Following the release of the trailer for her upcoming album, ‘Dirty Computer’, Janelle Monae dropped not one but TWO videos today, and the internet is going bananas!
“Make Me Feel,” is a feel-good, 80s inspired visual featuring actress Tessa Thompson. In the video, Monae bounces between Tessa and a male love interest. Monae has always been very clear about her sexual fluidity, rejecting all labels and refusing to be put into any box… This video is undoubtedly a nod to Prince, her musical idol.
Speaking to The Guardian, she said:
“I wouldn’t be as comfortable with who I am if it had not been for Prince. I mean, my label Wondaland would not exist without Paisley Park coming before us,” Monáe continued. “He would probably get me for cussin’, but Prince is in that ‘free motherf*cker’ category. That’s the category when we can recognize in each other that you’re also a free motherf*cker. […] Whether we curse or not, we see other free motherf*ckers. David Bowie! A free motherf*cker. I feel their spirit, I feel their energy. They were able to evolve. You felt that freedom in them.”
Monae also dropped the cinematic visuals for the hip-hop heavy “Django Jane,” in which Monae dons a crown.
