In her 2013 interview with fuse, Monáe states that "Q.U.E.E.N." was inspired by conversations she shared with Erykah Badu about the treatment of marginalized people, especially African-American women, and the title is an acronym "for those who are marginalized"; Q standing for the queer community, U standing for the "untouchables", the first E standing for "emigrants", the latter standing for "excommunicated" and N standing for "negroid".
I et interview i 2013 med fuse udtalte Monáe, at "Q.U.E.E.N." var inspireret af samtaler, hun havde havde med Erykah Badu om behandlingen af marginaliserede mennesker, især afroamerikanske kvinder, og titlen er et akronym "for dem der er marginaliseret"; Q står for det homoseksuelle (queer) miljø, U for de "urørlige", det første E for "emigranters", det andet for udstødte ("excommunicated"), og N står for "negroid".