Janelle Monáe on Inspiring the Next Generation: 'I Have to Remain Authentic to My Evolution'

As a music, screen and style icon, Janelle Monáe has advice for young women looking to follow in her multihyphenate footsteps.

"I'm always encouraging anyone watching me to use me as inspiration to not create a blueprint, but a you-print: A you-print of who you are, what you have to say, what your purpose is, further investigating the type of art you want to make, the type of legacy you want to leave behind," she told PEOPLE ahead of her revival (in partnership with Martell) of artist Loïs Mailou Jones' Little Paris Group salon. "Not being like me, not trying to follow in my footsteps, but really carving out your own version of what you can do."

She explained that following her own path has always served her well. "I think some things may work for folks when they look at me. They're like, 'Oh, OK. I like what it is that Janelle is doing.' And some things may not resonate," she said. "But I think for me, I have to remain authentic to my evolution. I have to remain enjoying the process of creating in the things that I want to create, and not really worrying too much about if it's going to inspire people."

Paving the way and having an influence on others is something that's been on the 37-year-old Glass Onion star's mind of late.

As part of her partnership with cognac brand Martell, Monáe is helping to honor the legacy of Loïs Mailou Jones, an early 20th-century visionary who founded The Little Paris Group, a Parisian-style salon for Black artists.

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"I see so much synergy between what Loïs did with the Little Paris Group and what I'm doing with my own arts collective Wondaland," Monáe said. "And just when I heard about Loïs and the artwork that she was making during the Harlem Renaissance, it just felt like the right thing to do to show who the real pioneers were that didn't get an opportunity to really shine like they should have been shining, and shine some light on them."

A revival of the salon will open its doors in Brooklyn on March 23, with the mission of setting in place a foundation for a new wave of influential artists.

And as the genre-busting star has seen her own influence rise over the past decade, she also recognizes those who have paved the way for her own success, including Octavia Butler and Grace Jones: "It just depends on the season, honestly. I could go on and on and on."

Monaé hopes to keep supporting other artists going forward.

"I love the process of building, and my hope is that I can get a group. It would be a dream to get a group of some of my favorite actors in a room and us come up with ideas and things we want to see, because I think that's what it's about," she said. "I have so many ideas ... So, that's my next goal. It's to put together an art salon or some sort of retreat where the best of the best people. We admire each other, right?"

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