![]() Colenzo, Treasurer.Įxecutive Committee: S. DuBois, Georgia, Vice-President for America. It’s a bacchanal in the haven Monáe constructed for themself, cobblestone by cobblestone, tree by tree. Even the Lord rested.At the first Pan African Conference a permanent organization was formed and the following officers were elected to serve for two years: Bishop A. The Age of Pleasure isn’t as intricate as their sci-fi novellas or as electrifyingly innovative as The ArchAndroid. Jane convinces Zen to escape by triggering shared memories of their relationship. The protagonists in The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer, a collection of Monáe’s dystopian fiction, liberate themselves through an intergenerational collective consciousness. For over a decade, in concept albums and short stories, they’ve crafted allegorical worlds to warn against the dangers of ahistorical thought. As an actor, they’ve worked on several films that centered on Black freedom struggles: Hidden Figures, Antebellum, Harriet, and Moonlight. Like their original alter ego Cindi Mayweather, Monáe is a time traveler, archiving information and bearing witness for future generations. Tender aftercare arrives in the polyamory ode “Only Have Eyes 42” and the acoustic remembrance “A Dry Red.” Of all the features, Ghanaian-American singer Amaarae best matches Monáe’s apocalyptically horny energy: “Fucking you like it’s my destiny.” Even blinded by lust, no one denigrates women as conquests. Grace Jones lends her husky French to the seductive interlude “Ooh La La.” Doechii channels Good Girl Gone Bad-era Rihanna in a raspy, haughty verse on “Phenomenal.” The hypnotic spoken-word opening to “The Rush” is voiced by Black cinema bombshell Nia Long. If the record is a steamy tropical romance novel, then Monáe plays both the broad-shouldered hunk and the yearning damsel. “Leave a sticky hickey in a place I won’t forget,” they plead.Ī roster of eclectic collaborators balances The Age of Pleasure’s masculine and feminine energies. “Lipstick Lover” envisions the kind of sapphic orgy where you show up looking for an anonymous thrill but leave with three new best friends. Subverting the ogling gazes of those who wish to covet and control their body, Monáe worships their own flesh and desire, which after all are molded in God’s image: “If I could fuck me right here right now, I would do that.” They take the guilty out of guilty pleasure. The blues have always served as an outlet for Black queer people to explore their sexuality and gender expression. Each influence ebbs and flows through the record like neighbors stopping by for some rum and gossip. No diasporic record is complete without reggae tunes and Caribbean riddims, and the presence of Jamaican dancehall legend Sister Nancy on “The French 75” interlude encapsulates the sense of laid-back communion. Amapiano grooves meet android ball culture on the humid “Phenomenal.” Throughout the album, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 supply reverberating brass Wonder adds breezy woodwinds characteristic of Afrobeats. Evoking the historical memory of these fruitful civilizations, Monáe aligns themself with their regality. “Champagne Shit” pairs an electric piano sound found in Ethiopian electronic dance music with a sinuous synth that mimics the ancient Egyptian ney flute. Wondaland co-producer Nate Wonder melds diasporic influences into an Afrofuturistic soundscape. Monáe flourishes in a Pan-African utopia. Some might argue that good Christians must deprive themselves of earthly pleasure, but the Good Book said, “Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.” Shaking their Baptist tits on a yacht in an all-white ensemble, Monáe keeps the liquor and celebratory mood flowing with those who value them in all their complexity. The Age of Pleasure revels in an ecclesiastic enjoyment of indulgence. ![]() They’ve come out as a “ free-ass motherfucker” and they refuse to dignify bigotry with any engagement. “No, I’m not the same, nigga,” they announce over celestial horns. ![]() Opener “ Float” is the victory speech to “Django Jane”’s battle cry. ![]()
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