Our national nightmare is over: Janelle Monáe’s new album is coming and ahead of its June release the star has released a new music video featuring a lot of nudity, sex, partying, and…a Pokémon onesie?
I’ve been waiting for Monáe’s new album since 2018 after I listened to all of Dirty Computer—her last album— a dozen times in one day upon its release. And now we know her upcoming fourth album, Age of Pleasure, releases soon on June 9. And to help get everyone excited about this news, Monáe released “Lipstick Lover,” a new single off the album alongside a music video for the track. A quick heads up that the video is very not safe for work. Be careful where you enjoy this awesome new song. But you should watch it because at the end you can see Monáe wearing a piece of Pokémon-themed clothing.
In the video (which is age-restricted and can only be watched on YouTube) we see the singer/songwriter/actress enjoying a fun party that also seems to be an orgy, or the closest thing to an orgy you can pull off while still being allowed to upload your video to YouTube and other sites. After all that sexual fun, and after singing a song that is already firmly lodged in my head, Monáe wakes up the next morning, brushes her teeth, and quickly jumps into a pool after someone. And she does all that in a Flareon onesie.
I’ll be honest, I purely booted up this new video to enjoy her new song and not to stumble upon content for Kotaku dot com. However, here we are. And now I must wonder: Is Flareon Monáe’s favorite Pokémon? Or did she just want any Pokémon onesie? And also, how long is it going to take to dry that adorable piece of clothing out after hopping into a pool? Boy, those fancy Hollywood folks live a different life than I.
Kotaku has reached out to Monáe and her PR team.
Anyway, if you don’t mind me I’m going to listen to “Lipstick Lover” again (again) and then binge Dirty Computer once more as I wait for June 9 and the release of Age of Pleasure.