By Jason Newman

“With Cindi Mayweather, she’s an Alpha Platinum 9000, the deluxe of her androids. She’s programmed to work, perform, sing and cater to everyone else. Androids are not to fall in love, but she does with a robo-zillionaire by the name of Anthony Greenwood, whose parents started the robotics industry.”

To be honest, if Janelle Monáe uttered these sci-fi-futurisms at the start of our interview and not towards the end, I’d be a little frightened. Earnest talks of cyborgs and androids are usually reserved for people in white jackets and musicians late in their careers discovering New Age, kabbalah or whatever other plane of existence they’re currently on.

But after an hour with the young singer in a Brooklyn coffee shop, three blocks from where she’ll be shooting her first national cover …