Janelle Monáe's Pleasure Principle

As she releases her most sumptuous album yet, the triple-threat star goes deep on everything from anxiety to Al to how to "hurry up and live"

- By Mankaprr Conteh. Photographs by Justin French

Janelle Monáe slides down the front zip on her onesie, slings the suit down her back, and wiggles her bare ass towards about 20 of her dear friends.

It's game night at Wondaland West, the homey Los Angeles campus where Janelle works and communes, complete with a studio, living quarters, and an immaculate teal pool nestled within a grove of tropical flora. Janelle's butt makes its appearance via Consequences, a game she requested we play. Her friends Stephanie and Tree invented it when they were visiting Janelle in Greece as she filmed Glass Onion, the 2022 murder-mystery comedy in which she plays essentially four starring roles. (It went on to be one of the most popular Netflix movies ever.)

To play Consequences, we flip over a grid of cards they printed out, two at a time, in search of matching pairs; the cards also direct players to endure a series of dares, from simulating sex with someone in the room to pitching an item there like a salesperson. (Several involve downing shots.) We take turns scanning for matches and choosing challenges while sitting in a square in Wondaland's den, where a tan, L-shaped sectional is offset by boxy, burnt-orange armchairs, funky plush dining ones, a sleek, cream lounge chair and a straddleable sheep.

Josh Dean, a musician and friend of Janelle, has to sightlessly let someone else put a body part in his mouth and guess what it is, so Laura, who I'm told works on game shows, puts her knee on his lips. I elect to moan for the group rather than give them my iMessages to search through.

"Fuck!" yells Janelle, whose cards direct her to either take a body part in her mouth or show us the goods. The decision comes quickly: "I'm 'bout to moon the group!" Loud cheers follow.