I'm Jonathan K. Partt and welcome to K. Partt.

The memory librarian and other stories of Dirty Computer is the debut book by singer,

songwriter, actor and activist, Janelle Monet.

The book takes its name from her latest album, entitled Dirty Computer.

But, it's aligned from one of the tracks, crazy classic life, that really formed the

basis of our conversation.

I am not America's nightmare.

I am the American Dream.

I am.

I get to define it on my own time.

I get to define freedom on my own terms, especially as long as I'm not hurting it, we

ready?

Like, let's redefine what the American Dream looks like as well.

This conversation was first recorded on April 18th for Washington Post Live, and, as you'll

hear, Janelle Monet stomped everything to make sure her shot, like her lyrics, was just

perfect.

Janelle Monet, welcome to the K. Partt podcast on Washington Post Live.

Hi, thank you so much for having me.

Before we talk about your book, your book takes its name from your latest album, entitled

Dirty Computer.

But, on, let me get into the situation.

We're going to go a little off-script, really love this back, close into that.

...