Janelle Monáe is absolutely living her best life lately. Ever since she ditched the Monopoly Man fits, she’s seemingly been on a mission to blast as much of her ample sex appeal into our faces as we can possibly stand. From showing off her “Jamaican food and sex“-formed, Florence Pugh-approved physique to teasing fans with steamy images from her upcoming videos, Ms. Monáe has completely upended our expectations.
The video for her latest single, “Lipstick Lover,” reinforces that in two ways. One: it is ridiculously unserious, cheekily poking fun at Western squeamishness with a plethora of sex toys and kinky visuals (Janelle’s got a thing for feet, apparently), and two: it is very, very, extremely not safe for work. It’s downright porny. Monáe and friends throw a pool party/orgy that involves a lot of exposed flesh — tastefully blurred for the prudes at YouTube, naturally — and so much food, you just know someone caught a cramp while swimming.
“Lipstick Lover” follows “Float,” another song that had quite the steamy buildup, although we never did get a video for that. All of this is building up to The Age Of Pleasure, which will be the title of Monáe’s new album dropping June 9.
Meanwhile, in other non-sexy news, Janelle Monáe is going to be booked and busy this year, with performances planned at Outside Lands and Montreux Jazz Festival all while she’s expanding her Fem The Future non-profit’s mission to support girls and non-binary youth of color in the arts and education.
Watch the “Lipstick Lover” video above — just not at work. The Age Of Pleasure is due on 6/9 via Wondaland Arts Society/Atlantic Records. You can get more info here.
Janelle Monáe is a Warner Music artist. .
