“不，我不一样了/我觉得我确实变了”（No, I'm not the same/I think I done changed），伴着 Seun Kuti 和 Egypt 80 强劲的铜管乐声、贯穿始终的 808 鼓机，唱作歌手 Janelle Monáe 用自信强势的说唱为第四张个人专辑《The Age of Pleasure》的第一首歌《Float》拉开帷幕，为乐迷展现了她的另一面——那个拥抱当下的自己。“我觉得我必须立刻马上，把《Float》的歌词写出来。” Janelle Monáe 告诉 Apple Music，“这是我珍视自己当下的感受、当下自我的一种表现。我并没有考虑未来，我只考虑现在，因为这就是我们当下拥有的一切。”

此前 Monáe 的专辑都以遍布机器人的未来世界为背景，通过一位主人公来引导故事走向，探讨关于权力、种族和人性的命题。而《The Age of Pleasure》进入了一个解放自我的新时代，Monáe 一改先前的“非洲未来主义者”形象，转而不加掩饰地大胆探索自身欲望，尊崇愉悦至上。Monáe 在专辑的 14 首歌里创建了一个安全的空间，人们可以在这里放松做自己，自由展现自身的酷儿身份、性取向和非裔身份。“我们办了场 Everyday People 派对的 Wondaland 专场，我当时想，‘呀，我就是想为这些人做音乐啊’。”她说道，“我就是想为这种生活、为这珍贵的时刻配乐。他们肯定都明白，这就是我们奋斗多时、守护多时的东西。我的所有作品都围绕着 LGBTQIA+、非裔社群等我所属的群体、为了守护他们的存在而作。”

《The Age of Pleasure》是一封写给世界各地泛非裔族群的情书。此前专辑大多是新浪潮风格、偏独立电子的 beats，这回专辑则融合了爵士、Dancehall、雷鬼、Trap 和 Afrobeats。前半张专辑在精心雕琢的爵士、放克风格的节奏与韵律下，Monáe 展示着自己的成就（《Champagne Shit》），骄傲地为自己喝彩（《Float》《Phenomenal》《Haute》）。专辑的后半部分转入中板的雷鬼曲风，Monáe 纵情沉醉于肉体欲望之中。“我喜欢脖子上的口红/围住我腰身的双手，你知道接下来会发生什么/我想要你贴住我的唇/我只想感受/小小地舌吻一下，我们没有太长时间”（I 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），她在性感撩人、充满夏日风情的《Lipstick Lover》里唱道，歌颂着非裔酷儿性解放的欢乐。在《The Rush》《Water Slide》中，她运用水的意象来比喻对欢愉的追求；《Only Have Eyes 42》称颂了多重关系，Monáe 同时倾慕多个爱人。

归根结底，在《The Age of Pleasure》里，Monáe“彻彻底底地解放了自己”，很满意自己当下的状态，为自己的身份感到无比骄傲。“我的朋友们以前就见过我不为人知的另一面，而我想通过这张专辑、通过我当下的状态，向大家展现一直以来朋友们眼中的另一个 Janelle。”她表示，“我要掌管自己的全部，做全部的自己。”

Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase) is the debut EP of American musician Janelle Monáe, released August 24, 2007 on Bad Boy Records. Produced by Monáe, Control Z, and Chuck Lightning, the EP introduces Monáe's Metropolis conceptual series, following a fictional tale of female android Cindi Mayweather who is mass produced in the year 2719 for a market filled with severe social stratification.
The EP debuted at number 115 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 5,200 copies in its first week.[10] It was re-released as a special edition on August 12, 2008 and produced three singles, including "Violet Stars Happy Hunting!", "Sincerely, Jane.", and "Many Moons". Upon its release, Metropolis Suite I received generally positive reviews from music critics, with Many Moons being nominated for the Best Urban/Alternative Performance at the 51st Grammy Awards.

"PrimeTime" is featured on Janelle Monae's upcoming sophomore LP, The Electric Lady - out September 10th.
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It's been five years since we've received an album from Janelle Monáe. Her 2018 effort Dirty Computer follows The Electric Lady and like her past two albums voyage to a futuristic land that only Monáe can see. Last month, Janelle Monáe shared two songs, "Make Me Feel" and "Django Jane," which were her attempts at bringing women together during a time of reckoning where women are the forces behind Hollywood's Time's Up initiative and movements like the Black Lives Matter.
"PYNK" featuring Grimes premiered as the World Record on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 show.

The Electric Lady is the upcoming second studio album by American recording artist Janelle Monáe, and will be released on September 10, 2013, by Wondaland Arts Society and Bad Boy Records.[4] It is the follow up to her critically acclaimed debut studio album, The ArchAndroid.

Fun. is an Indie Pop band which formed in New York City, New York, United States in 2008. The band consists of Nate Ruess (vocals), Andrew Dost (keyboard, bass) and Jack Antonoff (guitar, trumpet). Ruess is a former member of The Format, Andrew Dost is a former member of Anathallo and Jack Antonoff is a member of Steel Train. The band also includes touring members Nate Harold (bass), Emily Moore (keyboards, guitar) and Will Noon (drums).
The band has released two albums: <Aim And Ignite> (2009) and <Some Nights> (2012). Their single "We Are Young" (Feat. Janelle Monáe) peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart.

After two concept albums and a string of roles in Hollywood blockbusters, one of music’s fiercest visionaries sheds her alter egos and steps out as herself. Buckle up: Human Monáe wields twice the power of any sci-fi character. In this confessional, far-reaching triumph, she dreams of a world in which love wins (“Pynk") and women of color have agency (“Django Jane”). Featuring guest appearances from Brian Wilson, Grimes, and Pharrell—and bearing the clear influence of Prince, Monae’s late mentor—Dirty Computer is as uncompromising and mighty as it is graceful and fun. “I’m the venom and the antidote,” she wails in “I Like That,” a song about embracing these very contradictions. “Take a different type of girl to keep the whole world afloat.”

fun.'s song 'We Are Young' featuring Janelle Monáe from the upcoming full-length album out early 2012 on Fueled By Ramen.