I was only ten seconds into I Need a Man, the new release from Lael Summer, and I was already sweating. Once that bass hit and the beat kicked in, I was right back in a dark club with my girls, sticky floors, grinding against some random boy, my fake ID shoved in my bra, praying the bouncer wouldn’t clock me. The DJ was spinning those thick, glossy ‘90s house beats—the kind that made your whole body buzz and your knees go weak.
Let me back up, though, because there’s more to this story than just sweaty dance floors and flirty bass lines. Lael Summer was that girl. Gorgeous, loud, vulnerable, complicated as hell. A New York soul-pop queen in the making, writing bold, cheeky tracks like I Need a Man way back in 2012. She dropped the original on her Burden to Bear album in 2013—a funky, horn-driven kiss-off to all the sweet-talkers, all the boys who think they can fumble their way through the bedroom and we’ll still fake an orgasm. Spoiler: we’re not faking shit.
But this remix is a whole different playground. Touchy Feely—aka James Dellatacoma, the same genius who’s touched tracks for Herbie Hancock, Nine Inch Nails, and Matisyahu—took Lael’s song, stripped off the polite layers, poured it into a glittery, high-energy house anthem, and handed it right back to us for the club. It drops June 24 on True Groove Records, timed perfectly to wreck your Pride party in the best way.
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Let’s talk lyrics because she understood the assignment. The way she purrs “I need a man / who don’t mess around with sweet talkin’ / gotta know exactly what he’s doin’…”—that’s not a request. That’s a challenge. And when she snaps “I got an itch to scratch and you ain’t doin’ it right,” tell me you didn’t immediately picture that one situationship you had to ghost because he thought ‘good convo’ could replace knowing how to work the bedroom. Nah.
And it keeps going. “I’m not here to tease, it’s a two-way street and I ain’t walkin’.” Preach. If you’re not showing up, showing out, and showing me the finish line? We’re done. Lael didn’t lived that bold, playful, take-no-shit energy that oozes through every beat of this track.
But here’s where it stings a little—in the way that makes you wanna dance harder, laugh louder, kiss messier. Lael’s story isn’t all Pride flags and sweaty dance floors. She passed in 2017, only 24, after battling depression, an eating disorder, and the brutal side of life too many of us know too well. Her mom, Marla Mase—musician, actress, and total powerhouse—started The Lael Project to keep Lael’s legacy alive. And damn, does this remix do that.
“Lael wasn’t defined by her mental illness,” says Marla. “It’s not either/or—it’s both/and. Lael was fierce, funny, and focused—and she also struggled with an eating disorder. She loved to laugh, sing, go out with friends—and she lived with depression. She was a gifted artist who also battled suicidal thoughts. This song, ‘I Need A Man’, celebrates the joyful, vibrant side of who she was.”
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This is a mother’s love embracing the free spirit her daughter embodied in life and should be an inspiration for how we all treat our daughters. The track hits differently when you know the whole story. It makes the beat punch harder, and the lyrics slap deeper. When Lael belts “I need a man to take me to the finish line,” it’s about sex, sure. But it’s also about life, about wanting someone who can keep up, who shows up, who doesn’t play games when your soul’s on the line.
Producer Tomás Doncker called it “a full-on dancefloor banger.” He’s not wrong. It’s sweaty, sultry, bold as hell—but it’s also Lael reminding all of us that even in a mess, even in the struggle, we get to take up space, demand pleasure, demand joy.
So yeah, we’ll be dancing to this one all summer. Pride month? Absolutely. But also, every random Tuesday, we feel hot, powerful, and a little dangerous—every time, we’re done with the half-assed sweet talk and ready for the real thing.
Lael gave us the anthem we needed. And we’ll be screaming it in the club, lipstick smudged, drink in hand, living for every damn second. And living for Lael.
