Dirty Computer

This chapter evaluates Dirty Computer (2018), Janelle Monáe's third studio album, which tells a story of liberation, agency, and victory. The film Janelle Monáe: Dirty Computer (2018) is a visual depiction of the accompanying album. Upon watching this narrative film, dubbed an “emotion picture,” it is evident that Monáe seeks to empower African Americans to define themselves as they please. An Africologist expectedly would recognize how the acts of defining and naming are critical to the desired self-determining functions of Afrocentricity. The chapter then explores the ways that Monáe aligns with African tradition throughout her visual and lyrical art. Additionally, it examines the ways Dirty Computer allows African-descended viewers the opportunity to transcend time and space as they consider what the future is and what it will look like for them to exist.