Hue: Pink

PYNK
By Caroline Framke
The queer-as-hell self-love anthem is the best music video
featuring Tessa Thompson & vagina pants you’ll see ever.
Based on the music videos,
Janelle Monáe’s new album
Dirty Computer isn’t exactly
going for subtle — and wow, we
are blessed. After releasing dueling
videos in late February for the
Prince-esque jam “Make Me Feel”
and the take-no-shit rap “Django
Jane,” Monáe released a third video
on Tuesday for “Pynk,” which takes
some of the subtext of those first
two videos and releases it into the
desert for a joyous coming-out.
More specifically: “Pynk” is about as
queer a music video as they come.
Monáe, flanked entirely by women,
sings about loving the “pink, like the
inside of your [wink], baby,” or like
“the tongue going down (maybe).”
She and her backup dancers wear
voluminous pink pants that, when
opened, reveal layers of ruffles
that deliberately echo vaginas. At
one point, actor Tessa Thompson —
Monáe’s friend and long-rumored
partner, who also co-starred in
16 Hue