Janet Jackson

[Aime]

Damita Jo is her Erotica

But it''s not! There are only 5 ''slutty'' songs on a 22 track album. Should I remind you that there were also 5 ''slutty'' songs on All For You, but nobody really cared about it?
Oh, and I LOVE Damita Jo. The Kanye tracks are brilliant (My Baby and especially, I Want You), there are a couple of fantastic dance-stompers on it, too (how can anyone forget hypnotic All Nite (Don''t Stop) or Island Life or R&B Junkie?) plus a fabulous dance-pop (!) track called SloLove. I guess it''s my favourite Janet album ever. It''s just perfect.

 

[RHOPJ]

Damita Jo is her Erotica

But it''''s not! There are only 5 ''''slutty'''' songs on a 22 track album. Should I remind you that there were also 5 ''''slutty'''' songs on All For You, but nobody really cared about it?
Oh, and I LOVE Damita Jo. The Kanye tracks are brilliant (My Baby and especially, I Want You), there are a couple of fantastic dance-stompers on it, too (how can anyone forget hypnotic All Nite (Don''''t Stop) or Island Life or R&B Junkie?) plus a fabulous dance-pop (!) track called SloLove. I guess it''''s my favourite Janet album ever. It''''s just perfect.

Erotica, for all it''s themes on sex, is not a slutty album. It''s sexually subversive. I think that''s why it ''went down better'' here in the UK. I think the tract Erotica is the most overtly filthy on it. God, I love that period of Madonna when she''s taking on the whole planet with sex books, new albums and a movie.

 

[xolondon]

Janet is already recording this in Miami during the summer.

 

[drock689]

I was the biggest Janet fan as a kid. But I haven''t truly enjoyed anything she''s done since Design of a Decade*, and I was barely 10 when that came out!



*the sole exceptions being someone to call my lover and doesn''t really matter.

 

[nastyboy1981]

For me it''s just so sad. I was a hardcore Janet fan since I was 13 til, well... a few years ago. I want to force myself to believe she''s gonna come out with something good this time, because if she wanted, she could (She''s far more talented than a lot of female artists out there.) But I know it''s not gonna happen. She''s become very lazy, she''s not creative anymore. But the worst thing is that she''s surrounded by the wrong people, starting with Jermaine Dupri, all those ghetto rappers, and all the "yes" people. For me, she doesn''t seem to make an effort anymore. It''s all about how much weight she lost, and hows fit she is, and beeing naked in those horrible photoshoots, not about creating good pop music.

After seeing some of the promo photoshoots from 20 Y.O. I felt like the class was totally gone, it looked just cheap. And then the album was just not imaginative at all, it didn''t even sound like her, it sounded like Mariah. Still, it was better than B''Day.

By far, the producer of the album is Antonio LA Reid. well... that''s better than JD (even if he still involved), but still.... I expect an RNB sound, and the other producers include Pharrell, Ne-Yo and a bunch of others hip hop producers that are IN right now in the states, and write shit for Fergie, Usher and others. So I''m just not gonna expect anything.

 

[xolondon]

Maybe she has learned from 20YO what her strengths are. Jermaine Dupree didn''t - he blamed the failure of that CD on everyone but himself. If the public didn''t like it, they didn''t like. No amount of PR could have saved it.

Re Erotica. That album is very dark in some ways. I''d liken Velvet Rope to it more than Janet. Damita Jo and 20YO are just crap albums with a few decent songs.

There is no real evidence yet that Jimmy and Terry will not be included. The failure of 20 YO has nada to do with them. In fact, some of their tracks, like Enjoy and Take Care, were classic Janet. I am still gobsmacked by the decision not to release the poppy Enjoy when it was clear the urban shit was not working.

Janet is not 25 anymore. She''ll be like 41 0r 42 when this CD is released. Let''s hope she can keep her pussy in her pants.

 

[NoSignOfLife]

Hell shall have frozen over the day Janet puts out another decent album.

 

[thisisnotatest]

That''''s the first time I''''ve heard "comfort zone" used outside of The X Factor.

Amazing.

Are you insinuating I actually watch that steaming pile of crap? See you in court!

On Billboard, it says the album ''could be out before the end of the year''. I don''t see it myself - I think we''re talking spring 2008 at the earliest.

 

[MadNadz]

I think her problem is that she was always best at dancing and working with Jam & Lewis, neither of which she can do anymore. She''s too old to be doing the same moves and the chemistry with Jam & Lewis was a moment in time that can never be repeated. Boo.

 

[undisco_me]

I think she needs to ''wait a while'' etc before dumping out another turd - if it feels like there might actually have been some graft to her craft then excitement, a ''buzz'' might ensue. I quite liked So Excited, but it was more vulgar than showing any sass.

 

[storm]

I hate this whole - ''oh, she''s working with urban people. so it''ll be rubbish etc etc'' - not every decent album comes with a bottle of poppers and a slew of electro backing tracks...

Some of the people who are apparently slated to work on the project - Neptunes, Timbaland, Ne-Yo etc have been involved in some of the best and most memorable pop records of the last five years.

She''s got the same team around her who resurrected Mariah''s career - and I would suggest that she was in a much worse position when she signed with Def Jam, so I can''t see why they can''t get the best out of Janet. She just needs to take a few more risks - the last album wasn''t bad at all - it was fairly solid, but tehre were just no ''standout'' tracks - it was all very safe and average. I want an ''if'', a ''Got Til It''s Gone'', a ''Song Of A Gun'', even an ''All Nite'' - her last great record I think...

 

[xolondon]

the chemistry with Jam & Lewis was a moment in time that can never be repeated. Boo.

I don''t agree -as I said above, if she had launched the last CD with Enjoy and a truly worthy video where she looked PRETTY, she might have had a big hit on her hands.

Re the post above, Jermaine Dupree got his current clout with the GOOD Mariah Mimi record but he slaughtered his own lady on 20YO. LA Reid can probably do it better than Dupree.

 

[letuinmybackdoor]

My Janet fandom ended with the ''''All for you'''' album which had 2 cracking lead singles but was excruciating to listen to. Especially that awful song about ''''want to feel you come inside me'''' or something, it was just ick. I loved tracks like ''''Throb'''' from ''''Janet'''' but this was just embarrasing. I bought ''''Damita Jo'''' when it went cheap but have never played it properly, and like most of her old fans, never even bothered with ''''20 y.o''''. Her time has been and gone and sadly, she faded without her dignity, look at the whole Superbowl thing. she isn''''t smart enough like Madonna to be able to re-invent herself, nor able to mould into an ''''older'''' performer like say Cher.

 

[etienne]

Did her ex husband Rene have a lot of input into her music? Im sure he co-wrote most of the stuff from Rhythm Nation thru Velvet Rope.... I know he directed some of the vids too - I always thought maybe a lot of her success and hits might have been down to him.

20YO was brilliant though I thought - maybe not up to the standards of Velvet Rope, Rhythm Nation & Janet but still very enjoyable once you look past Call on me. I think it was 2.99 on cdwow not so long ago...

 

[letuinmybackdoor]

The magic of Janet was the mixture of the girl next door (as typified by ''When I think of you'' and ''Let''s wait awhile'') and the ''don''t take no shit'' attitude diva (see ''Nasty'' and ''What have you done for me lately?''''), combine that with great pop and social consicence (Rhythm nation), it all came together perfectly with the ''Janet'' album which had a little bit of sex but not too much. It all got a bit lost after that, ''Velvet rope'' just repeated the formula of ''Janet'' but less effectively.

 

[Ray]

Etienne has an interesting point with the involvement of Rene. Yeah, it''s a bit as if the magic has gone with him.

Aime: The difference between All For You and Damita Jo is the same as between a movie with hot sex scene innit and porn. The very idea of Damita Jo seems to be the same as behind Erotica -- an "assumed name" personality (Damita vs Dita, hmmm...) that''s very, very sexual. Which is good if you''re into this kind of thing, which unfortunately I''m not.

Storm/DJ Mark: well, I assume that in order to get So Excited about LA Reid and Ne-Yo, one has to like hip-hop. And I don''t. There are rare gems, like most of Missy Elliott''s discography, but somehow I don''t think Janet is ever going to release anything sounding like SexyBack or Hit Me Wit Da Hee or 4 My People. That''s what I was hoping for with 20YO, hearing it''s her proper follow-up to Control, and then the disappointment was just painful. Maybe, just maybe a bunch of slightly washed-up hip-hop producers coupled with a once great singer & dancer can come up with an unusually modern and inventive album that''s going to appeal to anyone but hardcore Janet fans living in the US, but somehow I can''t imagine that happening. Somebody on the UKMIX forum said it right -- people who like hip-hop are never going to turn towards a "pop star from the Eighties" and people who like pop/dance are never going to be won over by Janet-the-rapper.

Undisco_Me: the video for So Excited really killed me with the dancers trying to dance to a groove that wasn''t there. It was like an old school Janet video played in slow motion to ridicule the background muzak. Sigh.

 

[markus]

I liked 20Yo, I think she''s never done a bad album.

The thing with r&b-flavoured albums is, that they aren''t very solid overall. There might be two or three great songs but nothing more. If Janet does an album like that with Def Jam, I''m very disappointed.

But I''ll buy it anyway.

 

[moorje]

I''ve not bought a Janet album since ''All For You'' and even that was a mistake.
Regardless to who she is signed to she needs to make something completely fresh. The comments about her making a ''Confessions'' style album ring quite true. I feel if she made some obvious pop mixed with candid lyrics (and I don''t just mean songs about her frigging her pussy, yawn) there could still be hope for her. I believe she''s far from finished. But she''s still far from a decent comeback.

 

[nastyboy1981]

Did her ex husband Rene have a lot of input into her music? Im sure he co-wrote most of the stuff from Rhythm Nation thru Velvet Rope.... I know he directed some of the vids too - I always thought maybe a lot of her success and hits might have been down to him.

Rene oficially co-wrote "The Velvet Rope" together with Janet, Jimmy and Terry. But after the divorce, he asked her for half of her fotrune, claiming that he also co-wrote most of the tracks in the albums "Rhythm Nation" and "Janet." without beeing credited. However, nobody knows the truth in here. I''''m sure he did help, but Jimmy, Terry and Janet are very cappable themselves.

Then, Tina Landon, Janet''''s ex coreographer and EX best friend said on her forum when some Janet fans where attacking Rene, that he was more involved in all those Janet projects tham we all thought. So...

Somebody wrote before than Janet. last decent album was "Janet.", that''''s so wrong. For me "The Velvet Rope" is her best album to date, where she took risks. It sounded so fresh, and different from anything else when it came out. The first time i heard "Got ''''Til It''''s Gone" I was in shock. It''''s still an urban song, but it''''s pure class.

Also, somebody also mention than Timbaland is gonna be on this next project, that''''s not true (as far as I know). Neptunes, Ne-Yo, and Scott Storch are, but not him. Also, when did the Neptunes have a decent song for the last time????

 

[xolondon]

You know how to tell a good album - if you go back years later and enjoy the album tracks (like Empty on Velvet Rope). I enjoy her album tracks up until Damita Jo.