Finally, to round out this little impromptu series, Janelle Monáe gives us her latest project, “The Age of Pleasure”. If you know me, you know that I highly value the first listening experience, and I had a great one with this album… I was crunk, won’t een hold ya 🤪. That being said I think Monáe’s album brings up an interesting case about how music can make you feel and I’ll be exploring that here.
If you watched the NBA playoffs, you’ll know the intro track ‘Float’. It sounded good on the commercials, but when you hear the whole song it sounds even better. The track sets the tone for the album, establishing its core theme of fun and confidence. Frankly, I find this album to be very empowering and confidence building, which isn’t an easy feat for an artist to pull off.
A big lyrical topic in music especially in rap, pop, and r&b is basically just flexing how awesome you are in one way or another. Either they’re super rich, have an extreme amount of lovers, etc. However, particularly amongst male artists, I don’t find physical appearance to be a super popular flexing point. When listening to the album, you can almost instantly tell Monáe is in love with herself and her appearance, showing a strong sense of confidence and security. I find this to be very contagious and makes me enjoy her music even more.
To put it plainly, listening to this album makes you feel sexy. It just does idk 🤷🏽♂️. I would feel bad for anyone who pulled up on me after I had been listening to ‘Haute’ because my confidence is gonna be through the roof. To be able to invoke that type of emotion through song is very impressive and she should be applauded for it. Other artists I believe do this very well are Drake, Beyoncé, and Bruno Mars. If you knew me when ‘Way 2 Sexy’ first dropped, I apologize lol. In addition, I find this album to be resemblant of “Renaissance”, and that album is a masterpiece. In a similar way, “The Age of Pleasure” is fun, sexy, and makes you wanna dance.
If anyone is feeling themselves or wants to feel themselves this album is perfect. I highly recommend it if you’re going out, on a beach, or just feeling in a ‘up’ mood. This wraps up the triple album review series and hopefully there will be more reviews in the future. I want you to know that you’re sexy and have something to be confident in. Peace.
Favorite Songs:
Haught