Janelle Monàe Lifts The Curtain on The Age of Pleasure

Janelle Monáe, music’s foremost freeassmuthafucka, has released her enthralling new music video, “Lipstick Lover,” today. Monàe also announced the release of their highly anticipated new album, THE AGE OF PLEASURE.

The acclaimed new single “Float (Feat. Seun Kuti + Egypt 80)” is also included in THE AGE OF PLEASURE. The track, described by Pitchfork as “swaggering, brass-heavy…the sound of a top-tier talent doing a little victory dance,” is accompanied by an official dance video, which has over 1 million views on YouTube.

“Float,” which Monáe first teased on her massively popular Instagram, was first heard late last year as the official anthem of ABC/ESPN’s NBA Saturday Primetime campaign, with Janelle contributing voiceover narration to promo spots highlighting the league’s biggest matchups and stars. Through mid-March, the track was used extensively across all NBA coverage, including promos, Primetime matchups, in-game placement, social media, and more.

Furthermore, “Float” was featured in an animated piece commemorating Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the top spot on the NBA’s all-time regular-season scoring list, which was shared across ESPN’s socials and James’ Instagram to reach over 275 million combined followers.

Janelle Monáe is an 8x GRAMMY® Award-nominated singer, songwriter, producer, performer, and fashion icon known worldwide for her inimitable style and visionary sound.

THE ARCHANDROID, her genre-bending debut album, debuted in 2010 and quickly rose to the top 20 on the Billboard 200, earning two GRAMMY® Award nominations for “Best Contemporary R&B Album” and “Best Urban/Alternative Performance” for the RIAA Gold-certified single “Tightrope (Feat. Big Boi).”

THE ELECTRIC LADY debuted at #5 on the SoundScan/Billboard 200 in 2013, thanks to collaborations with like-minded artists such as Solange, Esperanza Spalding, and Monáe’s lifelong hero, the one and only Prince, as well as hit singles/music videos such as the MTV Video Music Award-winning “Q.U.E.E.N. (Feat. Erykah Badu).”

DIRTY COMPUTER, which received a coveted GRAMMY® Award nomination for “Album Of The Year” in 2018, features the RIAA Gold-certified hit singles “Make Me Feel” and “I Like That,” as well as a groundbreaking “Emotion Picture” that incorporates a number of the album’s visually stunning music videos.

Monáe has traveled the world for sold out headline tours, festival appearances, and special guest runs alongside Bruno Mars, Amy Winehouse, No Doubt, Katy Perry, Erykah Badu, and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Monáe launched her film acting career in 2016 with stellar performances in two landmark films, Hidden Figures and Moonlight; both films received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, with the latter winning the award at the 89th Academy Awards.

Her acclaimed roles in 2018’s Harriet, 2020’s Antebellum, and 2022’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, to name a few, quickly grew her filmography. Monáe has also appeared on numerous TV shows, including NBC’s Saturday Night Live and TODAY, ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, PBS’ Sesame Street, MTV’s RuPaul’s Drag Race, Netflix’s We The People, and many more.

Monáe was recently awarded the National Board of Review’s 2022 “Best Supporting Actress” Award for her role in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and she has received a long list of accolades and other honors, including three Critics Choice Awards, two Billboard Women In Music Awards, an NAACP Image Award, two Soul Train Awards (out of 13 nominations), an Essence Black Women in Hollywood Award, eight GRAMMY® Award nominations, and multiple nominations for BET.

Monáe, who has always had an eclectic and creative visual presence, was chosen as the new face of CoverGirl in 2012, later became a spokesperson for the home audio company Sonos, and recently collaborated with Target for its “I Got The Juice” co-branded campaign for Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.