Janet Jackson

Music icon, multiple Grammy Award-winner and multi-platinum selling artist Janet Jackson returns with her new album Unbreakable. It is her first new music in seven years and leads with her new single "No Sleeep" on Rhythm Nation / BMG, the new label formed under her recent, barrier-breaking deal with BMG. Producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (Prince, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson), commenting on the album said, "It's wonderful to be creating again with Janet. From songwriting, producing, arranging, singing, dancing, acting, she deftly does it all and truly personifies the word artist. Unbreakable is a gift to all of her fans who have steadfastly stood by her. It is a subject for conversation, a plea for compassion, and a call for action from someone who's come a long way, but has got a long way to go, and has much to say about it. In other words, if you want to know what's on her mind you only have to listen."

Design of a Decade: 1986-1996 is a misleading title. The bulk of Janet Jackson's greatest-hits collection concentrates on Control and Rhythm Nation 1814, simply by contractual necessity. That is far from a fatal flaw. The hits from those two albums were state-of-the-art dance-pop productions at the time of their release, filled with bottomless beats and memorable, catchy hooks. None of the songs has lost any of its impact, from the funk of "Miss You Much" and "What Have You Done for Me Lately," to the ballads "Let's Wait Awhile" and "Come Back to Me." In addition to all 13 Top 40 hits from Control and Rhythm Nation – all but one went into the Top Five – Design of a Decade includes the biggest and best hit from janet., the sultry "That's the Way Love Goes," and two new songs, "Runaway" and "Twenty Foreplay." It's a credit to Janet that the two new numbers feel like genuine hits, not tacked-on filler, and help make the album a compulsively listenable greatest-hits collection.

All four of Janet Jackson's albums released during the 2000s debuted near or at the top of the Billboard 200, as ensured by a legion of devotees. They lacked the staying power of the Control-to-Velvet Rope run, however, and quickly slipped out of view. Jackson left two labels during the decade and dealt with personal matters that included the death of brother Michael. Seven years after Discipline, Jackson returns recharged, and on a BMG-supported label she established, with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis – the demigods central to her best work – as well as a small crew of additional associates, as her collaborators. The three singles that immediately preceded Unbreakable were clearly chosen for their range.

After shocking the R&B world with 1986's Control – a gutsy, risk-taking triumph that was a radical departure from her first two albums – Michael and Jermaine Jackson's younger sister reached an even higher artistic plateau with the conceptual Rhythm Nation 1814. Once again, she enlists the help of Time graduates Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (one of the more soulful production/songwriting teams of 1980s and '90s R&B) with wildly successful results. In 1989, protest songs were common in rap but rare in R&B – Janet Jackson, following rap's lead, dares to address social and political topics on "The Knowledge," the disturbing "State of the World," and the poignant ballad "Living in a World" (which decries the reality of children being exposed to violence). Jackson's voice is wafer-thin, and she doesn't have much of a range – but she definitely has lots of soul and spirit and uses it to maximum advantage on those gems as well as nonpolitical pieces ranging from the Prince-influenced funk/pop of "Miss You Much" and "Alright" to the caressing, silky ballads "Someday Is Tonight," "Alone," and "Come Back to Me" to the pop/rock smoker "Black Cat." For those purchasing their first Janet Jackson release, Rhythm Nation would be an even wiser investment than Control – and that's saying a lot.

The Velvet Rope is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Janet Jackson. The album was released on October 7, 1997 through Virgin Records America. Following the release of her first greatest hits compilation Design of a Decade: 1986–1996 (1995), Jackson's recording contract with Virgin was up for renewal, making her the subject of a high-profile bidding war among parties including Sony Music, The Walt Disney Company, and Time Warner. The Velvet Rope has been subject to critical acclaim and is included in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album peaked within the top five positions of the majority of the global record charts it entered.