Janelle Monae says she considers herself “a free motherfucker”. A black, queer American woman, Monae’s spoken about her hope to be a representative for the marginalised. 'Pynk' is Monae at her upmost free motherfuckerness, and it makes its listener feel the same. I wasn’t sure what it was I was feeling when I heard the first bar of her song ‘Pynk’, but when the lyrics kicked in I realised - it was love.

’Pynk’ is unapologetically, powerfully, feminine and queer. Incredibly sexy and suggestive lyrics are delivered by a soft, gentle feminine voice. The beat grabs you as soon as the song opens. Something about it, with its sound of fingers clicking, feels like someone is suggestively whispering it in your ear. Put lyrics like ‘pynk like the inside of your…’ over the top, and it becomes almost pornographic (but in the most tasteful way).

The song is also so much more than just sexy, its a reclamation of ‘Pink’, a reclamation of all the feminine symbolism so deeply tied into it. The music video is a group of black female dancers in the desert, wearing trousers that look like vaginas. The song is a celebration of all the power and strength of a woman. The bodies and sexualities of her and her dancers no one’s but their own, for the enjoyment of themselves and not onlookers. Tie all this empowerment and politics into a song that, when it comes down to it, is a great beat, with simple but powerful lyrics, that peaks and dips just as it should, and you’ve got a pretty good recipe for a banger. And it does what only the best songs do - it leaves you with a lasting feeling, a feeling of strength and power, a feeling of freedom. Abigail Wishart