Janelle Monáe – “Float” (Feat. Seun Kuti + Egypt 80)

Janelle Monáe – “Float” (Feat. Seun Kuti + Egypt 80)

The great and impossible-to-categorize pop-music weird Janelle Monaé has spent the past few years establishing themselves as a straight-up movie star and “free-ass motherfucker.” Monaé hasn’t released an album in nearly five years, which feels like a long time. Today, though, Monaé has dropped their first new single since her 2021 protest song “Say Her Name (Hell You Talmbout),” and it’s a banger.

Janelle Monaé has been teasing “Float” for months, both in social-media posts and in NBA promo spots. The song is now coming out for all-star weekend, and Monaé has already named a bunch of inspirations for the track, including Muhammad Ali, Mary Poppins, Aladdin, and Ja Morant. Monaé recorded “Float” with Seun Kuti and his Afrobeat band Egypt 80, whose horns blast all through the track. “Float” is a big, joyous groove, and it finds Monaé switching back and forth between singing and rapping. Check it out below.

“Float” is out now on Wondaland Arts Society/Atlantic.

more from New Music