Janelle Monáe is the ESSENCE Cover Girl for May

With her ever present pompadour and hot red lips, Janelle Monáe covers ESSENCE magazine’s May issue.

Inside the magazine, the cover girl dishes on her new CD, “Electric Lady,” which is due this Summer. She also lets readers in on her unique style which, you may have noticed, doesn’t show her tight figure. Hmm, what’s up with that, Miss Monáe?

“People don’t ask Jay-Z to take his shirt off when he rhymes,” she says defiantly. Her refusal to let it all hang out is a major part of her attempt to “redefine what it means to be sexy and what it means to be a woman. Showing my skin is not what makes me sexy,” she declares. “I like skirts and dresses just like everyone else, but I had a message I needed to put out there. It was up to me to show people and young girls there was another way.”

There’s more from the ever thoughtful Ms. Monáe, who believes that people who give are beautiful.

“I think people who give and give their time are some of the most beautiful people that I know,” says the ESSENCE Festival performer.

And if you’ve ever wondered about her ubiquitous tuxedos, here’s what she had to say:

“They’re timeless. They’re transcendent, I think from the 18th century, 19th century, 20th century—all the way to 2719—I think the tuxedo will outlive us all!”