Janelle Monáe worked with Prince on her new record

The deliciously familiar tones of Monáe's "Make Me Feel" stomper didn't go unnoticed when she dropped the banger alongside "Django Jane", and now it turns out that late icon Prince was involved in the process.

Speaking to BBC Radio 1, she said that he had a big influence on upcoming record Dirty Computer: "Prince actually was working on the album with me before he passed on to another frequency, and helped me come up with sounds. And I really miss him, you know, it’s hard for me to talk about him. But I do miss him, and his spirit will never leave me."

In an interview with The Guardian, she added: "I wouldn’t be as comfortable with who I am if it had not been for Prince. I mean, my label Wondaland would not exist without Paisley Park coming before us. He would probably get me for cussin’, but Prince is in that ‘free motherfucker’ category. That’s the category when we can recognise in each other that you’re also a free motherfucker. Whether we curse or not, we see other free motherfuckers. David Bowie! A free motherfucker. I feel their spirit, I feel their energy. They were able to evolve. You felt that freedom in them."

Monáe and Prince have had regular run-ins over the years, and even collaborated on the former's most recent LP The Electric Lady.