"Pynk" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter

Janelle Monáe Janelle Monáe Robinson ( ; born December 1, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper and actress. She has received ten Grammy Award nominations, and is the recipient of a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Children's and Family Emmy Award. ...

for her third studio album, '' Dirty Computer'' (2018). It features Canadian

art pop Art pop (also typeset art-pop or artpop) is a loosely defined style of pop music influenced by art theory, art theories as well as ideas from other art mediums, such as fashion, fine art, film, cinema, and avant-garde literature. The genre dra ...

musician

Grimes Claire Elise Boucher (; born March 17, 1988), known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her lyrics often touch on science fiction and feminist themes. The visuals in her videos are elabora ...

and interpolates the song "

Pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...

" by

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...

, with members of the band being credited as co-writers. Lyrically, the song continues Monáe's female empowerment theme previously expressed in " Django Jane". The third single from ''Dirty Computer'', a music video for the song was uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on April 10, 2018.

Background

Monáe describes the song as, "a celebration of creation, self love, sexuality and pussy power", and that the color pink "unites all of humanity" because it is the color "found in the deepest and darkest nooks and crannies of humans everywhere." In the Dirty Computer CD liner notes, Monáe describes the song's origins: "Inspired by

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

's mischievous smile as he played organ on "Hot Thang" and watched Cat Glover shimmy across the stage in "Sign O' The Times" and by

Kali Kali (; , ), also called Kalika, is a major goddess in Hinduism, primarily associated with time, death and destruction. Kali is also connected with transcendental knowledge and is the first of the ten Mahavidyas, a group of goddesses who p ...

Sheela Na Gig A sheela na gig is a figurative carving of a naked woman displaying an exaggerated Human vulva, vulva. These carvings, from the Middle Ages, are Grotesque (architecture), architectural grotesques found throughout most of Europe on Architecture ...

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

Sheba Sheba, or Saba, was an ancient South Arabian kingdoms in pre-Islamic Arabia, South Arabian kingdom that existed in Yemen (region), Yemen from to . Its inhabitants were the Sabaeans, who, as a people, were indissociable from the kingdom itself f ...

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; ), also called Gorgo () or the Gorgon, was one of the three Gorgons. Medusa is generally described as a woman with living snakes in place of hair; her appearance was so hideous that anyone who looked upon her wa ...

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

and all the Mothergoddess sculptures and paintings in pyramids, churches and castles around the world; midnight conversations and debates about The Great Cosmic Mother; insights from The Vagina by

Naomi Wolf Naomi Rebekah Wolf (born 1962) is an American feminist author, journalist, and conspiracy theorist. After the 1991 publication of her first book, '' The Beauty Myth'', Wolf became a prominent figure in the third wave of the feminist movemen ...

f, and Interior Scroll by

Carolee Schneemann Carolee Schneemann (October 12, 1939 – March 6, 2019) was an American visual experimental artist, known for her multi-media works on the body, narrative, sexuality and gender. She received a B.A. in poetry and philosophy from Bard College and ...

and the calligraphy of Sun Ping; and

Paul Simonon Paul Gustave Simonon (; born 15 December 1955) is an English musician and artist best known as the bassist for the Clash. More recent work includes his involvement in the supergroup the Good, the Bad & the Queen and playing on the Gorillaz alb ...

's quote that "pink is the only true rock n' roll color.""

Critical reception

“Pynk” received critical acclaim.

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

praised "Pynk" and awarded it Best New Track. Eve Barlow stated: "As an expression of unity and an appeal to see people beyond gender, the song’s genre-bending sonics and the video’s femme-dominated utopia underscore Monáe’s long-held desires for a more fluid society."

Music video

The music video was directed by Emma Westenberg and was uploaded to Monáe's YouTube account on April 10, 2018. It features actress

Tessa Thompson Tessa Lynne Thompson (born October 3, 1983) is an American actress. She began her professional acting career with the List of Theatre Communications Group member theatres, Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company while studying at Santa Monica ...

, a frequent collaborator of Monáe's. The plot finds Monáe and Thompson along with a group of other women dancing in a desert, having a slumber party and sitting out by a pool while expressing appreciation for the vagina. The distinctive pink vulva trousers worn by the dancers were designed by

Duran Lantink Duran Lantink (born 1987) is a Dutch fashion designer known for his avant-garde designs and focus on sustainability. Early life and education Lantink was born in The Hague, Netherlands. He attended the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and later graduate ...

Awards and nominations

Use in media

The song is played at the end of episode 6 of

Michaela Coel Michaela Ewuraba Boakye-Collinson (born 1987), known professionally as Michaela Coel, is a British actress, writer and television director. She is best known for creating and starring in the E4 television sitcom ''Chewing Gum'' (2015–2017), ...

's drama ''

I May Destroy You ''I May Destroy You'' is a British black comedy-drama television series created, written, co-directed, and executive produced by Michaela Coel for BBC One and HBO. The series is set in London with a predominantly Black British cast. Coel stars ...

''.

Track listing

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pynk 2018 singles 2018 songs Janelle Monáe songs Songs written by Janelle Monáe LGBTQ-related songs Grimes songs Songs written by Tayla Parx Songs written by Steven Tyler Songs written by Glen Ballard Songs with feminist themes Songs about colors