100 Best Albums
- FEB 4, 1986
- 9 Songs
- Janet. · 1993
- HIStory - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE - BOOK I · 1995
- Janet. · 1993
- Rhythm Nation 1814 · 1989
- Control · 1986
- All for You · 2001
- Control · 1986
- The Velvet Rope (Deluxe Edition) · 1997
- Janet. · 1993
- The Velvet Rope · 1997
Essential Albums
- After the blockbuster trifecta of 1986’s Control, 1989’s Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 and 1993’s janet., Janet Jackson was arguably bigger than both the King of Pop (her older brother Michael) and the Queen of Pop (Madonna). In fact, before the release of 1997’s The Velvet Rope, Jackson had renegotiated her contract with Virgin Records for a then-record-setting $80 million. But rather than caving in under the weight of commercial expectations, Jackson used her newfound cultural clout as inspiration to level up her ambitions on her sixth album. With a bravery both in its adventurous musical spirit and its confessional, soul-baring lyrics, The Velvet Rope was a high-wire act of an artist at her creative peak. The album’s eclectic energy—bridging both genres and generations—can be felt on the album’s first single, “Got ’Til It’s Gone,” which brought together Joni Mitchell (via a “Big Yellow Taxi” sample) and Q-Tip for a head-bopping nod to the neo-soul movement. Elsewhere, Jackson and her longtime producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis turned to the 1970s for inspiration, borrowing from the prog rock of Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells” on “Velvet Rope,” the Latin funk of War’s “The Cisco Kid” on “You,” and the soul-disco of Diana Ross’ “Love Hangover” on “My Need.” But if the music on The Velvet Rope looked to the past, the lyrics packed a forward-minded fearlessness that captured the pop superstar at her most progressive. Jackson took on LGBTQ issues on the anti-homophobia anthem “Free Xone,” as well as on the chart-topping “Together Again,” which imagines an afterlife party populated by loved ones lost to AIDS (she even flirted with bisexuality in her threesome spin on Rod Stewart’s “Tonight’s the Night”). Jackson saw into the future of internet isolation on “Empty,” and raged—and rocked—about the terrors of domestic abuse on “What About.” And on “Rope Burn,” she got tied up and tied down long before the era of Fifty Shades of Grey. But there were no restraints for Jackson as a woman, as an artist, as a provocateur on The Velvet Rope.
- The sex- and body-positive beginnings of janet.— Janet Jackson’s first album under a then-record-setting $40 million contract with Virgin Records—can be traced back to the video for “Love Will Never Do (Without You),” the seventh and final single from her blockbuster 1989 album Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814. After being buttoned all the way up in military fashion for most of the Rhythm Nation era, Jackson served up midriff and cleavage in the “Love Will Never Do (Without You)” video, directed by Herb Ritts. And by the time of the release of janet., with its provocative album cover, Jackson’s transformation from soldier to sexpot was complete. In the same way that Marvin Gaye had followed up his conscious-raising What’s Going On with the temperature-raising Let’s Get It On, Jackson traded social salvation for libido liberation on janet. She wanted to make it clear that she was a 27-year-old woman, and no longer Michael’s little sister. And you can sense that desire in the sensual, moth-to-a-flame seduction of the album’s first single, the chart-topping “That’s the Way Love Goes,” which sounded unlike anything Jackson had ever done before—and introduced a whole new vibe to R&B, bridging the gap between new jack swing and neo-soul. Gone were the hard-edged beats of Rhythm Nation—although some new jack grooves remained (see “You Want This” and “Because of Love”)—as the industrial sound gave way to the intimate, as evidenced by the horned-up house of “Throb” and the slow bump-and-grind of “Any Time, Any Place.” But janet.—which again dream-teamed the singer with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to make her best-selling LP—isn’t all about her erotic awakening. Jackson’s leading role opposite Tupac Shakur in 1993’s Poetic Justice inspired not only the Oscar-nominated love ballad “Again”—the album’s other chart-topper, and one of six hit singles—but the Black female power anthem “New Agenda,” featuring Public Enemy’s Chuck D. The latter includes a Stevie Wonder sample—from 1972’s “Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)”—that connects Jackson to her family’s Motown legacy. But while janet. digs into her roots, it’s more notable for setting the blueprint for Jackson’s future—and leading the sexual revolution for generations of R&B divas to come.
- If 1986’s Control established Janet Jackson as a force in R&B, Rhythm Nation 1814, arriving three years later, was her soul manifesto; she used proud politics, stark iconography, and heavy-hitting beats to craft a State of the Union address that demanded to be danced alongside. Working once again with the Minneapolis production duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, whose work on Control had kickstarted their takeover of late-'80s R&B-leaning pop, Jackson channeled her calls for respect into calls for unity—both lyrically and through her relentless genre-melding. The results include cracking rock songs like the sinewy "Black Cat" as well as funk workouts like the jubilant wedding-song-ready "Alright." Filled with aural collages and spoken-word interludes tackling the cultural ills that plagued the chaotic late '80s (and still reverberate decades later), Rhythm Nation 1814 flows like a long night at the club—complete with reminders of why finding transcendence on the dance floor is a necessary act. "State of the World" has a propulsive beat and slinky bassline that make its stories about people on the edge and its visions of a better world ("Can't give up hope now/Let's weather the storm together," she declares after verses about homeless kids and teen moms) hit even harder. "The Knowledge" takes a defiant stand against various strands of ignorance while synths careen around Jackson and her army—a phalanx that she envisioned in the stark black-and-white clips for "Rhythm Nation" and "Miss You Much," which featured her leading precision-grade dance troupes outfitted in decorated tops. The pleasure principle that made Jackson's previous album such a success powers this one, taking center stage on the buoyant "Love Will Never Do (Without You)," a giggly love song that features one of Jackson's most exuberant vocals, and the beckoning "Escapade," which blends the '60s girl-group ideal with New Jack Swing's synths and strutting. The ballads at the record's end, which include the Herb Alpert-assisted push into ecstasy "Someday Is Tonight," showcase her slow-jam skills and hint at the sensual side she'd explore on later albums like The Velvet Rope. While not as explicitly political as the other tracks, they still contribute to the album's ideal of a better world—one where strong women like Jackson can take control of their own bliss while leading the next generation to a place where knowledge and harmony reign supreme.
- 100 Best Albums “This is a story about control/My control/Control of what I say, control of what I do/And this time I’m gonna do it my way.” The spoken-word intro to Control announces Janet Jackson’s arrival as a pop powerhouse with a declaration of independence by the then-19-year-old baby of the Jackson family. By the time of Control’s release in 1986, the budding superstar had released two albums—1982’s Janet Jackson and 1984’s Dream Street—and scored R&B hits like “Young Love” and “Don’t Stand Another Chance.” But the jury was still out on whether she was just capitalizing on her appearances on such TV sitcoms as Good Times and Diff’rent Strokes—or, perhaps even more so, her nepo-sibling connection to the ascending King of Pop, Michael Jackson. But all that changed when Jackson—after bossing up and firing her own father, Joe Jackson, as her manager—went to Minneapolis to work with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on what would be her true debut. The pairing of streetwise Prince protégés with sheltered music royalty was an odd coupling that worked against the odds, putting a nasty spin on Minneapolis funk that was all Miss Jackson; the result was one of the most successful and enduring artist-producer collaborations in pop history. At the time of Control’s release, pop’s heart was thumping to the likes of Madonna and Whitney Houston, and maintained by radio and MTV—but Jackson gave it a whole new beat. Indeed, when Jackson commanded “Gimme a beat!” at the beginning of “Nasty”—one of her countless hits—she was leading a new music movement for Black female empowerment, from Beyoncé and Rihanna to SZA and Doja Cat today. There is a militant assault in the fierce funk of her first single, “What Have You Done for Me Lately” (a tune that kicks off with what would become one of her trademark interludes). And the in-your-face title track foreshadows 1989’s Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814. But there is also a girlish giddiness to “When I Think of You,” Jackson’s first chart-topper, and a slow-jam sexiness to the album’s finale “Funny How Time Flies (When You’re Having Fun)”—both elements that would become defining pleasure principles for Jackson in the years ahead.
- 2022
- 2021
- 2016
- 2016
Artist Playlists
- One of pop's most spectacular discographies, from a woman in total control.
- The ice-cool singer is a master of modern choreography.
- The pop icon who inspired a legion of stars, and she's far from being done.
Compilations
Appears On
- Various Artists
More To Hear
- When she stepped out of the shadows and into stardom.
- Revisiting Prince and Janet Jackson’s Halftime Shows.
- “That’s the Way Love Goes” earned her eternal sibling bragging rights.
- Jayde Donovan salutes 30 years of Janet Jackson’s iconic album.
- “Rhythm Nation” should have been the headline, not Janet’s wardrobe.
- Revisiting two iconic shows in Super Bowl Halftime history.
- Exploring the beginning of a legendary partnership.
About Janet Jackson
A member of R&B royalty with a silvery voice and a fierce spirit, Janet Jackson helped define pop in the late 20th century with hard-hitting beats, sumptuous love songs, and a commitment to helping the world find, as she sang in her 1989 smash “Rhythm Nation,” “a better way of life.” Born in Gary, IN, in 1966, Janet broke from her pop-star brothers and initially found fame on television, playing Penny on the groundbreaking sitcom Good Times in the late ’70s. She released her self-titled debut album in 1982 but truly came into her own with her third full-length, 1986’s Control, a fiery proclamation of the self that took nasty boys to task and propelled the then-nascent genre of new jack swing into pop’s mainstream. In the ensuing years, Jackson continued to push boundaries musically and lyrically: 1989’s Rhythm Nation 1814 added political savvy and squealing guitars to the mix; 1993’s Janet. was a declaration of sexual independence that coincided with her star turn in the John Singleton film Poetic Justice; and 1997’s The Velvet Rope put her innermost thoughts—good and bad—front and center. All these albums were packed with singles that defined the decade, like the brightly hued love song “Love Will Never Do (Without You),” the spirited “If,” and the chilled-out Joni Mitchell flip “Got ’Til It’s Gone.” Jackson kept innovating as younger R&B artists clearly inspired by her made their own inroads into pop. She worked with of-the-moment collaborators like The-Dream and Kanye West in the 2000s, and her 2015 triumph Unbreakable looked back on her three-plus decades in the music business with love, grace, and music that recalled her platinum past while gazing ahead to pop's future.
- HOMETOWN
- Gary, IN, United States
- BORN
- May 16, 1966
- GENRE
- Pop