Janelle Monae

Janelle Monae was honored at the "Black Women in Music" event hosted by Essence Magazine on Wednesday in Los Angeles. P. Diddy, who signed Monae to his Bad Boy Records label in 2008 is hugely proud of her achievements.

"It was a great time for me and her 'cause I was at a time of evolving, at a time of another level of maturity where I wasn't such a control freak." Says P.Diddy, he continued and said: "It was time for me to recognize that other people maybe had ideas that I didn't understand and I would still be able to support it and play my position."

Big Boi, who was an early supporter of Janelle Monae was also present at this special event. Monae thanked both P. Diddy and Big Boi for giving a girl from Kansas a shot. She also said "I'm thankful. I'm highly gratified. This was a surprise for me. For Essence to want to recognize me at such an early stage in my career and give me the award. I'm just thankful. I don't have that many adjectives to describe how I feel."

Prince and Misty Copeland were also present during the event. Misty Copeland was recently added to the Essence Magazine's top 40 Boundary-Breaking Black Women in Entertainment. Monae performed during the event, after which she received a standing ovation from P. Diddy and Prince.

Besides the Essence Magazine award, Janelle Monae is nominated for two Grammy Awards in the categories of Best Urban/Alternative Performance and Best Contemporary R&B Album.