Janet Lewis

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."

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.

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.