{"id":4930,"date":"2023-07-05T15:12:09","date_gmt":"2023-07-05T20:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/read.streamapse.com\/?p=4930"},"modified":"2025-05-17T17:51:45","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T22:51:45","slug":"janelle-monae-returns-from-the-future-and-embraces-the-present","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/?p=4930","title":{"rendered":"Janelle Mon\u00e1e Returns From The Future And Embraces The Present"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cNo, I’m not the same\/I think I done changed,\u201d Janelle Mon\u00e1e raps with a swagger on \u201cFloat,\u201d the opener for her fourth LP, The Age of Pleasure. Over powerful brass\u2014courtesy of Seun Kuti and Egypt 80\u2014and heavy-lidded 808s, the singer-songwriter introduces listeners to another side of herself where she embraces the present. \u201cThose lyrics for ‘Float,’ I was like, I have to put this out now,\u201d she tells Apple Music. \u201cThis is exactly, how do I honor how I’m feeling and who I am now. I’m not thinking about the future, but right now, because this is all we have right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where Mon\u00e1e’s previous records were character-driven\u2014set in a complex futuristic world filled with androids\u2014and explored themes about power, race, and humanity, The Age of Pleasure highlights a new era of liberation that sheds her Afro-futurist persona in favor of an unmasked exploration of her own sensuality and deservedness to feel good above all else. Mon\u00e1e creates a safe space within the album’s 14 tracks where people can relax into themselves and express their queer identities, sexuality, and unapologetic Blackness. \u201cWe had an Everyday People Wondaland party, and I was like, Oh, this is who I want to make music for,\u201d she says. \u201cThis moment right here, I want to make the soundtrack to this lifestyle. They get it. This is what we fight to protect. All of my work that centers around protecting my communities that I’m a part of, from the LGBTQIA+ communities to being Black to all of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Stream The Age of Pleasure<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Age of Pleasure is a love letter to the Pan-African diaspora. Mon\u00e1e trades in her previous albums’ New Wave indie-electronic beats for an effortless fusion of jazz, dancehall, reggae, trap, and Afrobeats. The first half features tightly produced jazz- and funk-inspired tempos and rhythms over which she flexes her accomplishments (\u201cChampagne Shit\u201d) and proudly celebrates herself (\u201cFloat,\u201d \u201cPhenomenal,\u201d \u201cHaute\u201d). The album’s second half switches gears with midtempo, reggae-influenced sounds and Mon\u00e1e indulging her carnal desires. \u201cI like lipstick on my neck\/Hands around my waist so you know what’s coming next\/I wanna feel your lips on mine\/I just wanna feel\/A little tongue, we don’t have a long time,\u201d she sings on \u201cLipstick Lover,\u201d a seductive, summery groove that is a joyous celebration of queer Black sexual liberation. She uses water metaphors to underscore her euphoric pleasure-seeking on \u201cThe Rush\u201d and \u201cWater Slide,\u201d while \u201cOnly Have Eyes 42\u201d is an ode to polyamory, with more than one lover at the center of Mon\u00e1e’s affections.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, on The Age of Pleasure, Mon\u00e1e taps into her \u201cfree-ass motherfucking spirit,\u201d as she calls it, and delivers an album that honors the space that she’s currently in\u2014unabashed and proud of who she is. \u201cMy friends have gotten an opportunity to see a different side of me that nobody gets to see, and this album, this moment that I’m having, I’m allowing myself to show that version of Janelle that friends get to see all the time,\u201d she says. \u201cI want to own all of me and be all of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

See Janelle Mon\u00e1e Live! The Age Of Pleasure Tour!<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cNo, I’m not the same\/I think I done changed,\u201d Janelle Mon\u00e1e raps with a swagger on \u201cFloat,\u201d the opener for her fourth LP, The Age of Pleasure. Over powerful brass\u2014courtesy of Seun Kuti and Egypt 80\u2014and heavy-lidded 808s, the singer-songwriter introduces listeners to another side of herself where she embraces the present. \u201cThose lyrics for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4933,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conversations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4930"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6128,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4930\/revisions\/6128"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}