SZA Is Loving Janelle Monae’s Sexy New Era of ‘Self Renaissance’
SZA is all about supporting women and their sexual expression.
The “Kill Bill” singer came to Janelle Monáe’s defense on Monday (May 15) amid online backlash toward the “Lipstick Lover” singer, who has been showing off a newer, sexier side of herself leading up to her The Age of Pleasure album release.
“I love that it’s HER being free [right now] because [people] LOVE to box women in and claim that because you’re articulate respected and intelligent, you can’t show your body or be sexual or anything else lol,” SZA commented on an Instagram post from RNB Radar. “It’s a ridiculous notion and I’m ALL FOR HER SELF RENAISSANCE.”
In the “age-restricted” video for “Lipstick Lover” on YouTube, Monae relishes in female beauty as she enjoys poolside kisses on the neck and appreciates her muse’s curves.
“I’m like, ‘Why didn’t I write this song years ago?’ Because if you know me … Today, I don’t have on any red lipstick, but I’m always in red lipstick,” she told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe of the track. “And there have been so many instances where I’ve made out with somebody at a party, and it’s dark. Nobody notices it. But when the lights come on, whoever I’ve made out with, lipstick all over their face. And then I’ve also been on the receiving end of a human … who’s so attractive. … Or I’ll get home, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God. I have lipstick all over my face.’ And I’ve also been the ‘Lipstick Lover’ where … you know exactly who I kissed.”
Monae’s album, The Age of Pleasure — out June 9 via Wondaland Arts Society / Atlantic Records — will be her first studio album since 2018’s Grammy-nominated release of Dirty Computer.
See SZA’s supportive comment below.
Rania Aniftos
Billboard
