Much has been made about Janelle Monáe’s upcoming album, The Age Of Pleasure, specifically as it relates to her often-NSFW rollout of the project. Now, they’re back with more, via the newly revealed CD and vinyl editions of the album that continue to put breasts on display.
In a post shared on Twitter this afternoon (May 23), Monáe posted photos of the vinyl edition. On the front is alternate cover art, a warm-colored portrait of Monáe. When the packaging is opened up, revealed is a painting of breasts (presumably Monáe’s, given how eager she’s been to show them off lately). Monáe’s tweet with photos of the vinyl packaging can be found here.
Meanwhile, the CD edition of the album also shows off some skin. The cover art is the same underwater shot as the original cover, but the art on the CD features a different photo from that same shoot, in which Monáe is also topless in a pool.
Lupita Nyong’o spoke about her friendship with Janelle Monáe during a recent profile for Rolling Stone. In doing so, she commented on the rumors the two previously dated each other. The actress says that the rumors didn’t come as a surprise.
“She has magnetism that they were obviously picking up on,” Nyong’o said. “She is that enigmatic. People are curious about enigmatic people. I was not surprised. And I don’t mind being associated with her in any capacity.”
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA – MARCH 02: Actors Lupita Nyong’o and Janelle Monae pose as Janelle Monae and Belvedere Vodka kick-off “A Beautiful Future” Campaign with Fem the Future Brunch at Catch LA on March 2, 2018 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Donato Sardella/Getty Images for Belvedere Vodka)
Nyong’o also admitted that despite their close relationship, she still can’t entirely know Monáe: “Just because you’re a close friend of hers doesn’t mean you get to know everything about her. I think that’s what makes her interesting as an artist.”
Speaking with Rolling Stone isn’t the first time Nyong’o has commented on Monáe. At the Met Gala, she recalled the first time she met Monáe following her breakout role in the 2013 movie 12 Years A Slave. Nyong’o said: “This world is still extremely new to me and unbelievable. [Monáe] came up to me and just gave me the realest hug. I think we may have swayed to the music. She was just like, ‘I’m so proud of you, and just thank you for being you.’ […] At some point, [Monáe] asked me for my phone, put her number in, and said, ‘Let’s stay in touch.’ She was like, ‘I really mean it. If you need anything, I’m here for you.’”
The Rolling Stone profile comes ahead of the release of Monáe’s new album, The Age of Pleasure. She shared the first single from the project, “Lipstick Lover,” earlier this month. The full album will be releasing on June 9.
Janelle Monáe is firmly in control within the rollout of their forthcoming LP The Age Of Pleasure. As Uproxx’s Aaron Williams put it, “It’s the story of America, of being Black, of being queer, of being non-binary, and always fighting to be seen, to be heard, and to not just survive in a hostile world but thrive.”
SZA sides with Isbell. She commented on an RNB RADAR Instagram post about “Lipstick Lover,” expressing admiration for Monáe’s “self-renaissance.” (It should also be noted that The Age Of Pleasure is due out June 9, aka 6/9, which is very likely not coincidental.)
“I love that it’s HER being free rn because people LOVE to box women in and claim that because your articulate respected and intelligent [eye-rolling emoji],” SZA wrote. “You can’t show your body or be sexual or anything else lol . It’s a ridiculous notion and I’m ALL FOR HER SELF RENAISSANCE [hearts-as-eyes emoji].”
Monáe also repurposed a clip from the “Lipstick Lover” video as a Mother’s Day tribute on Sunday, May 14. See their post below.
Yesterday (May 14) was Mother’s Day, and late last night, Janelle Monáe shined a light on her mom, specifically on her reaction to the NSFW “Lipstick Lover” video that has taken over the internet in recent days.
In a video shot the day before the “Lipstick Lover” video release, Monáe is on a video call with their mother, showing her the clip. After it ended, her mother reacted, “Oh-ho… that’s cool. Only thing, though: Are you gonna be able to show that nude booty all the time on the… like, on the YouTube?” Monáe responded, “Yeah, they said we could!”
Monáe then asked if her mom had any last-minute thoughts on the video before its release, and she responded, “Well, would be nice if you had a man’s butt up there.” She added, “It’s a nice song. If people don’t get hysterical about the booty so bad, if they just listen to the lyrics of the song, it gonna go triple.” Monáe asked what she meant by “triple” and after trying to find the right words, their mother said, “Triple golden.”
Wrapping up the convo, Monáe asked if her mom enjoyed the video and she replied, “Yeah. I just was hoping that big booty go away for a second.”
It’s a delightful video, so check it out above.
The Age Of Pleasure is out 6/9 via Wondaland Arts Society/Atlantic Records. Find more information here.
Janelle Monáe is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
It’s Janelle Monáe’s world, we’re simply living in it. The multi-talented musician and actress releases her fourth studio album, The Age of Pleasure, on June 9. Ahead of its release, Monáe has been readily embracing the hedonistic nature and theme of the album. They dropped a wild and sensual music video alongside their new single, “Lipstick Lover“. Then she flashed the crowd at a bar where she was performing.
With social media going absolutely wild for their antics, Monáe reveled in the Dionysian Bacchanalia she had reduced Twitter too. “The TheyTriarchy has landed. ” the non-binary star wrote in one tweet. “Titties out for the next 15 years. ” they proclaimed in another. The Age Of Pleasure is set to be Monáe’s first album since 2018’s Dirty Computer, which peaked at #6 on the US charts.
Monáe also revealed the album art for The Art Of Pleasure. Photographed by Mason Rose, the cover sees a topless Monáe swimming through the legs of several individuals standing in a pool. The photo appears to have been shot on film and has a warm 70s glow that accentuates the era-appropriate title font. While only tangentially, the cover invokes a similar to Nirvana’s cover for Nevermind.
However, Monáe bares all on the cover of the album. A censored version that pixelated their nipples was also released on social media to help with promotion. According to Monáe herself, the new album is meant to help usher in a new age in her life. “Listen, I’ve had my Age of Depression. I’ve had my Age of Anxiety. I’ve had my Age of Struggle. And again, it’s not like life is pleasurable every single day, but I think I have actively just sought out…How do I realize that right now, in this present moment, moments that we’ll never get back, this is where you need to find your pleasure?.” In its own way, the newly-released album cover goes a long way to helping embody that ideal. Are you excited about The Age Of Pleasure? Let us know in the comments.
It’s Janelle Monáe’s world, and we all live in it. Jason Isbell is just glad to be along for the ride. After several clips of Monáe flashing their bare breast to the crowd went viral (as did her “Lipstick Lover” visual), social media was flooded with varying opinions. While some begged for more, others weren’t pleased with the musician. However, Isbell is confused by the backlash over Monáe’s NSFW video.
He tweeted, “Wait, there are people who don’t like Janelle’s video? Seriously I don’t know wtf you people want if it isn’t that,” adding, “There are some things we all just agree it’s awesome so we can go about our business. Like gold, diamonds, Outkast, and this video.”
Wait there are people who DON’T like Janelle’s video? Seriously I don’t know wtf you people want if it isn’t that
Isbell isn’t the only musician impressed by the video. Cardi B uploaded (and quickly deleted) a sexual meme to give her stamp of approval.
Over the last few weeks, the musician has let it all hang out as they count down the days to the release of their forthcoming album, The Age Of Pleasure. But, eventually, the musician decided to lean into their freedom of expression nixing their designer duds at the 2023 Met Gala for a string bikini which she then wore as she danced atop a New York bar.
Monáe doesn’t care about the backlash, writing on Twitter, “Titties out for the next 15 years.” The entertainer has had quite the about-face since the “Float” singer threatened to withhold future releases after a fan joked about the Monáe former conservative black-and-white wardrobe.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
What has so far flown relatively under the radar is the album art, which features a topless Monáe swimming underwater. Previously shared versions of the cover made use of pixellation to censor Monáe’s nipples, but today (May 12), they took to social media to share the more revealing, uncensored version. The censored version is below, but Monaé’s tweet with the uncensored, NSFW version can be found here.
Wondaland Arts Society/Atlantic Records
In follow-up tweets, she also shared the names of the people behind the photo. She credits herself and Chuck Lightning for creative direction, Mason Rose as the photographer, Briana Garrido for production, and Joe R Perez and Free Marseille for art direction and design.
The Age Of Pleasure is out 6/9 via Wondaland Arts Society/Atlantic Records. Find more information here.
Janelle Monáe is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
What Janelle Monáe is doing isn’t new. The singer, who has long been known for their campy style and high-concept songwriting, has been turning heads ahead of the release of her fourth studio album, Age Of Pleasure, which she announced earlier this week with the video for “Lipstick Lover.” In that video — and in many of her public appearances before its release, such as at the Met Gala — Janelle makes it a point to show off aspects of theirself many fans are just seeing for the first time.
Those aspects include her physical attributes, yes — she most recently flashed a crowd during the video release party for “Lipstick Lover” — but they’ve also included her unabashed approach to sexuality. In the “Lipstick Lover” video she not only flaunts her gorgeous features, but also displays a downright impressive collection of sex toys (the use of which she “demonstrates” toward the end of the video), and what appears to be a feet kink, eating chocolate cake out of a high heeled woman’s shoe.
Fans on Twitter have been flabbergasted; the best example being the viral tweet that compared her ArchAndroid-era bichromatic suits to the Monopoly mascot, Rich Uncle Pennybags. However, those fans probably just haven’t been paying attention. Janelle Monáe has always centered her sexuality in her music. Her “titties out for the next 15 years” Twitter declaration isn’t a symbol of her sexual awakening; instead, it’s a wake-up call to the audience and a gesture of defiance at what’s been happening in the news lately.
Not to get you down or anything, but I don’t know if you’ve noticed: A lot of people are under direct attack by the political system in this country. Regressive politicians and pundits are lashing out at women, Black folks, and queer people for the past five years, in many cases with the full weight of the government behind them. These monsters are trying to legislate whole segments of the population out of existence; those they don’t want to wipe out, they definitely want to see singing “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” in the cotton fields again.
And with the next election cycle a year away and the legal options looking bleak, there’s been little recourse for those targeted but to get a little louder every day — a little less abashed, a little more aggressive, and a lot more visible, in spite of the hatred radiating their way from nearly every side. The only real way to fight propaganda is with information. So, if Fox News wants to paint trans and queer people as a threat to the American way of life, then those people’s weapon to fight back is to show America they’re just folks like the rest of us.
The same goes for Black people. If state representatives are going to rally against “wokeness” — a dogwhistle for Black people just showing up and refusing to assimilate to whiteness — then the antidote is more representation, not less. And women, whose sexual health is being restricted by the so-called “small government” party, must indulge their desires as much as they can while they still can. If so-called “conservatives” are so threatened by women’s sexual freedom, then women owe it to themselves to enjoy menacing those concern trolls right out of existence.
Janelle Monáe has been doing these things her whole career. If fans are just catching on, it’s their own fault for just scratching the surface and not engaging because of her androgynous, early-career style. Their politics have always been right there in the music, even if they were veiled by the grand metaphor of her “Cindi Mayweather/Electric Lady/ArchAndroid” persona and storytelling. The whole point of Cindi Mayweather as a messianic figure is that she defies the oppressive oligarchy that wishes to suppress freedom and love with the power of time travel. Sound familiar?
Even on her most recent album, 2018’s Dirty Computer, she made clear references to her sexuality and her pleasure in defiance of the autocratic regime. “Pynk” was a song specifically about pussy power, while “Django Jane” evokes Quentin Tarantino’s antebellum revenge film as Monáe declares feminine supremacy. “Remember when they used to say I look too mannish / Black girl magic, y’all can’t stand it / Y’all can’t ban it, made out like a bandit / They been tryin’ hard just to make us all vanish / I suggest they put a flag on a whole ‘nother planet.”
And yes, in this time, she was already beginning to shed the guise of the Android — a guise fans disrespect a little too much with flippant jokes about her dressing like Fonzworth Bentley. She dressed this way to honor her blue-collar family; in her mind, the black-and-white was a uniform that celebrated their uniforms as they went to work cleaning homes and delivering mail. Even then, she was telling us who she was; it’s not a reach to see the bichromatic outfits reflecting her bisexuality and non-binary status.
But now, she doesn’t get to have the luxury of metaphors or double entendres. The situation has become more dire than ever. So now, she’s taken off the pretexts as well as the clothing. She’s still presenting herself as the martyr and messiah, fighting back by being louder, bolder, and brighter than the hatred and those who’d rather see her silent and diminished. That’s not new either. It’s the story of America, of being Black, of being queer, of being non-binary, and always fighting to be seen, to be heard, and to not just survive in a hostile world but thrive.
The rollout for Janelle Monáe’s new era has certainly been provocative, like with her recent NSFW teaser. Now, things are looking more concrete: Today (May 11), she shared “Lipstick Lover” and announced The Age Of Pleasure, her new album set for this summer. Now, she’s shared some of her thoughts about the project.
In a new interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Monáe said of the LP and the mindset behind it:
“All the songs were written from such an honest space. Look, it never stops. Even with this album, this project. I’m just like, ‘You know what? It takes work.’ I have to learn things all over again. I have to practice. I have to… and thank God I love the songs. Yeah. So it’s always a fun thing to do to. It’s like starting on a blank canvas.
So I hope that people feel that when they listen to the music, that they feel that when they come and counter with me when I’m around, I definitely have had an opportunity to evolve and grow and to tap into the things that bring me pleasure, the things that perhaps I should rethink and rework. Sometimes it really is just saying, ‘You know what? Let’s get back to the basics and also let’s honor the present.’
So all the songs were written from such an honest space. And what I’m super excited about with The Age Of Pleasure is that… Listen, I’ve had my age of depression. I’ve had my age of anxiety. I’ve had my age of struggle. And again, it’s not like life is pleasurable every single day, but I think I have actively just sought out… How do I create a space for myself? How do I redirect my mind on how I’m thinking about things? How do I realize that right now in this present moment, moments that we’ll never get back, this is where you need to find your pleasure? This is your moment. Don’t let it get confused that five minutes later, we’re going to try to go into doing something different. And again, this is just my experience where I’m at, even through, despite what I may be going through, there’s going to be a moment where this bad moment, I won’t even be around to even discuss it. I won’t.”
She also discussed how playing the album for people at parties helped her decide what songs to include:
“When I was writing ‘The Age Of Pleasure’, I wrote it with friends, four friends. I was just like, ‘If my friends f*ck with this, this is for us,’ because when we are together, I want them to want to play it. And what I would do is if I knew we were having a party on that Friday or Saturday, on Monday and Tuesday, I’d be like, ‘All right, we’re going to write three songs.’ If the songs can’t work at the party, they’re not going on the album. I was like, ‘If people are not trying to Shazam…’ Because I was like, ‘Don’t say it’s me. Don’t.’ If they know… whatever. I need them Shazaming. And so I have my friend who’s my DJ. He worked on some of the songs on the project with me. I was like, ‘Just play it. Put it after this song.’ We put it in the setlist. And that’s how we made the album. I was walking around. I was so scared. I almost went to the bathroom one time. But ‘Float,’ we did that. ‘Lipstick Lover,’ we did like that. I have a song called ‘Champagne Machine’ that’s on there. I don’t want to give away too much, but basically every song that you’ll hear on the project, that’s how I did it. I want it to be so specific to this Pan-African crowd who are my friends. I want it to be a love letter to the diaspora. And if they f*ck with it, it’s good. I’m great.”
Janelle Monáe is ready to enter a new era with The Age Of Pleasure. That’s the name of her new album, her first in five years. Although she was already beginning to shed her prior black-and-white suits when she released Dirty Computer in 2018, she was still primarily known for her campy wardrobe and high-concept songwriting.
That might change this time around. From its suggestive cover to the sexually-charged video for “Lipstick Lover,” its second single after “Float,” The Age Of Pleasure appears to be a ground-up rebuild of Janelle’s entire image — and that goes along with the messaging she attached to the album’s announcement via press release.
“As we enter into The Age Of Pleasure, ‘Lipstick Lover’ is our freeassmothafucka anthem inspired by f.a.m. for f.a.m,” she wrote. “This is our oasis made with love, rooted in self-acceptance, throbbing in self-discovery, and signed with cherry-red kisses from me to you.” The album is due for release on June 9 (get it? 6/9? not very subtle, this one) via Wondaland Arts Society and Atlantic Records. You can check out the tracklist, courtesy of Apple Music, below.
(@JanelleMonae) 
” the non-binary star wrote in one tweet. “Titties out for the next 15 years. 
” they proclaimed in another. The Age Of Pleasure is set to be Monáe’s first album since 2018’s Dirty Computer, which peaked at #6 on the US charts.
