Aja Monet is preparing a new album titled The Color of Rain, due out on May 22 via Drink Sum Wtr. The project, co-produced with Justin Brown and Meshell Ndegeocello, includes guest appearances from Mick Jenkins, Vic Mensa and others. Monet has shared a video for the track Elsewhere.
Aja Monet, the blues poet behind the 2023 debut When the Poems Do What They Do, revealed details of her upcoming sophomore album, The Color of Rain. Set for release on May 22 through Drink Sum Wtr, the record was co-produced by Monet, drummer Justin Brown and bassist Meshell Ndegeocello. It features vocals from rappers Mick Jenkins and Vic Mensa, harpist Brandee Younger, and additional contributors including Ganavya and Mereba on specific tracks. Ndegeocello also leads a live band comprising Burniss Travis, Josh Johnson, Daniel Mintseris, Jermaine Paul, Ambrose Akinmusire and Nico Segal. A video for Elsewhere, directed by Jesse Boykins III, spotlights Georgia Anne Muldrow, Ndegeocello and Novena Carmel. In a press release, Monet dedicated the song to Sly Stone, who recently passed away. > We were in the studio working on the album and learned of his death. Meshell told me to go home and write something not in memoriam but in homage. The next day we started working on the song and it was like he was in the room with us. Everything came together in divine timing. I had already reached out to Novena Carmel and also Georgia Anne Muldrow but they both responded the same day and joined us. The song reminds me of our love for one another and the portal of possibility. The full tracklist includes: 1. Say It With Your Chest 2. Elsewhere [ft. Meshell Ndegeocello & Georgia Anne Muldrow] 3. Withness 4. Hollyweird 5. Skinfolk 6. For the Congo 7. I Came to the Poem 8. To Sister [ft. Ganavya & Brandee Younger] 9. I Know That I Don’t Know 10. Working Class Musicians 11. Love Is Chosing [ft. Mereba] 12. Song of Myself 13. Melting Clocks [ft. Mick Jenkins & Vic Mensa] 14. Every Media Minute 15. Indigo Monet has scheduled a performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall on May 20, during the album’s release week.