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Janelle Monáe's Killer 'Glass Onion' Tour Style: See All The Photos

From sleek pantsuits to fiery gowns, bright dresses and bold accessories, Janelle Monáe has been bringing the drama while promoting the Netflix hit film. See all her fierce looks ahead of her receipt of the SeeHer Award at the Critics' Choice Awards Sunday night

Sep. 11, 2022

Janelle Monáe has been globe-trotting while promoting Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery for the last four months and while the film has been getting a lot of buzz, the "Yoga" singer's red carpet looks have been the real scene-stealers.

From jaw-dropping gowns to crisp pantsuits, Monáe has been bringing nothing but delightful drama to the red carpet, all over the world.

The actress kicked things off with this futuristic, fluid Iris van Herpen couture gown while attending the Toronto International Film Festival.

Oct. 14, 2022

For the 66th BFI London Film Festival, Monáe wore a brass-button swing coat by Thom Browne and elevated the look with some socks and patent heels.

Oct. 16, 2022

Monáe shows off her bright yellow manicure with a similar coatdress ensemble by Thom Browne during a photo call in London.

Between the sheer bodice, balloon skirt, oversized headpiece and striking red color, the singer came to make a statement with this Christian Siriano number at the European Premiere Closing Night Gala during the 66th BFI London Film Festival.

Oct. 17, 2022

She continues to be a lady in red (topped off with a black beret) for a drinks reception for the film in London.

Oct. 19, 2022

Monáe did not hold back on the wow factor for the Spanish premiere of Glass Onion , picking a Robert Wun gown with a dramatic neckline and full train.

Nov. 13, 2022

Anyone can match her blazer and tie to her bag — it's just that Monáe's bag happens to be a zebra.

Nov. 14, 2022

The songstress set the red carpet on fire with this high-drama Elie Saab gown with cutout details and feather skirt at the Los Angeles premiere of Glass Onion back in November.

Nov. 21, 2022

Monáe rocks a houndstooth jacket and oversized glasses while speaking onstage during Glass Onion' s N.Y.C. Tastemaker screening at the Whitby Hotel.

Dec. 6, 2022

Cornrows, statement earrings, full length gloves: Monáe gets edgy while visiting Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Dec. 9, 2022

The actress does a happy dance while attending a Glass Onion Murder Mystery Experience at Rooftop L.O.A in Atlanta.

Dec. 14, 2022

Janelle Monáe goes for a more laid back look while leaving ABC Studios.

Dec. 15, 2022

Enchanté. The singer keeps things simple, yet fierce at the Parisian premiere.

Dec. 17, 2022

Monáe shows that she's the ultimate fashionista in this mixed pattern Thom Browne get-up.

Jan. 8, 2023

The fashion goddess brings old Hollywood glam in a flowy Valentino gown coupled with an Audrey Hepburn-esque up-do while attending the National Board of Review 2023 Awards Gala.

Jan. 9, 2023

The "Pynk" singer makes something as simple as a sweater dress look super cool. She rocked this black and white number along with some black leather boots, a floor-length trench coat and cool hat to top it off.

Jan. 11, 2023

Monáe arrives at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert wearing an all-black pantsuit with a risque cut-out top.

Jan. 12, 2023

She recently wore this skirt suit by Thom Browne with a cool bowler hat at an awards luncheon at Hotel Bel- Air.

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Photos: Janelle Monáe brings Age of Pleasure Tour to San Francisco's Bill Graham Civic

Updated on: October 18, 2023 / 12:01 PM PDT / CBS News

R&B maverick Janelle Monáe delivered a splashy, colorful spectacle at the Bill Graham Civic Center in San Francisco Tuesday night, playing fan favorites and songs from her latest effort The Age of Pleasure .

DJ Nana Kwabena at Bill Graham Civic

DJ Nana Kwabena warmed up the crowd at the Bill Graham Civic before the first live band took the stage.

Dreamer Isioma at Bill Graham Civic

Chicago singer-songwriter Dreamer Isioma and their band took the stage at the Bill Graham Civic next.

Dreamer Isioma performs at Bill Graham Civic on October 17, 2023 in San Francisco, California.

Janelle Monáe at Bill Graham Civic

Monáe took the stage at the Bill Graham Civic wearing a cape, headpiece and what appeared to be legwarmers crafted from flowers, the first of several spectacular costumes she would wear during the evening.

Janelle Monáe performs at Bill Graham Civic on October 17, 2023 in San Francisco, California.

Fans watch Janelle Monáe perform at Bill Graham Civic on October 17, 2023 in San Francisco, California.

A fan watches Janelle Monáe perform at Bill Graham Civic on October 17, 2023 in San Francisco, California.

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20+ Pics of Janelle Monáe at the Anthem D.C. 2023

PHOTO BY TONYA CAVER @CAVER_IMAGING

Nonbinary singer, songwriter, rapper, and actress Janelle Monáe stopped at the Anthem in Washington, D.C. in September for a performance on The Age of Pleasure Tour.

The multihyphenate Monáe, who came out as nonbinary in 2022 after having previously come out as pansexual in 2018 , performed songs from their new album, The Age of Pleasure .

Monáe spoke of their journey of identity last year in an interview on Red Table Talk with Jaida Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith, and Adrienne Banfield Norris.

“I’m nonbinary, so I just don’t see myself as a woman, solely,” they said. “I feel all of my energy. I feel like god is so much bigger than the ‘he’ or the ‘she.’ And if I am from God, I am everything. I am everything. But I will always, always stand with women. I will always stand with Black women. But I just see everything I am. Beyond the binary.”

You can learn more about Janelle Monáe and The Age of Pleasure album and tour at jmonae.com . You can follow Monáe on @janellemonae . All photos by Tonya Caver @caver_imaging

Keep scrolling to see the exciting pics from Janelle Monáe on The Age of Pleasure Tour at the Anthem in Washington, D.C.

All photos by Tonya Caver @caver_imaging

You can learn more about Janelle Monáe and The Age of Pleasure album and tour at jmonae.com . You can follow Monáe on @janellemonae .

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With comparisons merging between Lauryn Hill, Annie Lennox, James Brown, David Bowie and Andre 3000, multi Grammy nominee neo-soul singer Janelle Monáe (born 1 December 1985) from Kansas, US also known as her android counterpart Cindi Mayweather has collaborated with the likes of Estelle and Fun adding her unique touch.

It was her move to Georgia, US after studying at drama school that her career really kicked off. Meeting Bad Boi of Outkast in 2001, together they created the Wondaland Art Society with like-minded individuals. Describing her genre as bending, Monáe meanders through elements of psychedelic soul, jazz and old school R&B while remaining a conceptualist through and through. Using the alter ego of android Cindi Mayweather from the year 2719 who is on the run from her home planet of Metropolis for breaking the law and finds herself on earth falling in love with human Anthony Green, a storyline which provided the backbone of her debut self EP “The Audition” in 2003.

With a little nudge from friend Big Boi, Sean Combes aka P. Diddy and CEO of Bad Boy Records checked out Monáe’s Myspace page and was mesmerised. In 2007 she signed with his label and released her second EP “Metropolis: The Chase Suite” the following year, a continuation of the Mayweather saga. The EP earned her a nomination at that year’s Grammy’s with the single “Many Moons” for “Best Urban/Alternative Performance”.

In 2010 Monáe released her debut full-length album “The ArchAndroid” peaking at number 17 in the US charts featuring the singles “Come Alive (The War of the Roses)”, “Tight Rope” and “Cold War”. Three years later came the release of her second album “Electric Lady” which saw her collaborations include Solange Knowles, Miguel and Prince. Monáe has also enjoyed success featuring on Estelle’s “Do My Thing” and Fun.’s “We Are Young” as well as sharing the stage with: Katy Perry, No Doubt, Bruno Mars and Red Hot Chilli Peppers to name a few.

A Cover Girl spokeswoman, style icon with her signature fashion inspired by Grace Jones and Josephine Baker and now adds label owner as 2015 saw Monáe joins forces with Epic Records and CEO LA Reid to launch the independent label Wondaland Art Society.

Live reviews

Janelle Monáe has to be the greatest entertainer on planet earth right now. This show was the perfect combination of music, dance, political rabble rousing, comedy, audience participation and downright sheer fun. Let’s start with the music. Her new album has taken her in a slightly more hip hop direction but the blend of the new music with the older stuff was perfectly judged and delivered by crack musicians with an unbelievable energy and intensity. The 4 dancers, the costume changes and fantastic lighting effects augmented the visual experience without distracting from the music. A highlight was Janelle busting out her best Michael Jackson moves at the start of Make Me Feel. Her overtly political stance on minority rights especially for the LBGT community were given a good airing to joyfully enthusiastic encouragement from the audience but again this never got over bearing or distracting. There were moments of comedy most notably at the start of another new song where Janelle retook the stage swigging a bottle of wine and then uttered the song title Don’t Judge Me. Audience participation was prevalent throughout as the crowd seemed to be singing every word to every song but reached its peak when Janelle got 4 people from the audience on to the stage to get them to dance and prove they did indeed have the juice during the performance of I’ve Got The Juice. And then Janelle was not able to resist getting in to the crowd herself for the show’s encore Come Alive by doing an almost reckless crowd surf. The most telling sign that this girl had the crowd in the palm of her hand was the moment when she returned to the stage after her crowd surf without her hat. She stood in the pit with her hand outstretched and a mock reproachful expression on her face. Moments later the hat was dutifully returned by her adoring public. Faultless, joyful, peerless entertainment. 6 stars out of 5.

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It's beginning to cool off as the shade begins to cover Grant Park. The skyline casts a long shadow over the lawn in front of the Petrillo Music Shell. Fans await who they have journeyed here for, Janelle Monae.

At times, living in Chicago is a segregated experience. But at the Tatse of Chicago, the city is united as one. North, South, and West all gather to celebrate summer and to take advantage of the incredible talent Chicago can attract for a free lakefront concert. This is why we live here, and we're all soaking it in. Finally, the band takes the stage. They're all dressed in white. It's clear we are in for more than just a concert, this will be a performance. Janelle comes out and the crowd erupts. She and the band rock through her set, dancing along the whole time. She throws in a few covers by James Brown and the Jackson 5. "I Feel Good" and "ABC" respectively. By any other artist, this would seem like pandering to a large crowd, but in this case, they integrate perfectly into the performance.

At one point she leaves the stage to grab a leather jacket. She's cool and she knows it. And during her show, she's hanging out with all of us, and we feel cool too.

Janelle Monáe has such a stage presence about her. She is energetic and gets the audience excited with the sultry sound of her lovely voice.

With her signature hair, tie and classic good looks she captivates the audience from the moment she steps on the stage. She could sing anything and it would sound so good. Not only is her voice amazing but she is the kind of performer that you feel a connection with on a personal level.

She seems so down to earth and grounded that you can't help but be transfixed on her through out her songs. The audience always seems to enjoy themselves, going wild after every song she sings. No one can seem to help but get lost in her music. It's always awesome to see a strong, independent woman take the stage and just take over the whole audience. When she says she is going to perform, she sets you up with a whole experience to remember. I doubt anyone who sees her in concert could say they had a bad time. It just wouldn't be possible with how good she is on stage. Janelle Monáe is one of the most interesting individuals I have ever heard or seen.

One of the smoothest, most self assured artists currently working the circuit is neo-soul starlet Janelle Monáe. With a considerable amount of cool and a vocal range to match, she has been delighting fans on both sides of the Atlantic with her classic live performance which really puts emphasis back onto the instrumental.

Known for being an incredibly strong female figure, Monáe has become accustomed with performing in a tuxedo as some statement of intent to prove she is just as worthy as her male counterparts. One thing she surpasses them on however is the amazing jazz vocal found on the likes of 'Givin Em What They Love' and 'Dance Apocalyptic'. She is a singer of surpassable sophistication and conducts herself in a manner befitting this reputation. Her abilities shine during a cover of 'ABC' by The Jacksons and demonstrates her influences of disco and funk. By the finale of 'Tightrope' the whole audience are intrigued and infatuated with Janelle in equal measure and from the satisfied look on her face this appears to be the exact outcome she was hoping for.

Janelle Monae on a rooftop in Manhattan next to the river on a beautiful evening.

That's how we START the show.

If you know anything about Janelle Monae you know that she's more than a singer, songwriter, or fashion icon - she's everything.

Her set has steps she glides up and down, her dancers come and go with songs and costume changes, all while the band keep the hits coming and thumping.

There were at least 5 different moments where I thought "seriously, how's she going to top this?" and she did...everytime.

Pier 17 is an awesome venue and Janelle is the kind of act you see ANYWHERE, a beautiful venue is a bonus.

She leans heavily on her most recent (and most impactful?) album Dirty Computer, but there are splashes of Electric Lady and Archandroid splatter for the longer-lasting fans.

Don't miss Janelle if you have the chance to see her, she's a tour du force of entertainment with the chops, vocals, and badass attitude to back it up.

Thank you Janelle, you are a fucking hero

Janelle Monae's "Dirty Computer" Concert was beyond incredible. Her singing was fantastic, and she didn't sing all of her songs the exact way they were on the album (which was great because it added variety). She didn't lip-sync. Her dancing was awe-inspiring, of course, as were her back up dancers'.

Her outfits were completely in sync with her personality, and with the songs themselves. At points in the concert, she spoke a message or interacted with the audience; she made an effort to make sure that everyone "felt heard, felt seen, and felt loved" by her songs/concert.

The crowd environment was also very positive, which made the event feel safe and welcoming.

Side-note, St. Beauty (the opener) did a wonderful job, and made an effort to get the crowd pumped/involved. Their singing was also excellent.

The only downside to this concert was that it couldn't last forever.

Janelle Monáe was fabulous tonight, playing to a less than full venue with a crowd that took a little while to warm up. The band, the dancers, the visuals, her voice and THOSE COSTUME CHANGES — all great! The show was too much of her latest (poptastic) album and not enough of the crazy jazz-funk-hip-hop-rock-opera that characterised her early work but that’s just my tastes and can’t take away from what an amazing talent she is. My one real complaint is her ham-fisted speechifying, part of her being yet another musical talent to submit to today’s culture of ideology over aesthetic. My favourite bit: when she got four audience members to dance (very well) to prove that they’ve “got the juice”. Magic.

I never cry at concerts no matter how dear the artist is to me. BUT Janelle really got me teary eyed. Such a fantastic show with beautiful aesthetics. Janelle really cares about her fans and made it known that we were loved. You could literally feel the love radiating throughout the stadium. She is such a fantastic performer (she literally changed outfits 6 times in a blink of an eye and performed all of Dirty Computer/parts of Electric Lady/The ArchAndroid) and seems like such a genuinely cool person. Do not miss out on a Janelle Monae concert or else you will surely regret it forever!!

It's Janelle Monae, so you already know it was absolutely magnificent! From the band, to the dancers, to the openers! She even told me she liked my earrings! Everyone is welcome, amazing and powerful messages. Performance level made Beyonce shake! Everlasting talent & energy from everyone. Everything, every vocal, and every object was on point. Night to never forget.

The Pageant didn't do an excellent job on keeping the pit and walkways from overcrowding, but in front row, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience.

BISHHHHHHH!!! This was one of the BEST CONCERTS IVE EVER BEEN TOO!!! Janelle SANG AND DANCED HER ASS OFF you hear me!!! The vibe and energy made me feel LOVED AND WELCOMED!!! I love her to the moon and back!!! She is truly an AMAZING entertainer!!! She was worth every penny! The dancers, the band, her wardrobe... I could go on and on! Dirty Computer is a concert I will never forget!!! So glad I got to witness her GENIUS in this life time!

Love, Peace, & Shea Butter,

Jasmine (JXL Make Your Ears POP!)

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Janelle Monáe tour dates and tickets 2024-2025 near you

Want to see Janelle Monáe in concert? Find information on all of Janelle Monáe’s upcoming concerts, tour dates and ticket information for 2024-2025.

Janelle Monáe is not due to play near your location currently - but they are scheduled to play 24 concerts across 10 countries in 2024-2025. View all concerts.

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Janelle Monáe’s “Age Of Pleasure” Tour Delivers a Mesmerizing Spectacle

By Josh Brown

Janelle Monáe’s “Age Of Pleasure” Tour descended upon the Skyla Credit Union Music Amphitheater in Charlotte, NC, and it was nothing short of a transcendent experience that left the audience in awe. Monáe’s remarkable talent, stage presence, and the overall production of the show made it an unforgettable evening.

Our coverage began with a standout performance from hip-hop duo Flyana Boss. Flyana Boss , consisting of Bobbi Lanea Tyler and Folayan Omi Kunerede, gave an amazing amount of energy, bouncing across the stage with instrumentals being played by their DJ. After the media was escorted backstage, I could hear their take on many popular songs, including a crowd-led version of “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Soon afterward, it was time for the headliner to step onto the stage.

From the moment she stepped on stage, Janelle Monáe exuded an electrifying energy that instantly captivated the audience. Dressed in a beautiful outfit made of flowers, she kicked off the concert with a medley of songs from her catalog and latest album, “The Age Of Pleasure.” her signature aesthetic was on full display, and it set the tone for a visually stunning performance.

Monáe’s vocal prowess was on full display throughout the night. Her range and control were impeccable as she effortlessly navigated through her diverse repertoire, showcasing her ability to seamlessly blend genres from R&B and funk to pop and rock. The live band and backup singers and dancers complemented her performance beautifully, creating a tight, cohesive sound that filled the amphitheater.

The stage design was a true work of art, featuring props, dazzling light displays, and intricate choreography that added an extra layer of depth to the show. The visuals, including thought-provoking projections and a dazzling light show, perfectly complemented the themes of Monáe’s music, adding a cinematic quality to the performance.

One of the highlights of the evening was when Monáe took a moment to connect with the audience. She allowed several fans to come to the stage and show off their best dance moves. Her ability to connect on a personal level with her fans created an intimate atmosphere in the midst of the grand spectacle.

The setlist was a carefully curated mix of Monáe’s greatest hits and tracks from her latest album, ensuring that both longtime fans and newcomers were thoroughly entertained. “Q.U.E.E.N.,” “Pynk,” “I Like That,” and “Yoga” were among the standout moments that had the crowd dancing and singing along.

In summary, Janelle Monáe’s “Age Of Pleasure” Tour at the Skyla Credit Union Music Amphitheater was a breathtaking journey through her music and artistic vision. From her incredible vocal talent and captivating stage presence to the stunning visuals and heartfelt messages, every element of the concert was executed flawlessly. It was an unforgettable night that solidified Janelle Monáe’s status as a true musical and artistic icon. If you have the chance to experience this tour, do not miss it – you’ll be treated to a night of pure pleasure and inspiration.

You can find tickets for the tour at Ticketmaster , and a list of dates on her website here . You can also view the full concert gallery for Janelle Monáe’s performance here.

Josh is the Founder, Editor-in-Chief, and Lead Photographer of Stereofade Magazine. He currently resides in North Carolina and covers concerts and other types of photography around the state.

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Janelle Monáe announces the Age of Pleasure North American tour dates

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Janelle Monáe is taking “The Age of Pleasure” on the road.

On the poster for the North American tour for Monáe’s fourth studio album, they stand topless in a straw hat with their long braids covering their breasts and a cheeky hand sliding down their black track shorts.

This latest tour comes five years after Monáe toured for 2018’s “Dirty Computer.” The performer has amped up the sensuality for their latest trek to 26 cities in the U.S. and Canada, with dates from Aug. 30 to Oct. 18.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the “Pynk” singer discussed how weathering the COVID-19 pandemic allowed her to better appreciate community, a theme that inspired “The Age of Pleasure,” which is due June 9 (6/9, if you’re nasty) .

Janelle Monáe is ready for ‘The Age of Pleasure,’ and it’s been five years coming

Janelle Monáe announced ‘The Age of Pleasure,’ their first album in five years. The singer also dropped the sensual song ‘Lipstick Lover.’

May 12, 2023

“[I]t’s beautiful that I have a title called ‘The Age of Pleasure’ because it actually re-centers me. It’s not about an album anymore. I’ve changed my whole f— lifestyle,” Monáe told Rolling Stone.

Fans have recently taken note of Monáe’s scantily clad looks as a departure from their previous, more buttoned-up style. But Monáe said — bluntly — that they found it liberating.

“I’m much happier when my titties are out and I can run around free,” she said .

Ahead of the album drop, Monáe debuted a single on May 11 called “Lipstick Lover” with a risqué accompanying video that features bare bottoms and chests, sex toys and what appears to be an orgy. The video caused so much uproar, Monáe released a “clean” version of the video Tuesday. The original amassed more than 1.7 million views on YouTube.

“After much back and forth and private court dates i decided to release the sinsored ‘clean virgin’ of ‘Lipstick Lover’ against my will!” the queer actor tweeted . “I added 100 more pixels by hand so y’all bet not sneak and watch the original.” The original video is still on her YouTube channel.

The woman behind the android: Janelle Monáe on embracing her queer identity and fans

The night before Janelle Monáe revealed the first glimpse of the “emotion picture” she had commissioned to accompany her latest album, “Dirty Computer,” was a restless one.

Dec. 28, 2018

Monáe’s performance at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood on Oct. 18 will be the last stop on the tour. Information about additional tour dates can be found here . Artist presale tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. General audience tickets will go up June 7 at 10 a.m.

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Janelle Monae announces "The Age of Pleasure" Tour

• Last updated: 31 May 2023, 18:34:23
• Published: 31 May 2023, 18:34:23
• Written by: Ashly Nagrant
• Photography by: Mike Coppola, Getty Images
• Categories: Tour Dates Tagged: Janelle Monáe

Janelle Monáe has announced The Age of Pleasure Tour for later this year. This will be the artist’s first tour since The Dirty Computer Tour wrapped in 2019. The 26-date tour will cross the US, kicking off August 30 and wrapping October 18.

The tour will celebrate the release of Monáe’s fourth studio album, The Age of Pleasure , set to drop on June 9. She has already released two singles from the album, “Float” and “Lipstick Lover” with the latter receiving acclaim for the accompanying music video.

General onsale for the dates will begin June 7, but a presale via Verizon Up will begin on June 1. For more info on the presale you can go here . General onsale tickets will be available here .

AGE OF PLEASURE TOUR DATES:

08/30 – Seattle, WA @ WAMU Theater

08/31 – Vancouver, BC @ UBC - Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre

09/02 – Portland, OR @ RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater

09/06 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex

09/07 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre

09/09 – Kansas City, MO @ The Midland Theatre

09/11 – Minneapolis, MN @ Armory

09/13 – St. Louis, MO @ Stifel Theatre

09/14 – Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom

09/17 – Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway

09/18 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met

09/20 – Montreal, QB @ Mtelus

09/21 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall

09/24 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem

09/26 – New York City, NY @ Radio City Music Hall

09/28 – Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre

10/02 – Charlotte, NC @ Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre

10/03 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium

10/04 – Birmingham, AL @ Avondale Brewing Company

10/06 – Atlanta, GA @ Fox Theatre Atlanta

10/09 – Dallas, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory

10/10 – Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center

10/11 – Austin, TX @ Moody Amphitheater

10/15 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial Theatre

10/17 – San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

10/18 – Inglewood, CA @ YouTube Theater

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Janelle Monáe Announces U.S. Tour for Late Summer and Fall Behind ‘Age of Pleasure’ Album

The outing will include stops at New York's Radio City Music Hall, Nashville's Ryman and L.A.'s YouTube Theater

By Chris Willman

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Singer-actor Janelle Monáe will be bringing her “Age of Pleasure” principle to North American theaters and amphitheaters this late summer and fall, with a nearly two-month tour that begins Aug. 30 in Seattle and wraps Oct. 18 at the L.A. area’s YouTube Theater.

The Live Nation-backed 26-city tour will follow a couple of months on the heels of Monáe’s first album in five years, “The Age of Pleasure,” which comes out June 9. It’s been preceded by a new single and music video, “Lipstick Lover.”

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Other notable venues along the way include stops at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Sept. 7, the Met in Philadelphia Sept. 18, Toronto’s Massey Hall on Sept. 21, Washington, D.C.’s Anthem on Sept. 24, the Ryman in Nashville Oct. 3, the Fox in Atlanta Oct. 6, and the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on the penultimate night of the tour, Oct. 17.

The full itinerary for Monáe’s Age of Pleasure Tour:

Wed Aug 30 – Seattle, WA – WAMU Theater

Thu Aug 31 – Vancouver, BC – UBC – Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre

Sat Sep 02 – Portland, OR  – RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater

Wed Sep 06 –Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex

Thu Sep 07 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Sat Sep 09 – Kansas City, MO – The Midland Theatre 

Mon Sep 11 – Minneapolis, MN – Armory

Wed Sep 13 – St. Louis, MO – Stifel Theatre

Thu Sep 14 – Chicago, IL – Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom

Sun Sep 17 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway

Mon Sep 18 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met

Wed Sep 20 – Montreal, QB – Mtelus

Thu Sep 21 – Toronto, ON – Massey Hall 

Sun Sep 24 – Washington, DC  – The Anthem*

Tue Sep 26 – New York City, NY – Radio City Music Hall

Mon Oct 02 – Charlotte, NC – Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre 

Tue Oct 03 – Nashville, TN  – Ryman Auditorium

Wed Oct 04 – Birmingham, AL  – Avondale Brewing Company

Fri Oct 06 – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre Atlanta

Mon Oct 09 – Dallas, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory

Tue Oct 10 – Houston, TX – Bayou Music Center 

Wed Oct 11 – Austin, TX – Moody Amphitheater

Sun Oct 15 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre

Tue Oct 17 – San Francisco, CA – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

Wed Oct 18 – Inglewood, CA – YouTube Theater

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• Consequence

Janelle Monáe Announces “The Age of Pleasure Tour”

The 29-city tour launches in late August

Janelle Monáe has announced “The Age of Pleasure Tour” in support of her new album of the same name .

The 29-city trek kicks off in Seattle on August 30th, with subsequent dates scheduled in Vancouver, Chicago, Philadelphia, Montreal, New York City, Nashville, Atlanta, Houston, Phoenix, and more.

Tickets for the newly announced shows in Indianapolis, Columbus, New Orleans, and Washington, DC go on sale beginning Wednesday, August 9th via Ticketmaster (use pre-sale code PLEASURE ).

Tickets for Monaé’s other upcoming tour dates can be purchased via StubHub , where orders are 100% guaranteed through StubHub’s FanProtect program. StubHub is a secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be higher or lower than face value, depending on demand.

The Age of Pleasure , Monaé’s first album in five years, was released on June 9th. The lead single, “Lipstick Lover,” was crowned our Song of the Week .

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with details on new shows in Indianapolis, Columbus, New Orleans, and Washington, DC.

Janelle Monaé 2023 Tour Dates:

08/30 – Seattle, WA @ WAMU Theater 08/31 – Vancouver, BC @ UBC – Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre 09/02 – Portland, OR @ RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater 09/06 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex 09/07 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre 09/09 – Kansas City, MO @ The Midland Theatre 09/10 – Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room 09/11 – Minneapolis, MN @ Armory 09/13 – St. Louis, MO @ Stifel Theatre 09/14 – Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom 09/15 – Columbus, OH @ Mershon Auditorium 09/17 – Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway 09/18 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met 09/20 – Montreal, QC @ Mtelus 09/21 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall 09/24 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem 09/25 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem 09/26 – New York City, NY @ Radio City Music Hall 09/28 – Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre 10/02 – Charlotte, NC @ Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre 10/03 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium 10/04 – Birmingham, AL @ Avondale Brewing Company 10/06 – Atlanta, GA @ Fox Theatre Atlanta 10/07 – New Orleans, LA @ Orpheum Theatre 10/09 – Dallas, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory 10/10 – Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center 10/11 – Austin, TX @ Moody Amphitheater 10/15 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial Theatre 10/17 – San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium 10/18 – Inglewood, CA @ YouTube Theater

Listen to Monaé’s recent appearance on Kyle Meredith With….

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Janelle monáe announces "the age of pleasure tour".

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Janelle Monáe Announces 2023 North American Tour

By Madison Bloom

Not long after releasing her forthcoming LP, The Age of Pleasure , Janelle Monáe will embark on a North American tour in support of the album. The trek—aptly titled the Age of Pleasure Tour—will get started on August 30 in Seattle, Washington, winding through a total of 26 U.S. and Canadian cities before wrapping up in Inglewood, California, on October 18. Monáe will stop off in Portland, Minneapolis, Chicago, Brooklyn, Atlanta, Houston, and more locations during the string of live dates. Find her full schedule below.

The Age of Pleasure , Monáe’s follow-up to her 2018 LP, Dirty Computer , arrives June 9 via Atlantic . The 14-song record includes “ Float ” (which features Seun Kuti and Egypt 80), and “Lipstick Lover.” The latter arrived earlier this month with a music video co-directed by Monáe and Alan Ferguson.

Revisit “ Human After All: On Janelle Monáe in Hidden Figures and Moonlight ” on the Pitch.

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Janelle Monáe:

08-30 Seattle, WA - WAMU Theater 08-31 Vancouver, British Columbia - Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre 09-02 Portland, OR  - RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater 09-06 Salt Lake City, UT - The Complex 09-07 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre 09-09 Kansas City, MO - The Midland Theatre  09-11 Minneapolis, MN - Armory 09-13 St. Louis, MO - Stifel Theatre 09-14 Chicago, IL - Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom 09-17 Boston, MA - MGM Music Hall at Fenway 09-18 Philadelphia, PA - The Met 09-20 Montreal, Quebec - Mtelus 09-21 Toronto, Ontario - Massey Hall  09-24 Washington, DC  - The Anthem 09-26 New York City, NY - Radio City Music Hall 09-28 Brooklyn, NY - Kings Theatre  10-02 Charlotte, NC - Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre  10-03 Nashville, TN  - Ryman Auditorium 10-04 Birmingham, AL  - Avondale Brewing Company 10-06 Atlanta, GA - Fox Theatre Atlanta 10-09 Dallas, TX - The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory 10-10 Houston, TX - Bayou Music Center  10-11 Austin, TX - Moody Amphitheater 10-15 Phoenix, AZ - Arizona Financial Theatre 10-17 San Francisco, CA - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium 10-18 Inglewood, CA - YouTube Theater

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By Matthew Strauss

By Nina Corcoran

By Jazz Monroe

Janelle Monáe Flashed The Crowd One Last Time To Celebrate The End Of Their ‘The Age Of Pleasure Tour’

Janelle Monáe has given fans enough NSFW content to last until the end of the year. From their table-topping party clips to their videos for “ Water Slide ,” “ Lipstick Lover ,” and “ Float ,” they are truly living up to the title of their latest studio album . After a twerk-filled performance at the 2023 Essence Festival, Monáe took their talents on the road as part of The Age Of Pleasure Tour with special guests Jidenna, Flyana Boss , Dreamer Isioma, and Nana Kwabena.

To commemorate the end of the tour’s sold-out run, during Monáe’s final show on Wednesday, October 18, in Inglewood, California, they flashed the crowd one last time. In the clips captured by concertgoers, as Monáe sang their song “Yoga,” they whipped out their breasts as they sang, “Even when I’m sleeping, I got one eye open / You cannot police me, so get off my areola / Get off my areola.”

https://twitter.com/JussaStan/status/1714633103925485777?s=20

janelle monae flashed the crowd👀 pic.twitter.com/bX1ADQME6D — Shirley Ju (@shirju) October 19, 2023

Monáe addressed the backlash they received over their lack of clothing during an interview with Rolling Stone in May, saying, “I’m much happier when my titties are out, and I can run around free.”

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Janelle Monáe Announces ‘Age of Pleasure' North American Tour

The tour will include stops at new york's radio city music hall, nashville's ryman auditorium and l.a.'s youtube theater, by marsha green • published may 31, 2023 • updated on may 31, 2023 at 3:18 pm.

Janelle Monáe is going on tour.

The American singer, rapper and actress has announced that she will be going on a North American tour in support of her upcoming album - "The Age of Pleasure" - which is due out on June 9 via Wondaland Arts Society/Atlantic Records. This marks the 37-year-old singer's first album in five years since 2018’s "Dirty Computer."

The 26-city trek, which is titled the "Age of Pleasure Tour," will kick off on August 30 in Seattle, Wash., winding through a total of 26 U.S. and Canadian cities before wrapping up in Inglewood, Cali., on October 18.

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Monáe recently told Rolling Stones in an interview that “being an artist gets lonely” and the new album has helped to calm her anxiety.

“I think being an artist gets lonely,” Monáe said. “Most people don’t understand what’s going on in my brain. Community has been so helpful to me; it’s beautiful that I have a title called The Age of Pleasure because it actually re-centers me. It’s not about an album anymore. I’ve changed my whole f------ lifestyle.”

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Presale for tickets will go live on Thursday, June 1 for Verizon subscribers, while the general sale will begin Wednesday, June 7 at 10 am, just two days before the album itself drops.

Here's a look at the full list of stops for Monáe’s Age of Pleasure Tour:

Aug 30 – Seattle, WA – WAMU Theater

Aug 31 – Vancouver, BC – UBC – Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre

Sep 02 – Portland, OR – RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater

Sep 06 –Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex

Sep 07 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Sep 09 – Kansas City, MO – The Midland Theatre

Sep 11 – Minneapolis, MN – Armory

Sep 13 – St. Louis, MO – Stifel Theatre

Sep 14 – Chicago, IL – Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom

Sep 17 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway

Sep 18 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met

Sep 20 – Montreal, QB – Mtelus

Sep 21 – Toronto, ON – Massey Hall

Sep 24 – Washington, DC – The Anthem*

Sep 26 – New York City, NY – Radio City Music Hall

Sep 28 – Brooklyn, NY – Kings Theatre

Oct 02 – Charlotte, NC – Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre

Oct 03 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium

Oct 04 – Birmingham, AL – Avondale Brewing Company

Oct 06 – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre Atlanta

Oct 09 – Dallas, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory

Oct 10 – Houston, TX – Bayou Music Center

Oct 11 – Austin, TX – Moody Amphitheater

Oct 15 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre

Oct 17 – San Francisco, CA – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

Oct 18 – Inglewood, CA – YouTube Theater

This article tagged under:

Janelle Monáe Is Back From the Future and Ready to Play

By Mankaprr Conteh

Mankaprr Conteh

J anelle Monáe slides down the front zipper on her onesie, slings the suit down her back, and wiggles her bare ass toward about 20 of her dear friends. 

It’s game night at Wondaland West, the homey Los Angeles campus where Janelle works and communes, complete with a studio, living quarters, and an immaculate teal pool nestled within a grove of tropical flora. Janelle’s butt makes its appearance via Consequences, a game she requested we play. Her friends Stephanie and Tree invented it when they were visiting Janelle in Greece as she filmed Glass Onion : A Knives Out Mystery , the 2022 murder-mystery comedy in which she plays essentially four starring roles. (It went on to be one of the most popular Netflix movies ever.)

Josh Dean, a musician and friend of Janelle, has to sightlessly let someone else put a body part in his mouth and guess what it is, so Laura, who I’m told works on game shows, puts her knee on his lips. I elect to moan for the group rather than give them my iMessages to search through.

“Fuck!” yells Janelle, whose cards direct her to either take a body part in her mouth or show us the goods. The decision comes quickly: “I’m ’bout to moon the group!” Loud cheers follow. 

“We need some music!” someone shouts. 

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“Phenomenal” Janelle is confident. Game-night Janelle is wavering. “Wait, I have to see if I’m ashy!” she says before running into a bathroom beyond the marble wall. She returns, shimmies out of her pink-and-white striped jumpsuit, adorned with Disney’s original Cheshire Cat’s stuffed face on the hood and long tail on the back, and shakes her booty shyly. As her friends roar in support and delight, her jitters seem to melt away. The quick wiggle turns into a bit of twerking, and the crowd goes wild. 

“Y’all saw that li’l ashy booty!” she shouts.

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On her early albums, Janelle built a fictional Afrofuturist dreamscape that — in the tradition of the genre’s great storytellers, like author Octavia Butler — allowed her to contemplate the traumas and possibilities of her own life on Earth. While those works were earning her eight Grammy nominations, she starred in films like Moonlight and Hidden Figures — both of which were nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars in 2017, with Moonlight taking home the gold. “She’s extremely gifted,” says friend and Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o. “It’s built into her spirit. Her openness creates intimacy onscreen. It’s really cool to see her move from one thing to another and do it with such mastery.” Along the way, Janelle publicly shared her pansexuality for the first time, in this magazine in 2018 , and came out as nonbinary last year, becoming the kind of queer icon many of us wish we’d had more of growing up.

Especially as of late — and this is important — Janelle is also fun as hell, determined to savor the fruits of her labor. She seems positively buoyant these days: the life of the party at enviable bacchanals (many of them hosted at Wondaland West), the centerpiece of this year’s NBA All-Star Weekend (scoring several head-turning looks, despite scoring no points in the Celebrity Game), and the most enthusiastic fan in the sprawl of Coachella VIPs. She explains how things have changed on her new single “Float”: “I had to protect all my energy/I’m feelin’ much lighter now.”

Still, prioritizing pleasure has its challenges, especially when a world of anxiety lurks somewhere underneath. 

AS GAME NIGHT winds down, an impromptu group performance to SWV’s 1992 hit “Weak” begins with Janelle belting out the song atop an ottoman, and ends with her and Wonder tucked in a corner of the sectional sofa seriously working out new harmonies for the song. “Weak,” of course, is Nineties R&B at its best, but it’s particularly special to Janelle. “I remember being in the basement singing with my seven best friends,” Janelle notes from atop the furniture. “I didn’t know if I could sing, but when I motherfucking mastered that song, I knew I could motherfucking sing.”

Game night at Wondaland is soundtracked by all sorts of music: Afropop hits, “Losing You,” by Janelle’s old friend Solange (Janelle helped match-make Solange’s last marriage), “Persuasive,” by Janelle’s new friend Doechii. Janelle catches a groove and freestyles some bars to an Afrobeats edit of “Work,” by Rihanna, a remix so vibrant and unfamiliar it catches me off guard. Later, Wonder tells me he made the remix that day, especially for the gathering, right before it started. “I’ve gotten used to right before we [have] a night, making new songs to play. See what people think,” he says. That instinct — we’re having a party, so we’ve got to make some music — is exactly how The Age of Pleasure came to be. 

It’s not about an album anymore,” Janelle says. “I’ve changed my whole fucking lifestyle.

Janelle, Wonder, and Lightning’s Wondaland Records began in Atlanta as an indie label and artist collective before it grew into a partnership with Epic Records. But in 2020, as the pandemic began to unravel, Janelle recalls, “We were like, ‘Do we want to be in Atlanta writing indoors, or do we want to be around nature and stuff?’ ” Atlanta had practically raised Janelle; Los Angeles was just a place of business. She decided to take Wondaland to California, but she wasn’t sold on L.A. until a brand-new community coalesced around her in the uncertainty of a global crisis. 

In the years BC (Before Covid), Janelle attended Everyday People, one of the hottest globe-trekking parties of the Black diaspora. At these parties, the music spans innovative mixes of Afropop, Caribbean gems, house, and hip-hop, the drinks flow, and everyone is getting down on a massive floor. When Everyday People was locked out of venues during the pandemic, Janelle offered it space at Wondaland West. Its courtyard is magnificent, with its tranquil pool in the center and troves of nooks, crannies, outdoor baths, and citrus trees (Janelle insisted on having an orange picked for me the afternoon after game night). With Covid raging, their teams were careful to test partygoers and remain outside. 

Janelle caught the itch to make new music while filming Glass Onion through the summer of 2021. Having finally escaped lockdown to stretch her comedic muscle across Greece and Serbia, she was inspired. She knew she wanted to tap into the frequency of her pandemic parties. So she had her producers Wonder and Kwabena send her instrumentals to mull over while she was away. Her trio of producers, completed by Atlantan Sensei Bueno (who’s collabed with acts like Snoh Aalegra and J. Cole’s Dreamville) have called themselves The Floaters. “I just kept dreaming,” says Janelle. “I was like, ‘When I get back, I cannot wait to have a party again.’”

Nyong’o attended one in 2021. “It was lit,” she says matter-of-factly. “It was just a different world once you walked through the doors. Everybody’s outfits were extremely well thought out and expressive, and the music was delicious. It felt like we were all craving this kind of event, this kind of … I want to say just reckless abandon.” Nyong’o danced until her feet were sore. 

After Janelle settled back in the States after filming, the parties became more strategic — a place to test out new material. “I was like, ‘OK, if we have a party in spring of 2022, I want to have records ready,’ ” Janelle explains. “ ‘I want to honor this experience, and be really specific about it.’ The best way to figure it out? ‘Let’s play that shit at the party.’”

Once there, they never called attention to Janelle’s new music, slipping it into Kwabena’s DJ sets as seamlessly as they could. “We were super specific around tempo,” says Janelle. “We were like, ‘Nana, you’re at that 82 BPM, or that at 92 BPM,’ the songs have to start there.” Were there any lulls when she worked her stuff in? “Not really.”

“Float” features the grand brass of Nigeria’s Seun Kuti and Egypt 80, a legacy of Kuti’s father, Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. Janelle says that when Seun heard The Age of Pleasure in full, he told her, “I hear my dad.” The album also includes Sister Nancy, the Jamaican dancehall legend behind the immortal 1982 hit “Bam Bam,” as well as classic Black American actress Nia Long and Ghanaian American singer Amaarae. New Afrobeats act CKay visited Wondaland to guest on the slinky, waist-whining “Know Better,” while Doechii, the rapper set to take the mantle at Kendrick Lamar’s former label, came by to lend her voice to “Phenomenal.” It evokes both a sweaty night of South African amapiano and a fiercely queer New York ballroom scene. 

“I want things to feel so true to my life,” Janelle explains. “I used to consider myself a futurist. I know what that means, to obsess about the next thing. A present tourist is what I’m calling myself right now. I’m actively focusing on being present.”

AHEAD OF GAME NIGHT, Janelle and I have our first one-on-one in Wondaland West’s studio. It has its own living space beyond a wall, cozy but striking. Lush plants are set off against elegant wood accents, rustic floors, and floor-to-ceiling shelves full of vinyl: Prince’s Controversy, David Bowie’s Scary Monsters, and Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace among them. I spot at least three guitars, a polished black upright piano next to a tasteful canvas of a topless, buxom woman sketched in black pencil, and another sheep for sitting. 

“Do you need an ashtray?” I ask her.

“I do. See, you can tell I’m a rookie.”

Janelle likes weed and she likes shrooms, the latter of which fits her as a pretty naturally trippy person, and also doesn’t run the risk of ruining her voice. “I grew up fearful of marijuana because I had parents who were addicts,” Janelle also explains, referring particularly to her dad’s formerly debilitating crack-cocaine use. “They would always say, ‘Weed is the gateway drug to being a crackhead,’ and I grew up with that in my mind and heart.” 

When Covid hit, she got curious about weed as a way to manage her anxiety. She’s discussed having full-on “anxiety attacks” while making 2018’s Dirty Computer. “I was like, ‘We’re in the middle of a pandemic,’ ” she says. “’I’m not on the road, let me test out weed.’ ” 

Janelle recently diagnosed herself with OCD, which she connects to a lifelong pattern of perfectionism. She told the podcast TransLash, a show for and by transgender and gender-nonconforming people, that her perfectionism stems from struggling with abandonment and rejection from her father during his addiction (though the two are now close). “I started to have this unhealthy relationship with being perfect, so that nobody would leave me,” she told the show.

She’s doing a lot of work to heal those wounds. “I know how to coach myself if it comes up again,” she says to me before ruminating on what lingers. “But all of that I think made me.… And in OCD … if something isn’t exactly how I see it, in my mind, it’s trash.” She started therapy as soon as she started making good money, and now works with an “emotional-support coach,” a good friend who’s delved into mental-wellness work. Janelle tries to meet with her once a week. 

I want my Star Wars . As a writer, as a storyteller, as an actor, to be able to do the soundtrack that’s rooted from works that I wrote.

Some of the tools she’s garnered from therapy help her manage the ADHD she was diagnosed with as an adult. There’s darker stuff, too, that she’s not ready to divulge yet, but has hinted at. When she accepted the Trevor Project’s Suicide Prevention Advocate of the Year Award last September, she called herself “someone who has dealt with depression.” “I think I’ll have a moment where I will talk a little bit more freely about it,” she says. “But I absolutely have had very tough times internally, even career-wise, that I’ve privately dealt with and had to come out of.” 

Trying to live in pleasure as a “present tourist” has been a light. “It’s not easy,” she says. “You have to train your thoughts.”

I get it. We talk about my own bouts of depression and subsequent periods of happiness. “I would be nervous,” I told her. “Why do I feel good? And is something going to go wrong again?” 

“Oh, my God, I swear you’re in my head,” she says. She gets it.

With an album on the way, she’s fending off panic, for now. “The old me would be freaking out,” she says. She’s juggling visual treatments and rehearsing the new album — she wants to perform it at pop-ups she’s considering calling Pleasure Parties. Plus, with its new experiences with film and television, her production company, Wondaland Pictures, is exploring new ways to advance the sci-fi saga of Cindi Mayweather, the android character from several of Janelle’s albums who falls in love with a human and is hunted for it. Cindi’s defiance becomes messianic, inspiring hope and rebellion across the futuristic urban landscape Janelle created on the records. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture even recently came to her to borrow Cindi Mayweather relics for their new Afrofuturism exhibit. “I want my Star Wars, ” she says. “As a writer, as a storyteller, as an actor, to be able to do the soundtrack that’s rooted from works that I wrote.”

“I’ve told her I need a Janelle Monáe-written and -directed sci-fi movie in my life, and I need it soon,” says Rian Johnson , who directed Glass Onion. While making the film, Janelle’s commitment to storytelling even shone off set — like when Johnson would throw murder-mystery parties for the cast. “Janelle would show up,” he says, “dressed in a top hat and monocle and a detective’s cape. She invented a full character with a backstory and had an accent. She didn’t drop the character for a long, long time into the evening. It would definitely hit a point in the night where [she’d be called ‘Janelle’] and she’d be like, ‘You mean Lord Wimplebody the Third? Yes? How may I help you?’”

As someone who straddles the music industry and Hollywood, Janelle has a unique perspective on the major obstacles in both. “I think both industries have a lot of fucking work to do,” she says, sharply. “There are a lot of systemic things that need to change.”

Janelle was a vocal supporter of the Time’s Up movement that spawned from revelations of assault, discrimination, and harassment across Hollywood; onstage at the Grammys in 2018, she helped shepherd Time’s Up into the music industry. In March, her nonprofit supporting the personal and academic development of girls and nonbinary youth, Fem the Future, announced it would be expanding with a grant from Warner Music Group.

Even as the purview of Janelle’s work has grown from music to movies to philanthropy and beyond, she most focused on being creative — and being herself. “The old version of how I would do interviews is I would’ve been in some black and white, and maybe I would’ve put a little makeup on. But I was like, ‘You know what? I actually don’t have …’” she trails off to get kindly blunt. “Not that I don’t care about this interview. But I don’t have the mental capacity to be anything other than who I am.” She does, however, have small hexagons of translucent glitter pilled at the corners of her eyes. I ask her why. “I was like, ‘I want to feel galactic today,’ ” she says. “A galactic gamer, because this is game night.”

WHEN I COME BACK to the studio entrance the next afternoon, I mistake Janelle for a stuffed animal. Her back is to the sliding door, and her head is covered with the hood of a fuzzy onesie with pointed ears. From the front, she looks like a red panda — a small, racoon-like mammal from the eastern Himalayas. I tell her as much. “You know what this is?” she says. “It’s rare. Extinct. This is the last one of them. A Wondabear.”

“I’m working out between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30, somewhere between that, because I’m going to bed at 1:00 or 2:00 if I’m really locked in,” she says. She often listens to Spotify’s playlist of rap by women, Feeling Myself, while she does full-body, high-intensity interval training. Next, she practices guitar, then eats around noon, then practices piano for 45 minutes. After that, she pencils in some time to make something beautiful: “I don’t care if it’s me doodling. Making things brings me purpose.” 

Once she’s fertilized, she allots three hours to conference calls and questions from her array of collaborators. She often decompresses with a show — Severance is a recent fave. (Janelle, a person of exquisite taste, also loves Bob’s Burgers. ) 

When I find her on an acoustic guitar, Janelle is practicing a song called “Lipstick Lover.” “I like lipstick on my neck,” she sings coolly on it. “Leave a sticky hicky in a place I won’t forget.” The song is about queer intimacy and tinged with reggae, notable since reggae and its sister genre, dancehall, have a storied history of some homophobic hits — like, murderously homophobic. Janelle wasn’t considering that context when she made it, though. It didn’t cross her mind. Her own memories did.

“I have a whole spreadsheet with 50 to almost 100 experiences that I had at this party,” she says of her courtyard ragers. “I’ve been a Lipstick Lover,” she tells me. “I wear red lipsticks at the parties. I’ve had moments where if me and a girl or an energy …” she says, getting away from gender, “want to engage, you’re going to see lipstick.” Janelle would leave her mark, making it clear they had been kissing. 

Sometimes it happens the other way around. “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 fucking song.’ ”

The Age of Pleasure is righteously sexual, sometimes coyly, sometimes sumptuously. “Only Have Eyes 42” plays like an ode to polyamory, or at least, a romantic three-way. “I’ll say this,” she offers when I bring it up. “My hope is that people can feel what I was experiencing versus me telling them details about it. I was just like, ‘I want people to feel like they were there with me.’ Whatever that feels like for them, I want them to have that moment.” She’d later be a bit more frank with radio personality Angie Martinez: “I’ve been in polyamorous relationships,” she said.

A couple of years back, Nyong’o was tickled by rumors that she and Janelle were an item. “She has magnetism that they were obviously picking up on. She is that enigmatic,” Nyong’o tells me. “People are curious about enigmatic people. I was not surprised. And I don’t mind being associated with her in any capacity.” 

When Nyong’o was first ascending the heights of Hollywood after winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 12 Years a Slave, she met Janelle at her first Met Gala. “This world is still extremely new to me and unbelievable,” she remembers. “[Janelle] came up to me and just gave me the realest hug. I think we may have swayed to the music. She was just like, ‘I’m so proud of you, and just thank you for being you.’”

Celebrity interactions can feel shallow and ephemeral. This one was not: “At some point, [Janelle] asked me for my phone, put her number in and said, ‘Let’s stay in touch.’ She was like, ‘I really mean it. If you need anything, I’m here for you.’” Ever since, Janelle’s been someone Nyong’o can rely on, whether for advice in a moment of crisis or a party invite. 

Even so, Nyong’o doesn’t feel like she knows Janelle inside and out. “Just because you’re a close friend of hers doesn’t mean you get to know everything about her,” she says. “I think that’s what makes her interesting as an artist.”

Per Gallup , the share of American adults who identify outside of heterosexuality doubled from 3.5 percent to 7.1 percent between 2012 and 2022, with 21 percent of Gen Z adults landing on the LGBTQ spectrum. And while tallies of our trans and nonbinary populations are recent and evolving, last year, an expansive one from Pew Research Center found that 1.6 percent of U.S. adults and 5.1 percent of young adults don’t ascribe to the gender assigned to them at birth. More and more people also know someone who is trans, and most Americans have at least heard a little about gender outside of the binary of woman and man. 

There’s also been a fierce backlash to this budding sexual revolution. From Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law to dozens of bills targeting drag shows across the country, we’ve seen more than 400 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced so far this year. That’s a record.

I ask Janelle if she’s keeping up with the growing scroll of queerphobic legislation. “I am,” she says. “It’s infuriating, it’s cruel.” Last spring, Janelle released an anthology of Afrofuturist short stories in collaboration with several other authors. The book, The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer, would likely be banned in states like Florida for centering queer and trans characters — an example, she says, of “us not being able to talk about ourselves, as though we’re not real people.” 

She’s dedicated much of her career to championing the people this kind of bigotry affects, herself among them. But when I ask if there’s a weight of expectation, to being embraced as an emblem of queer advocacy or queerness itself, she emphasizes her freedom to be a person and not just a symbol. “You cannot project onto artists,” she says to no one in particular. “You have to understand that experiences will be had and people will change and evolve and not be the person you look up to. As much as you love and care about me, I’m on my own journey that has nothing to do with music, has nothing to do with art.”

There was a time, she adds, “where I felt like I should put pressure on myself to live up to expectations of what I feel like a majority of people would want me to do. But that time isn’t now.”

Earlier this month, what Janelle Monáe publicly wears — or rather, doesn’t — became a trending topic on Twitter. On May 11, she debuted “Lipstick Lover” as a single, replete with an NSFW music video shot at Wondaland West. It follows what may or may not be an exaggeration of the sensual bacchanalia of their parties, filled with scantily clad women writhing rhythmically on her, a plethora of sex toys, a mild orgy in the water, and Janelle in a Pokémon onesie. 

Janelle had previewed the video with a 16-second clip of her sauntering out of the pool in tiny Champion shorts and a cropped T-shirt with “Pleasure” written across the chest and soaked transparent. The image called upon that of a popular 1972 poster for Jamaican tourism featuring Trinidadian model Sintra Bronte. (A vinyl cover featuring that photo had caught my eye at her studio, displayed among her walls of records.)

Her tweet of the clip has since been viewed more than 22 million times, with more than 30,000 retweets and more than 147,000 likes. While much of the hubbub surrounding the clip was in praise of Janelle’s alluring physique and decision to share it in this way, there was also debate — and backlash. She was accused of becoming classless, of being degenerate, dishonoring her body, and seeking attention. “What made Jonelle Monae [sic] wake up one day and go ‘I got some titties to show you bitches?’” one person wrote . “Very weird & came out of nowhere for her to sell music.” 

Of course, this ignores the past decade, during which Janelle expanded her look and shed more fabric. “Even when I was really, really wearing only suits,” she tells me, “I was either in a suit or you would find me at my own parties naked. It was no in-between.” She’s reiterated over the years that her more conservative clothing was not a statement about how anyone else should be. “Some people, who have their own agendas and are respectability politicians may have been misled into believing that I was covering up to be an example of how to be proper,” she said in 2018. “I didn’t like that. I never took that as a compliment.”

I stumble through some of my questions on her gender and sexuality, because I understand how weird it can be to talk publicly about who you are and like to fuck. I have some friends with whom I’m pretty queer, and way more with whom I never acknowledge that part of me. “I’m not obligated to share my story,” says Janelle. “Nobody’s obligated. But I do think it’s powerful for me to talk and give a name to some of these things.” 

As Janelle sees it, the fact that we can live a real life and tell its full story is what separates us from the artificial-intelligence engines in the headlines when we meet: “The way in which we have had sets of experiences together in real time, in person, will be the thing that makes us special.”

Janelle, of course, foresaw the surge in AI. “When Metropolis came out, The ArchAndroid came out, I was saying that this is the moment where this is going to happen,” she says. 

This, she says, is akin to Ray Kurzweil’s Singularity Is Near, a nonfiction book that influenced her androids, and popularized the idea that one day distinguishing between AI and humanity may be impossible. “So the age of pleasure that I’m in, that we are in,” she says, “is the last of life before we’re fully integrated.” 

When Janelle and I catch up on Zoom a few weeks after Wondaland, she’s just returned from a robotics conference in Santa Barbara. “I was invited,” she says. “With everything happening with AI, people are wanting to know my thoughts.” She says she got to see machines made by Boston Dynamics, the Hyundai-owned company that produces a viral robotic dog that has caused controversy across the country after being embraced by law enforcement. Janelle didn’t speak there. “I was just listening,” she says. “It’s not going away, and I think that a lot of it has to do with who’s programming and what are the values and the morals — what are we teaching it? It’s complicated. It’s nuanced.” 

With her prior albums, Janelle concocted dystopian futures to reflect current problems and illustrate resistance, using a rift between androids and humans to illuminate issues of bigotry. The Age of Pleasure, by contrast, is about relishing what’s already been achieved. It’s celebratory. It’s dancing on ashes until they fertilize new life. It’s insular, a clearer portrait of her life rather than a defense of it. “I also shouldn’t have to teach anybody why it’s important to protect queer Black life, trans Black life, nonbinary Black life. I shouldn’t have to make an album about it,” she says after I note that building empathy was a goal of hers in the Dirty Computer era. “I don’t even think that anybody should have to tell a story of empathy for you to get that,” she says now. 

“This album is not about a fight,” she says of The Age of Pleasure. “It’s about living in an oasis created by us for us. Even with everything going on in the world, this is our moment to breathe together, unapologetically taking this beat to enjoy — to hurry up and live.”

A week and a half later, when I see Janelle one last time, she’s in the throes of a very different kind of event — it’s one of the Met Gala’s most storied afterparties, atop New York’s Standard hotel, and she’s the host. Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, and Lil Nas X are among the slate of entertainment elite who come by.

Janelle shape-shifts from MC to performer, serenading the crowd atop the horseshoe-shaped bar — once again singing on the furniture. Earlier in the evening, she wore a Thom Browne coat inflated by a circular tent of a dress to the Gala. Now, she strips down to the sparkling black-and-white bikini she had underneath to belt “Float,” a look that’s a bit of her tuxedo past and a lot of her bare-body present. She enlists us all in a toast. “I’ve been in the age of uncertainty,” she says. “But tonight, this year, we are in the age of motherfuckin’ pleasure!”

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Produced by Lynda Goldstein at Pix Producers inc . Photography Direction by Emma Reeves . Fashion direction by Alex Badia . Styling by Alexandra Mandelkorn at The Wall Group . Market editor: Emily Mercer . Hair by Nikki Nelms at The Only Agency . Makeup by Keita Moore at The Only Agency . Nails by Anjaneth Aguirre . Tailoring by Chelsea McCarroll . Lighting Technician: Pierre Bonnet . Photography assistance by Aidan Tan . Digital technician: Xiang-Yun Chen . Styling assistance by Erik Ziemba . Fashion assistance by Kyle Rice . Fashion-market assistance by Ari Stark and Kimberly infante . Production assistance by Brendan MacDevette and Christian Cañizares . Photographed at Pier59 Studios .  

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Janelle monáe wants you ... to enter the 'pleasure' zone, the expectation-busting musician's new album is an invitation to a carefully appointed sensual oasis.

On her new album, The Age of Pleasure , Janelle Monáe concocts a vision of sensuality that is open to complication but goes down easy. Mason Rose/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

On her new album, The Age of Pleasure , Janelle Monáe concocts a vision of sensuality that is open to complication but goes down easy.

In the already uncomfortably hot summer of 2023, talk of pleasure can hit like a forbidden tonic, providing relief from a steady diet of grief, outrage and anxiety. Janelle Monáe's new album The Age of Pleasure presents itself as both that stimulant and a guidebook, a compact compendium of fantasies and pep talks designed to encourage listeners to relax into the dopamine-rushed present tense. "If I could f*** me right here right now I would do that," the singer-actor-conceptualist turned libertine lifestyle coach sings in "Water Slide," a reggaefied mid-record romp that plays with swimming metaphors — backstroke, freestyle, surfing on the thing like it's high tide —to invoke a tipsy kind of arousal that lingers delightfully, requiring no release. A floating feeling, like being drawn into a swimming pool's lazy river. Or like getting intimate without an end goal in mind, in a safe space with someone you love. "I could spend the whole day in it," Monáe swoons, and by "it" she means pleasure itself.

In Monáe's world pleasure means some obvious things — material comfort, self-love, carefully maintained ties with intimates and an open-ended approach to alluring strangers. Musically, these values find expression in a certain cadence, that clavé groove that unfolds the way sexual excitement does, slowing time down and speeding it up all at once. Monáe and her collaborators in the Wondaland Arts Society ground The Age of Pleasure in the complex yet accessible rhythms of Afrobeats (some prefer Afropop), the diasporic dance music that shares sonic borders with global Latin pop and Caribbean riddims. Afrobeats is the ground of much current mainstream pop, recasting hip-hop on the global stage in ways that are both historically minded — the presence of Nigerian scion Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 on this album accomplish that goal — and au courant . Monáe queers the trend with lyrics that celebrate same-sex encounters and polyamory and by filling Pleasure 's songs with quick turns, interludes and echoes, creating a sinuous inflorescence evocative of many women's responsive patterns and the polymorphous attention blur of a friendly orgy.

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If this sounds like a lot, Monáe and her collaborators make sure it goes down easy. The Age of Pleasure is just over 30 minutes long and its structure is clean and tight. Supposedly an autobiographical departure from her previous character-driven concept albums, this neat set still displays an actor's sensibility. It unfolds in three acts, with a bold opening, a complicated middle and a pleasing denouement. But unlike her earlier Cindi Mayweather trilogy, with its hugely detailed world-building and heady ideas about power, race and humanity itself, The Age of Pleasure is contained, naturalistic and circular. It's a round, a story that's not linear but grounded in an ebb and flow, again like a woman's sensuality — and in service of a utopian eroticism that runs on true mutual recognition.

True to her style and accommodating an instrument that's more chameleonic than stunningly distinctive, Monáe puts on many voices throughout The Age of Pleasure . The first four tracks are flexes, runway struts redolent of the ballroom (and, inevitably, Beyoncé's Renaissance ). The dominant voice here is that of a haughty rapper who also likes to play. Monáe doesn't walk, she floats; she's on her champagne s***, phenomenal, so hot she's haute . This is the warm-up, the infusion of pride required to pursue pleasure without too much risk of being exploited. "I'm looking at a thousand versions of myself, and we're all fine as f***," Monáe spits over an avant-funk beat, ready to grab her besties and go on the prowl. Flipping a line from decadent Euphoria , she speaks up for seductiveness as a strength instead of a destabilizing element.

Her excursions occupy the album's middle and most interesting section, a set of mid-tempo grooves that turn inward to describe a queer experience of pleasure. An interlude featuring Saint Grace Jones murmuring in French sets up the section; then comes "Lipstick Lover," the summery reggae single that hovers in the air like a throwaway while establishing Monáe's all-important perspective. "I like lipstick on my neck," Monáe chants in the chorus, not only making clear that she wants queer fun but pointing toward erogenous zones that unseat Afropop and hip-hop's phallocentric tendencies . Even more effective is "The Rush," its half time dancehall riddim and airy harmonies sounding like what being turned on feels like, steadily yet sneakily intensifying on a wave of Monáe's murmurs with extra strokes from Amaarae and Nia Long. "I get that feelin' ," she repeats, redirecting her thought processes below her neck over a bed of what the credits describe as "percolating freaquencies." Feeling becomes a way of thinking. Next comes "Water Slide," its drenched metaphors accentuating the music's body consciousness.

The final turn in The Age of Pleasure complicates pleasure by showing how it's a two- (or three-) way street that can get a little bumpy. The insistence of "Know Better," a lover's plea built around densely multi-tracked vocals from Monáe and Nigerian crooner Ckay , reminds the listener that pleasure demands consent. That song drifts right into "Paid In Pleasure," a sticky allegory that lets in some perversion, turning sex's sometimes transactional nature into a fetish. (Monáe's early mentor Prince would have enjoyed this one.) Our sensual hero recovers her wits on the final two tracks — the adorable ode to throupling "Only Have Eyes 42," which quotes a doo wop classic to swathe polyamory in innocence, and the brief, tender "A Dry Red," which shows that Monaé can do yearning as convincingly as she can pose or purr, and begins the album's cycle of awakening, pursuit and connection again.

Janelle Monáe on NPR

Music Features

Janelle monáe is the 21st century's time traveler.

All Songs Considered

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For all its narrative flair, The Age of Pleasure is actually more about making space than telling a story, and that's why this album is more instantly beguiling than her previous releases, whose high concepts could result in a certain chilliness. Monáe has called this space an oasis, and its sheltering vibes are paramount. The album's rollout, via a Rolling Stone cover and the "Lipstick Lover" video , has centered on Wondaland West, the communal Los Angeles manse where Monáe is housemother, with its party-ready courtyard that Rolling Stone 's Mankaprr Conteh described as "magnificent, with its tranquil pool in the center and troves of nooks, crannies, outdoor baths, and citrus trees" — an Eden where slipping away with a special someone is as possible as joining in on a group hug. During lockdown, in collaboration with the diasporic roving party Everyday People, Monáe began hosting gatherings. The Age of Pleasure reflects this communal experience, asserting that the only way pleasure can flower is in well-tended gardens where people can relax into themselves. For BIPOC and queer people, such places have often been difficult to find, and they are currently under siege. The Age of Pleasure establishes its utopia to illuminate the need for more mundane versions of it to multiply.

The term "pleasure zone" has different meanings; it designates sensitive parts of the body, but also spaces where people can step outside the grind of their daily lives and play. Postmodern theory names certain characteristics of these spaces: They are sheltering, flexible and whimsical, allowing visitors to try on customarily unavailable modes of being. Access to such spaces has often been denied BIPOC and queer people; the history of the swimming pool, Monáe's favorite metaphor, is stained with the blood of racist segregation. That's why imagining — and creating — such oases matters so much, and why, for all its lightness, The Age of Pleasure is profoundly political. As these songs move from Lagos polyrhythms to Atlanta hip-hop horns to variations on earlier pop twists on dance floor innovation like executive producer Diddy's long-lost project Dirty Money, The Age of Pleasure conjures a dream of frictionless fluidity where any fantasy might be pursued, any identity embraced, safely. The myriad images of water add to the feeling of escaping gravity — and it's definitely pool water, teal blue and protected from dangerous undertows, where a leg can press against a thigh on a floatie with no danger of pulling anyone under.

Janelle Monáe's supreme ability to contain herself, to meld with the roles she takes on, is her main strength and shortcoming as a performer. She has achieved much as an actress by disappearing into roles that require her to don disguises , help others disguise themselves , keep secrets and find power on the margins . Her music has sometimes lacked a strong charismatic center as she's pursued different characters and plotlines. On The Age of Pleasure she experiments with a new role — that of her own fine self, alive in a body and eager to feel as much as she can. This allows her to put aside the highly dramatic expressiveness to which she's not suited and instead dwell in that liquid experience of suggestiveness and seduction where gestures speak louder than words. Monáe still seems to resist intense emotions — heartache, for example, doesn't surface anywhere here, and despite all the kissing and licking and offers to keep her lovers coming, she doesn't hit any orgasmic notes herself. Instead, she and the Wondaland crew offer an alternative to all that: a wet dream of a better world.

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Docs that rock this emmys season: from ‘the beach boys’ to ‘the greatest night in pop’.

A documentary about Paul Simon making his new album as well as a doc series about the life and legacy of James Brown are also Emmy contenders.

By Beatrice Verhoeven

Beatrice Verhoeven

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The Beach Boys (Disney+)

This documentary follows the group’s family beginnings as their songs epitomizing the California dream drive their rising fame. It features never-before-seen footage and interviews with resident Beach Boys erratic genius Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, David Marks and Bruce Johnston and includes input from Janelle Monáe, Lindsey Buckingham, Ryan Tedder and Don Was. The Beach Boys was directed by Frank Marshall and Thom Zimny and written by Mark Monroe.

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In this 31/2-hour documentary series directed by Oscar winner Alex Gibney ( Going Clear , Citizen K ), the singer, songwriter, musician and 16-time Grammy winner recounts his upbringing in Queens, the rise of the 1960s hugely successful folk duo Simon & Garfunkel and his solo career, all while making his latest album Seven Psalms , which was released in May 2023. The documentary holds a score of 95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

James Brown: Say It Loud (A&E)

This four-part doc takes a look at Brown’s life and legacy with the help of interviews from the likes of Mick Jagger, Questlove, LL Cool J, Al Sharpton and Terry Lewis as well as archival and never-before-seen footage. Say It Loud was directed by Deborah Riley Draper ( The Legacy of Black Wall Street and Olympic Pride, American Prejudice ) and features iconic songs like “I Feel Good” and “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” from the musician known as the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business.

Kings From Queens: The Run DMC Story (Peacock)

Thank you, goodnight: the bon jovi story (hulu).

This four-part docuseries takes an inside look at the “Livin’ on a Prayer” and “You Give Love a Bad Name” rockers and their charismatic frontman, New Jersey’s own Jon Bon Jovi. The project, which began filming in 2022, follows the band as it contemplates its future and legacy. Directed and executive produced by Emmy winner Gotham Chopra ( Kobe Bryant’s Muse ), it features 40 years of personal videos, unreleased demos and never-before-seen photos.

This story first appeared in a May standalone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe .

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