Classic Man (feat. Roman GianArthur)

Jidenna Mobisson is an artist signed to Janelle Monáe's Wondaland Records label, which is distributed through Epic Records. This is his first single, which features Roman GianArthur, another artist signed to Wondaland Records.

Jidenna is a founding member of Fear & Fancy, a social club that began in California in 2006. The society is a collective of entrepreneurs, educators, activists and recording and visual artists who host soirees, dinner parties, and demonstrations. This song came out of the men that the singer mixes with from the collective. Jidenna explained to Flavorpill: "It really celebrates the gentleman in the neighborhood that everyone knows, respects; [someone who] cares for people that are not necessarily his own blood." "I think its important that the Classic Man is the dignitary in that he really carries himself with a certain amount of poise and dignity wherever he goes."

Jidenna told Billboard magazine that he and director Alan Ferguson had a specific vision for the song's visual. "We wanted to create a video that was telling of the lifestyle I live as a man," he said. "Part of that lifestyle includes soirees and hosting these swank ceremonies, but another part of it is really just being a neighborhood man, a man that cares about people beyond his own blood." "The scene that you see with the youth being arrested by the police officers, that's straight out of the book of my own life," Jidenna continued. "We were very intentional about showing how you can co-operate with police officers and the youth. There's definitely a lot of scrutiny surrounding the militarized police that we have in the US right now. I don't want a world where the citizens and the police are fighting each other. I wanted to show a world where youth don't get shot when police run up on them. Afterwards you see those kids going to the chiefing academy where they learn arts and sciences. You witness the element of us serving the neighborhood youth, and later on you see us turning up."