Listen to Janelle Monáe's first proper single in years, "Float"
Just 10 days ago, Janelle Monáe took to Twitter to reply to a fan’s tweet joking that she used to dress like “the Monopoly Man,” saying, “no new music just for this,” signed with a kissy-face emoji, and then again replied, “No new tour.” Well, turns out the multi-hyphenate recording artist/actor/dancer was getting ready to actually tease a handful of announcements, because just days later she shared her new single “Float” was coming soon — with a video of a dancing Monopoly Man, no less.
Today, Monáe dropped “Float” (featuring Seun Kuti and Egypt 80), out via Atlantic Records. Although she’s contributed to a handful of soundtracks in the past couple of years, “Float” marks her first proper solo release since 2018’s hit record Dirty Computer, and comes after a period in which she focused on acting, with roles in movies like 2022’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
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Just as she sings on the track, “I used to walk into the room, head down/Now I don’t walk, now I/Float,” one listen of “Float” and you’ll feel like you’re ascending. The hip-hop-fused track finds Monáe rapping over triumphant horns by Afrobeat legends Seun Kuti & Egypt 80.
According to a press release, Monáe says the track “is inspired by Muhammed Ali talking shit in Zaire, 1974, Jane’s evolution, Mary Poppins’ umbrella, Aladdin’s magic carpet, Ja Morant’s flotation to the rim while dunking on his ops, Sara Elise’s ropes, excerpts from Paramahmsa Nithyananda’s talks on levitation, Raul’s toast on Dec 1, and Bruce Lee’s mighty philosophy on being ‘shapeless, formless,’ and becoming one with your surroundings, to be like water.”
Listen to the new single below.
