Janelle Monáe has only released one album, but that’s all it has taken for her to become an international star and acclaimed performer. Over her short career she has made some literally iconic friends, and according to Billboard her anticipated sophomore album, ‘The Electric Lady,’ which already features Erykah Badu on the lead single “Q.U.E.E.N.,” will also include guest appearances by Prince and Miguel.
In her new Billboard cover story, Monáe says she aims to “tell universal stories in unforgettable ways” on the album, due in September, and that conversations she had with collaborators helped inspire some of the tracks.
“We are great friends, and he is a mentor to us, to me,” she says of Prince. “It’s a beautiful thing to have a friend — someone who cares about your career, and wants to see you go far and to push boundaries and shake up the world — give whatever they possibly can to the cause.”
Monáe jumped at the opportunity to work with her iconic friend, who is not exactly known for making guest appearances.
“I had a chance to produce an icon,” says Monáe, who is keeping the name of their song under wraps. “It’s not every day that he collaborates. I’m honored and humbled that he trusted me. He is forever my friend, and I am forever indebted. I can’t say too much else about it.”
Additionally, Miguel appears on the glimmering “Primetime,” which interpolates the Pixies’ famous “Where Is My Mind?” “ooh” section atop a spare funk beat. It’s a love duet that builds on harmonies and the chorus — “Primetime for our love/Heaven is bettin’ on us” — and unites their glossy croons so well one can almost feel them melting into one another.
