“I was backstage, and this is what I want to do,” Monáe continued. “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.”

Yes, slack-jawed reader, this whole thing is likely a creative little metaphor for Monáe’s own connection to Bowie’s music, and how it gave her the courage to embrace her own chameleon-esque powers of artistic reinvention and genre-smashing personal growth.

Well, she’s an alien from outer space and a cybergirl without a face a heart or a mind, so it makes sense.