After much anticipation, including releasing a group of stunning videos which were part of her "emotion picture" which aired on BET and MTV as well as in select theaters, Janelle Monáe has finally dropped her album, Dirty Computer.

As indicated by the singles, "Pynk," "Make Me Feel," "Django Jane" and "I Like That," the album is a funky, empowering exploration of femininity, self-care and self-realization. The album is very personal by design, and in a recent interview Monáe came out as pansexual, saying she's “someone who has been in relationships with both men and women—I consider myself to be a free-ass motherfucker.”

Zoe Kravitz, Pharrell Williams and her late mentor, Prince, all show up on the 14-track album.

"You know I did get the opportunity to perform onstage with him," Monáe told Ebro in a recent interview of sharing her album with the icon. "In fact, I gave him — he had the first copy of my first album. I gave it to him at Paisley Park, and I got a chance to see that he was such a philanthropic person. Like he gave, and he didn't want people to know what he gave. And he's given a lot to me. Any way that I can honor him, and just you know remind this generation of how much he paved the way for artists like myself. I mean there were times that when I ever felt confused on what direction I should take, or if my ideas were to big for the music industry…I knew that was the one person who understood where I was trying to go."

Monáe recently announced dates for her Dirty Computer tour. The 27-city trek kicks of in June in Seattle.

Take a listen to the album below. Purchase it here.

 

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