Janelle Monáe stunned boygenius musician Lucy Dacus with a revelation about time travel in a new video series for Rolling Stone.
Monáe and Dacus were interviewing each other for the magazine's "Musicians on Musicians" series when the Age of Pleasure singer revealed that one of their biggest creative influences came from an unexpected place: time travel.
After discussing gender expression and clothes, the two musicians bonded over their shared love of Halloween.
"I've always loved transforming, and I think that's what I love about Halloween, and that's what I love about world-building through music," Monáe says. Then, she mentions that seeing David Bowie perform was a big moment for her.
"You saw him?" asks Dacus.
"I did, I traveled back to the 1970s, and I saw him do Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, and it was incredible," Monáe replies.
"You traveled back…?" Dacus asks again.
"Yeah, I was backstage, and I was like, 'This is what I wanna do.'" Monáe casually answers. "And so I jetted back to, you know, the 2000s, and I was like, 'I can have the musical, make the music, create the lyrics, and create community around transformation and being queer – and not even just in sexuality, but in how we see the world."
"I think that's the synergy between Halloween, because I feel like people give themselves permission to be on my frequency," they explained. "Let's transform, let's play. Let's go outside the mundane and what people know us as every day. Leave room to allow yourself to transform."
Previously in the interview, the two artists discussed playing with masculinity and femininity.
"If I was told 'You have to be one way forever,' I would be like, maybe life’s not for me," Dacus said. "It’s very important every day to wake up and be like, 'Is it boy day or girl day?' Or on tour, especially if we do two nights in the same city. I’ll have boy night, girl night."
