New York Times: Sorry, Ms. Jackson: You’re Underrated.

HAPPYPERSON said:

New York Times: Sorry, Ms. Jackson: You’re Underrated.

Janet Jackson’s “Control.”The standard for planet-stopping artistic statements in pop music is now so high that you need a pilot’s license to compete with the Beyoncés, Kanyesand Kendricks of the world. But when Janet Jackson craved ascent, she didn’t go to flight school. She went to Flyte Tyme. That was the Minneapolis production company Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis operated and where the three came up with “Control,” Ms. Jackson’s third record and the first of their subtly strange, sonically complex thematic carnivals. The album turned 30 in February, peaked in popularity right about this time that year (hitting No. 1 in July) and still sounds today as much like 1986 as it does 2056. Some producers make hooks. These three made wedgies.

“Control” is a work of confidence, cleverness and justifiable irritation. It’s also full of weird, amazing sounds that, 30 years later, it’s easy to take for granted as the way latter-day pop music has always been: polished in a factory to a gemlike gleam. But most of the nine songs on this album — nine songs! — weren’t just factory-generated; they were performed by almost entirely aggressive, attitudinal heavy machinery that was new for both Top 40 and the outer limits of mainstream R&B. Meanwhile, for any number of reasons (that Super Bowl scandal, the long shadow of other stars, our cultural amnesia), the woman behind the wheel has been demoted to the back seat. And that, of course, warrants a correction.

Ms. Jackson was around 20 when she entered the recording studio after a stint as a sitcom star (poor Penny on “Good Times,” richer Charlene on “Diff’rent Strokes”), an annulled marriage and a split from her notoriously oppressive father, Joe. So a decree was in order: “When it’s got to do with my life/I want to be the one in control.” That’s from the opening song, “Control,” which begins with a spoken proclamation of self-emancipation: “This is a story about control.” Jimmy Jam and Mr. Lewis orbited Prince, and that opening has always sounded like a counterpoint to the mania of “Let’s Go Crazy,” which had just completed devouring America the year before. In the face of collapse, Prince demanded chaos. Ms. Jackson’s idea of anarchy was, well, control.

In the middle of the title track, Ms. Jackson sings, “First time I fell in love/I didn’t know what hit me,” and you can hear a car screeching into a collision. The next song starts with a demand: “Gimme a beat!” And the beat she gets is like no beat you’ve heard. It’s a bunch of drums punching themselves silly, then five notes of metallic, pipelike noise, joined by a strange, constant click. This is “Nasty,” and its violence is delicious. If the song has one climax, it must have four.
Here was America’s Penny sounding like the proudly nasty funk artist Millie Jackson (no relation; not biologically, anyway). The song is part antichauvinist call to arms, part street fight, part “had it up to here” exasperation, part wink — each a mood Ms. Jackson would deploy for most of her career. That constant click starts to make a lot of sense. It’s the first No. 3 hit built around the sucking of teeth.

For two happy weeks, my favorite song on “Control” was also America’s. “When I Think of You” hit No. 1 in October 1986, but it began its hike toward the top in July and sounds the most like summer. It’s wearing the lightest clothes of any of the tracks and it dons them very slowly: first a plink of keyboard, then some jabs of bass, drums and percussion, hopscotching vibes, and, finally, a blast of artificial horns that sound an alarm that Ms. Jackson is going to do some of her prettiest singing. Hearing her here is like being able to see the seafloor from the shore.


Released 30 years ago, Janet Jackson’s album “Control” was a polished, confident work, a statement of emancipation. Over time it has also become an argument for her impact on pop culture.




[COLOR=#333333][FONT=nyt-cheltenham]Ms. Jackson has a soufflé of a voice — thin, delicate, pleasurably sweet. Sometimes she, Jimmy Jam and Mr. Lewis could bury it with layers of sound, but not here. After about three minutes and 18 seconds of straightforward, daydreaming pop, she says, “Break,” and the bottom falls out, leaving just the keyboard and percussion, and a new, primal energy takes over. Then the bass reappears, some chanting builds to a squawking wail, the music explodes, and Ms. Jackson laughs and sings, “Feels so good/When I think of you.” Seconds later, the song’s over. So what’s it about? “You,” but probably what Ms. Jackson does when she, uh, thinks of you.
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Goddess4Real said:

I agree

purplethunder3121 said:

If she never makes another album, Unbreakable is a good one to go out on.

I'm so thankful for this album, I know there are a lot of apologists here but Discipline and 20 YO were far below the standards she set in the 80s and 90s.

Popcast: Janet Jackson and the Legacy of ‘Control’ http://www.nytimes.com/20...r&_r=0

Listen to this week’s podcast | Subscribe: iTunes | RSS | Stitcher| Audioboom

In February of 1986, Janet Jackson — the former child actor and the youngest of the Jackson siblings — released “Control,” the album that gave her, for the first time, an identity fully her own. Driven by the sharp Minneapolis funk of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, it established Ms. Jackson as a music star to be reckoned with on terms that had nothing to do with her family.

Earlier this week Wesley Morris, The New York Times’s critic at large, wrote about the legacy of “Control” — or perhaps, its curious lack thereof. Ms. Jackson blossomed into solo stardom in a time when more traditional, church-influenced female soul divas were still achieving pop success. By contrast, there was always something a little reticent about Ms. Jackson. She was hugely popular, but didn’t immediately have wide influence.

And yet, decades later, Ms. Jackson’s gestures trickled down, turning up in singers from Aaliyah to Miley Cyrus to Kelela. On this week’s Popcast, I spoke with Wesley about how pop failed Ms. Jackson for years, and what pop has done for her lately.

Related article: Sorry, Ms. Jackson: You�...l’ at 30

avajane said:

I mean just the fact that she achieved so much and became her own artist when she could have easily been overshadowed by her brother is remarkable in it of itself.

and that is what pisses me off.....when they say she is ridding on the coattails of MJ.....if that was the case, then why hasn't all the Jackson siblings had huge careers like Janet, if its that easy???

[Edited 8/12/16 22:33pm]

Goddess4Real said:

avajane said:

I mean just the fact that she achieved so much and became her own artist when she could have easily been overshadowed by her brother is remarkable in it of itself.

when they say she is ridding on the coattails of MJ.....if that was the case, then why hasn't all the Jackson siblings had huge careers like Janet, if its that easy???

[Edited 8/12/16 22:33pm]

Those "Theys" are insane.

namepeace said:

Goddess4Real said:

when they say she is ridding on the coattails of MJ.....if that was the case, then why hasn't all the Jackson siblings had huge careers like Janet, if its that easy???

[Edited 8/12/16 22:33pm]

Those "Theys" are insane.

Oops I mean haters and some trolls I have seen on twiiter, LSA etc

namepeace said:

Goddess4Real said:

when they say she is ridding on the coattails of MJ.....if that was the case, then why hasn't all the Jackson siblings had huge careers like Janet, if its that easy???

[Edited 8/12/16 22:33pm]

Those "Theys" are insane.

She is a great artist and I love her as much as I love Michael, she definitely is undervalued, and yet she comes from one of the most famous families on this planet, she deserves to be valued more in the music industry, however, the music industry has changed drastically from the industry of the 70's, 80's, 90's, and even the early 00's.

I miss Janet I went to a MJ tribute yesterday and they ironically played a 15 min sec of Janet and man o man they went through her hits. She has some of the best dance music of all time!

derrick31 said:

UncleJam said:

Yeah, I stopped paying close attention to her after Rhythm Nation, but it makes NO SENSE that she's not in the Hall of Fame. Inspired an entire generation of females, more so than Madonna if you ask me.

She may deserve to be in the HOF, but in no way is she more influential than Madonna.

^^^This. Janet like Madonna isn't a great vocalist. Janet is a better dancer than Madonna, but musically Janet never pushed the envelope. Even with Control (Which I love still) she's following the Prince sound. Madonna always pushed the envelope with her antics both on stage and videos not to mention lyrics. The only really bold move Janet did was the tit flash (Which felt desperate to me.).

kewlschool said:

You're right and we also never see unprovoked posts featuring nebulous, go nowhere interviews with unknown and undebated pop stars glorifying Madonna that are repeatedly responded to for no reason.

SEANMAN said:

HAPPYPERSON said:

Sidebar: Is this pop star hanging off of a metal squared pole and photoshopped into an blue lit airplane hangar? He found the only pole in that giant room by the looks of it. That Martone, such a pop star.

Martone is like Chris Brown everyone knows he is a pop star because the articles say so.

I turned off Wes Montgomery for this:

So in conclusion if this is music then yes I agree Janet has been influential to artists like Martone.

Now we all can see what that pole is for. All done. These artists these days.

[Edited 8/31/16 11:40am]

..and her (non) voice is the reason...

StrangeButTrue said:

Martone is like Chris Brown everyone knows he is a pop star because the articles say so.

LOL!!!!!!

JanFan said:

kewlschool said:

^^^This. Janet like Madonna isn't a great vocalist. Janet is a better dancer than Madonna, but musically Janet never pushed the envelope. Even with Control (Which I love still) she's following the Prince sound. Madonna always pushed the envelope with her antics both on stage and videos not to mention lyrics. The only really bold move Janet did was the tit flash (Which felt desperate to me.).

As if the sounds on Madonna's albums were original or innovative. You can't name me one Madonna album in which sonically she didn't take from an already existing sound. Lyrically, Janet has covered just as much or more ground than Madonna has. And Madonna has been much more desperate to shock and be provactive than Janet has. The Sex Book alone, for as bold as it was, was a calculating attempt at being an exhibitionist. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Aside from the Superbowl, you can't name one desperate thing Janet has done for attention. With Madonna, I could give you a list with this decade alone. [Edited 8/31/16 10:52am]

Madonna was the money maker which gave her the opportunity to get the best song choices of the time for pop music. That is why even Janet used some of the same people that worked with Madonna. As for Janet covering the lyrical ground as much or more than Madonna could be true, but Madonna did it first.