Janelle Monae - The Age Of Pleasure

Released: 09/06/23

I'm undoubtedly not the first to call the Grammy Award-nominated Janelle Monáe a Renaissance woman, but where the term can sometimes be used as a little bit of a backhanded compliment, meaning essentially that the artist in question is quite' good at many things, I fully mean that Monáe is seemingly exceptional at everything she turns her hand to. Singing? Hell of a voice. Rapping? Great flow. Acting? Have you seen her in Moonlight and A Glass Onion? Cultural influence? Hell of an Instagram game. And NSFW videos? Yoiiikks. Anyway, this year's The Age of Pleasure, the follow-up to 2018's Dirty Computer, is R&B pop at its best: playful, joyful, fearless (not least in its celebration of queerness), and catchy as all hell. Just be mindful of where you watch her videos ¦