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"I'm the one in the family that pushes the envelope"
Janelle Monae celebrated their birthday in their birthday suit!
During an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," the "Hidden Figures" star shared a few details about their birthday bash in Mexico last week.
Monae revealed that their friends surprise them on their birthday by taking them to a mystery vacation every year. The tradition began when the "Tightrope" singer began to receive recognition for their music back in 2010. Janelle confessed they "could not afford" to take trips until "I became known a bit."
Previous birthday getaways have included destinations to Las Vegas and Jamaica. The "Antebellum" actor also revealed that each night consists of a different theme.
On the first night, Monae said "the theme was intergalactic." The 37-year-old explained that their outfit was put together at the last minute after their friends didn’t tell them the theme until the day before. "I do think someone forgot to tell me the memo… but I had this in my closet," Monae said. "Obviously I'm an android, I'm an alien. I just have these things lying around."
After he pulled out a photo of Janelle's alien outfit, host Jimmy Kimmel joked, "I hope these are what aliens look like, I really do!"
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The "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" star explained the next night was a "hot sexy tea party" themed night where guests wore lingerie. Following the tea party, Monae and their friends took part in a murder mystery night.
Monae then revealed their friends flexed their creative side and organized a "wine night where … your clothes need to match your favorite white wine or your favorite red wine."
Janelle had other ideas and boldly "decided to go topless," they explained. "Earlier in the day they had told me the theme and I was like, you know what, it's my birthday I just want to be free! I want to be like so free and I want to let it all hang out. So they were all dressed and I was topless."
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"Oh you really threw the whole party! Well, it makes sense because you take the top off the wine!" Kimmel quipped before asking if they had invited any family members to the topless festivities. "You can't have an uncle there when you’re topless, that would be weird."
"You know what, no," they agreed. "Personally I don't love that but my family knows… I'm the one in the family that pushes the envelope."
The eight-time Grammy nominated singer shared there was a sentimental idea behind their topless look.
"Here's the thing. I wasn’t all the way topless, what I had them do -- which meant a lot to me because they're a community that has uplifted me from my hard times -- I had them put temporary tatts on me like hearts and stars to cover my nips and everything," Monae explained. "It was just all of their love, how they saw me, they got to adorn my body and I wore that the whole day."
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