Janelle Monáe, The Age of Pleasure | Album Review 💿

After a five-year hiatus, Grammy-nominated actress/singer Janelle Monáe makes a bold, risqué, and triumphant return with The Age of Pleasure.

It is a tall task to follow-up a masterpiece.  That is what 🏆 Grammy-nominated singer and actress 🎙 Janelle Monáe delivered with her 2018 album, 💿 Dirty Computer – a masterpiece! One of the best albums of 2018 and the 2010s, rightfully, it earned its nomination for Album of The Year.  After a five-year hiatus, the talented nonbinary artist delivers another triumph, this time, 💿 The Age of Pleasure 😈.  As the title suggests, The Age of Pleasure is sensual, sexy, and unafraid to dive into sexuality.  It has its explicit and risqué moments – the album cover art provides that hint – but also has its more poised, subtle sexy moments too.  Throw in the international flavor with Afrobeats and reggae, and The Age of Pleasure, hence, is another surefire win for Monáe. Let’s dive right in, shall we?!

“Float”

Janelle Monáe kicks off The Age of Pleasure with one of its most pleasurable listening experiences: 🤩🎵 “Float”. On the advance single, she’s assisted by Nigerian saxophonist, 🎙 Seun Kuti, and band, 🎙 Egypt 80’. Monáe has evolved into the person that she wants to be, asserting, “I used to walk into the room head down / I don’t walk, now I float.” Her confidence is through the roof, as she rides the picturesque production (🎛 Nate “Rocket” Wonder, Sensei Bueno, and Nana Kwabena) with ease.  She is liberated sexually, dropping naughty, scintillating lines like, “She throwin’ that thang in a circle, makin’ in viral, I might just elope / Say, ‘Listen lil’ mama, you like shibari? Watch while I show you the ropes’.” “Float” brilliantly sets the tone of The Age of Pleasure.

“These niggas ‘bout to make a whole lot of money.” WOO! Monáe adds on 🤩 🎵 “Champagne Shit”, “Don’t ask me shit about work / ‘Cause I’m on my champagne shit.”  “Champagne Shit” has no shortage of pleasure over the course of under two-and-a-half minutes.  Money is no object, where in the chorus, Monaé is “throwin’ them tips” and “She throwin’ them hips.” In the post-chorus, Monáe encourages her to “Back that ass up,” once more embracing her sexual identity 🌈. She further proclaims, “It’s all in them hip, hip, hips / She got them dimples in her back…” There is only one verse. After crying foul about the notion of work, Monáe doubles down on partying. Where vacationing required prayers for her in the past before the come up, she’s now enjoying the age of pleasure – “I’m talkin’ high heels and no shirts.” Ah, that 🎵 “Champagne Shit” is #SLAYING – quite the electrifying aesthetic and vibe.

Appears in 🔻:

• Janelle Monáe, “Champagne Shit”: Midnight Heat 🕛 🔥 47 (2023) 

“Champagne Shit” gets a groovy extension with the brief interlude, 🎵 “Black Sugar Beach”.  “Black Sugar Bleach” prefaces another confident, dance floor-ready bop, 🤩 🎵 “Phenomenal,” featuring 🎙 Doechii.  Janelle Monáe gasses herself up in the intro, proclaiming, “I’m lookin’ at a thousand versions of myself / And we’re all fine as fuck.” Nothing else to say to that but, fuck yeah!  As to be expected, once again, Janelle is sexually liberated, referencing “Pussy purrin’” and also, some C U next Tuesday, if you catch my drift 😈.  Enamored by this phenomenal specimen, Monáe goes so far to say, “She’s a god and I’m her believer / I believe her, I believe her, I believe her.”  Churches will be thrilled by this one though something tells me that they don’t listen to Janelle Monáe anyways! Doechii adds to the colorfulness, touting “Phenomenal puss, phenomenal kush” and such. “Phenomenal” is just that!

“Haute”

“Phenomenal” segues into another ear-catching joint, the brief 🤩 🎵 “Haute” where Monáe continues exuding confidence. Personality and pronunciation help solidify the goodness of this one. Just in case you are unfamiliar with the word haute, it simply means fashionable, high-class. The chorus is a marvelous selling point too.  A confident woman continues to be a theme as Monáe proclaims, “A bitch look good / A bitch look haute / A bitch look pretty / A bitch look handsome.” Arguably the haute-test lyric? “They say I look better than / David Bowie in a Moon Age Dream.” Mic drop! A legend joins Janelle on the reggae-tinged interlude 🎵 “Ooh La La”: 🎙 Grace Jones (yes, the 🎵 “Pull Up to The Bumper” icon 😈)! It’s a fitting preface to one of the contenders for the crowning achievement of The Age of Pleasure: 🤩 🎵 “Lipstick Lover”.

“I seen it from the back, and I’m excited.” WOO! “Baby, I’m obsessed, get me undressed / I wanna feel your lips on mine.” Double WOO! Janelle Monáe delivers those sexy, sensual vibes on 🤩 🎵 “Lipstick Lover”, the hot 🥵 promo single from The Age of Pleasure. Like “Ooh La La” that precedes, “Lipstick Lover” is a reggae-tinged pop/R&B record. Given the style and the laid-back groove, it is tailor made for those sexy vibes she delivers.  Her vocals are strong 💪 as always, with plenty of expression and nuance.  Additionally, harmonized vocal moments deserve a shout out. One of the best examples of this occurs during the pre-chorus: “‘Cause for your love, I’ll take my time / Just wanna feel your hips on mine.” S-E-X-Y to the n^th degree! The pre-chorus leads sensationally into the chorus where Monáe touts her lipstick lover (“I really got a thing for my lipstick lover, lover, lover, lover, lover”). She doesn’t specify who that lover is, but, clearly, the sex is electric (“Hope it’s something nasty, we can try it”). “Lipstick Lover” gives Monáe another winner in her fine musical catalog.   

Appears in 🔻:  

• Awesome Songs: May 2023
• Best LGBTQ 🏳️‍🌈 Songs of 2023 (so far)

“The Rush”

The Age of Pleasure rolls on in utter pleasure with the cool, sensual, utterly groovy 🎵 “The Rush” featuring 🎙 Nia Long and 🎙 Amaarae. Nia Long performs the intro and ‘refrain’ portion of the record (not to be confused with the chorus) in spoken word: “Feel your ocean come to my moon / Let our rain become a monsoon / I want the rush.” It sets the tone for Monáe, who runs with this bedroom joint.  Amaarae brings the heat in the second verse as well, memorably asserting, “Pussy gonna lay go down, make you rest in peace.” Ooh wee! Follow up 🎵 “The French 75” featuring 🎙 Sister Nancy marks another sweet  interlude, bridging between “The Rush” and the forthcoming 🤩 🎵 “Water Slide.” 

Monáe’s confidence continues to be through the roof on 🤩 🎵 “Water Slide”: “If I could fuck me right now / I would do that.” Damn! Monáe doesn’t cease in her self-adoration, further asserting, “Feelin’ myself, wanna play in it / Splash, make a wave in it.”  Of course, the innuendo is through the roof too, with the strokes Monáe mentions being sexual to the nth degree.  There is a nod not only to the water, but likely bisexuality: “All the girls wanna play in it / Boys wanna lay in it..”  All told, “Water Slide” marks another cutting edge moment.

🤩 🎵 “Know Better” keeps the momentum rolling, bringing the Afrobeats sensibilities once more. Monáe enlists 🎙 CKay, as well as Seun Kuti and Egypt 80’ once more (🎵 “Float”).  The horns sound electric, coupled with the brilliant sampling of 🎵 “Darkest Light” by 🎙 Lafayette Afro Rock Band. “Know Better” retains the pleasure-laden nature of the LP but is more tasteful in the realm of naughtiness.  CKay ups the ante with his contributions.  The centerpiece, however, is the chorus, which ranks among the best of The Age of Pleasure (“You met your match and there ain’t no better / I know you tried hard, but there’s no better”).

“Paid in Pleasure” 

Keeping in step is the pleasant, pleasurable 🎵 “Paid in Pleasure”, which keeps the concept alive and well on The Age of Pleasure.  Essentially another interlude, or at least a miniature track, it is one totally worth listening to. It precedes the fabulous 🤩 🎵 “Only Have Eyes 42”, another reggae gem.  Naturally, seeing the song title, the first thing that comes to mind is the oldie, 🎵 “I Only Have Eyes For You”.  Here, on “Only Have Eyes 42” Monáe sounds particularly beautiful, both as a solo vocalist as well as when she serves up harmonized, layered vocals.  Notably, she does NOT only have eyes for one: “I only have eyes for two.” Interesting! It only accentuates the pleasure, right? Also accentuating the pleasure is the sound and timbre of “Only Have Eyes 42,” which samples 🎵 “The Loser” by 🎙 Derrick Harriott.  It is another great repurposing of and oldie into something new.  

🎵 “A Dry Red” serves as the 14^th and fine track from The Age of Pleasure.  Another brief number, it benefits from its chill and – wait for it – SEXY vibes.  While it feels like Monáe barely breaks a sweat, she still ‘gets the job done’: “But me and you can fuck in that jacuzzi / And we can make a scene.” Yup, that’s how it goes down, perspiration or not!

Final Thoughts 💭 

Janelle Monáe never misses. Once again, with 💿 The Age of Pleasure, she has not only delivered a consistent, incredibly enjoyable album, she also titillates the audience something fierce 😈!  At times, Monáe goes all in on sex and sexuality, playing true to the title of the LP. At other times, she is more subtle and less explicit, yet still captures the concept superbly.  There are no misses to be found on this album, particularly given its brevity.  Once more, shout out to the international flavor – it’s fi-yahhh 🔥! The Age of Pleasure is sure to give fans plenty of it, not to mention give Monáe some more 🏆 Grammy buzz.

via GIPHY

🤩 Gems 💎: “Float,” “Champagne Shit,” “Phenomenal,” “Haute,” “Lipstick Lover,” “Water Slide,” “Know Better” & “Only Have Eyes 42”

🎙 Janelle Monáe • 💿 The Age of Pleasure • 🏷 Wondaland Productions LLC / Bad Boy Records LLC • 🗓 6.9.23 

[📷: Wondaland Productions LLC / Bad Boy Records LLC]