Janelle Monae is a "Dirty Computer"

 “Dirty Computer” is a short narrative film and visual album that accompanied Janelle Monae’s 2018 album of the same name. The setting is a dystopian society in which Monae plays Jane 57821. In the film, humans are turned into computers through a process of “cleaning” in which all their memories are wiped and their emotions erased. Janelle’s character is a computer who refuses to be subject to cleaning and let themselves be dictated by societal standards. Monae’s music videos are incorporated into the film (or “emotion picture”, as she titles it) as Jane’s memories and dreams. Overall, the music videos feature Black joy, friendship, love, sexuality, and fun, and represent the importance of these things even when the White scientists are trying to erase them. Monae has been inspired by Afrofuturism to communicate these ideas. While the plot of the film is fictional and features futuristic sci-fi imagery, it also makes reference to the civil rights movement and current issues of police brutality. “Dirty Computer” explores themes of the role of technology, being a queer woman of color, liberation, protest, and ultimately ends on an inspiring note, with Jane and her two friends escaping the sterile and oppressive setting of the film. 
In 2021, Monae made her literary debut with The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer, a collection of short stories inspired by her album and the subsequent visual album. Monae has always been fascinated with science fiction, and said that "Dirty computers are individuals who refuse to assimilate."