Janelle Monáe Welcomes ‘The Age Of Pleasure’ With Racy “Lipstick Lover” Video

Janelle Monáe is sensual and sure in her newest video “Lipstick Lover.”

Released on Thursday (May 11), the Reggae-infused track comes with an NSFW official motion picture, co-directed by the 37-year-old and Alan Ferguson. The visual highlights the beauty of queer love and community through sexy displays of physical touch and affection, colorful dancing, and shared cigars.

“That song, ‘Lipstick Lover’, ugh. I’m like, ‘Why didn’t I write this song years ago?’” explained the 37-year-old to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, where they premiered the single.

“Because if you know me… Today, I don’t have on any red lipstick, but I’m always in red lipstick. And there have been so many instances where I’ve made out with somebody at a party and it’s dark. Nobody notices it. But when the lights come on, whoever I’ve made out with, lipstick all over their face. And then I’ve also been on the receiving end of a human… who’s so attractive…. Or I’ll get home and I’m like, “Oh my God. I have lipstick all over my face.” And I’ve also been the ‘Lipstick Lover’ where…You know exactly who I kissed.”

Janelle Monáe ‘The Age Of Pleasure’

Along with the sensual song and video, the Glass Onion star revealed details on their upcoming album The Age Of Pleasure.

“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,” they detailed.

“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’.”

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Janelle Monáe attends The 2023 Met Gala Celebrating “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 01, 2023 in New York City.

The Electric Lady performer continued to elaborate:

“I’m super excited about with The Age of Pleasure. 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 though, 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.”

The Age Of Pleasure is led by the first single “Float” featuring Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 issued in February 2023. The confident track was used throughout all NBA coverage through mid-March in various promos, primetime matchups, social media, and more. It was also featured in an animated piece marking Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the no. 1 spot on the NBA’s all-time regular-season scoring list.

In full, The Age Of Pleasure is due on June 9 via Wondaland Arts Society/Atlantic Records. The album follows Dirty Computer, released to critical acclaim in 2018. Listen to “Float” above and check out the sexy “Lipstick Lover” video on YouTube.

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