Janelle Monáe doesn't want to dress sexily.

The 'Tightrope' singer feels her voice should be the main focus of people's attention when they are watching her perform, rather than her body.

She said: ''There are no women who perform fully clothed - still to this day there aren't. To me, that was a problem, to say 'If you want to be in the music industry, you need to be able to sell sex' ... I want to be in control of my body. I don't ever want a man or a woman to tell me to dress that way. I think its up to me.''

Janelle, 28, also said she never takes too long thinking about her stage costumes, favouring black suits, because worrying about her wardrobe interferes with her creativity.

She added in an interview with Britain's Marie Claire magazine: ''If I have to think about my outfit for longer than, like, two minutes, I've wasted my time. Who wants to think about, 'What am I going to wear to this performance?' I need to be focusing on creating, changing the world.''