Janelle Monáe has been one of the most talked-about pop culture figures in recent weeks, due largely to the skin-bearing rollout of her upcoming album, The Age Of Pleasure, and how it contrasts her previous style era, which featured her mostly covered up in suits. Now, Monáe has talked about what’s going on here.
In a new Rolling Stone feature, Monáe offered some succinct reasoning behind her skimpier outfits as of late, saying, “I’m much happier when my titties are out and I can run around free.”
As a musician, writer, and actor, @JanelleMonae has parlayed their triple-threat achievements into culture-shifting, Black feminist, pro-queer stances.
Ahead of their new album next month, they’re also Rolling Stone’s latest cover star.
Story/Photos: https://t.co/eUQEvOXFXP pic.twitter.com/vpOhIjN5tp
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) May 22, 2023
The piece explores the regular parties Monáe hosts and opens with an anecdote about them showing their butt to their friends at one of them. Monáe said of how these events inspired “Lipstick Lover,” “I have a whole spreadsheet with 50 to almost 100 experiences that I had at this party. I’ve been a Lipstick Lover. I wear red lipsticks at the parties. I’ve had moments where if me and a girl or an energy want to engage, you’re going to see lipstick. […] I remember how it felt when I got kissed on my neck with red lipstick. I remember how I went to bed feeling. It was a deep rouge. It wasn’t matte. I remember the way the person looked. And I was like, ‘That’s a f*cking song.’”
Monáe also revealed that even when they were publicly more buttoned up, their lifestyle off-camera wasn’t necessarily that way: “Even when I was really, really wearing only suits, I was either in a suit or you would find me at my own parties naked. It was no in-between.”
Read the full feature here.
Janelle Monáe is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.