Janelle Monáe is ‘much happier’ when certain body parts ‘are out,’ FYI

Janelle Monáe is baring it all in a new interview.

Monáe caused a stir on social media earlier this month when a video of them flashing their breasts during a live performance went viral. Now, she is gracing the cover of Rolling Stone‘s Pride issue with a peekaboo photo where her nipples are barely covered.

It was a divergence from the signature Chanel, Armani and Stella McCartney suits that fans had become accustomed to seeing Monáe wear.

“I’m much happier when my titties are out and I can run around free,� she said.

In the interview, she discusses how coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic allowed her to appreciate community and find pleasure in that, a theme that inspired their new album.

Ahead of their upcoming album “The Age of Pleasure,� Monáe debuted a single May 11 called “Lipstick Lover.� In a short clip announcing the single, Monáe emerges from a swimming pool in a see-through wet T-shirt. The preview amassed 22.2 million views on Twitter.

Fully diving in, the album cover features the multitalented feminist swimming topless underwater through a tunnel of standing legs.

“[I]t’s beautiful that I have a title called ‘The Age of Pleasure’ because it actually re-centers me. It’s not about an album anymore. I’ve changed my whole f— lifestyle,� Monáe told Rolling Stone about prioritizing enjoyment.

Fan outcry aside, this isn’t new territory for Monáe, as evidenced by past Instagram posts celebrating her birthday in a skirt and nipple pasties and posing on an Ibiza beach topless. Monáe explained that she’s expanded her buttoned-up look more in her private life over the last decade.

“Even when I was really, really wearing only suits ... I was either in a suit or you would find me at my own parties naked. It was no in-between,� she said in the article.

The “Glass Onion� star faced criticism from some fans about their new looks.

“What happened to the suits?� one commenter asked on Twitter.

“What happened to the fully dressed Janelle Monáe?� another tweeted.

Monáe emphasized that her more conservative looks were not a statement on what people should wear.

“Some people who have their own agendas and are respectability politicians may have been misled into believing that I was covering up to be an example of how to be proper,� she told the Breakfast Club in 2018. “I didn’t like that. I never took that as a compliment.�

“The Age of Pleasure� is due June 9.