these things, so why can’t I do these things.” 

Monáe has come out publicly as non-binary and pansexual and continues to champion the LGBTQ community through her art.

“I want young girls, young boys, nonbinary, gay, straight, queer people who are having a hard time dealing with their sexuality, dealing with feeling ostracized or bullied for just being their unique selves, to know that I see you,” she told Rolling Stone in 2018.

Monáe’s greatest achievements may still be ahead but her reputation as a once-in-a-generation multi-platform artist is already established.