sallysassalot said:

I understand what you're saying, but in a way I disagree. To me Janet has leaned more toward R&B in her pop style more than say Britney, Madonna, or Christina as far as the way Janet's music is structured due to Jimmy and Terry's influence, except Janet has also had done some Rock influence pop like "Black Cat" and "Trust a Try." Britney's music--has never appealed to--not that it's bad.. but that heavy I don't know what it's called undertone.. I don't know if it's quasi rock. I don't know what it is. Madonna's is more of pure pop sound-particularly her early work, but her later work is definitely more electronica influenced--or maybe it's "techno"? Christina.. she's interesting because some of her music has sounded very R&B to me, too. But then again she has a lot of pop mixed in as well.

So I would agree that Janet still music is still pop... but because of Jam and Lewis, it's always retained that R&B vibe. When I really think about it, I became interested in Janet because I was a Prince fan. I dance for a number of years as well, and would attend conventions, and happen to take some classes from Barry Lather, a former Janet dancer and choreographer. He was using some of Janet's music as well as some other Prince-inspired artists in his classe, so that's what got me interested in Janet.. really. So I've always looked at Janet as more related to Prince than Madonna.

To me, it would be more of a natural progression for Janet to become more urban than more pop if she is going to go in one direction more than the other, and it really has nothing to do with ethnicity, but more in the way I view her music influences. I just don't ever see Janet doing an electronica cd or a variation of it as Madonna did with Confessions. However, I can envision Janet doing urban with more of a techno spin or whatever it's called.
[Edited 9/27/06 8:52am]

I always liked "Damita Jo".

In my opinion, its better than this "20 YO".

badujunkie said:

I don't know what JD was talking about either when he made thaht comment.... i guess im one of the few who actually liked Damita Jo.... its funny when friends here various tracks from Damita Jo they want to know who it is... i believe most people didn't give it a chance because it didn't sell ... but i like the cd myself

she sucks..nuff said

JackieBlue said:

He dated Chante Moore! WTF has that ugly midget GOT?

Shapeshifter said:

Before Chante got married she dated Kadeem Hardison for years. She never dated the smurf. Where did you get that from?

6sixx6 said:

didn't they have a child together... Chante and Kadeem ?

My bad. I guess it was just a rumor then because I distinctly remember hearing about it altho it was just for a millisecond. Just talked about it the other day when a friend and I were checking out her site.

She has a kid with Kadeem and one with Kenny.

badujunkie said:

I don't know....I think "20 Y.O" is the reason I love "ALl For You" more.

As for "Damita Jo" not sounding black, I think the problem with it is that it is all over the place. There is some tired ass R&B on there ("My Baby", easily her worst track ever) that clouds what could have been a great pop album. DJ has very strong tracks but lot of weak shit, too. I agree that "20 YO" is tight but there isn't very much that sticks out as very special for that reason. "Enjoy" is very nice but on any other album, it would be a good track. Here it is the possibly the best? Then again, there isn't anything that sticks out as terrible.

Isel said:

Transistion is the correct word. Janet's next CD will kill.

sallysassalot said:

I actually think "Enjoy" is R&B, it's just Janet's type of R&B as opposed to Crunk&B. "The Velvet Rope", for the most part, as an R&B album. I think while this album might be a bigger seller than "Damita Jo", I bet Janet doesn't like it as much. I think Janet will learn her lesson from this and make a great album, either without JD or with a more limited contribution. She needs to bring back the Euro producers that made DJ exciting. "All Nite", anybody?

JackieBlue said:

That's not that bad. But there again just like the stuff he did with Mariah ... Chante Moore can actually sing and pull the music (no matter how generic) along and make it work. Janet can't do that.

Im so upset that I havent heard ONE SONG on this album that I can say "Thats MY song" like Im the only one in the world who knows it. Im shocked.

20 Y.O., in my humble opinion, doesn't suck at all. It's actually a very solid release that I think ranks higher than the All For You album. 20 Y.O. just has this cohesive production that makes it very engaging on every listen and the beats are hot. I still believe that the songwriting on some of the songs could've been written with more effort. But I favor Damita Jo more because it had that smooth and tight urban vibe that I liked. It was the first time since The Velvet Rope record that I could actually listen to the whole record without skipping a single track. Even with its explicit and annoying sex come-ons, it just sounded like a more assured piece of work than what All For You had been, because AFY just had 9 joints that I was feeling!
[Edited 9/27/06 17:20pm]

Scorpion said:

I always liked damita jo too. It is definitely better than
20 Y.O. I think that damita jo just caught flack from the
super bowl fallout and let's face it, the best songs from
that cd weren't released as singles. It still sold what
2 million copies and the media called it a flop. Whatever?

Ifsixwuz9 said:

Well, I actually don't mind Straight Up so much. It's kinda cute but I do remember her fans--and probably myself at the time--freaking out over the music. We were desperate for her to return to why we fell in love with her in the first place; Love's Taken Over, Candlelight And You, Old School Lovin'... There were complaints about her working with hot producers of the moment and the lyrics of Straight Up and Go Ahead With All Of That.

But true, Chante can sing and bring a spark to these type of songs.

sallysassalot said:

If you're defining Janet Jackson as a pop artist because she's had significant success with white and black audiences, you're right.

If you're talking about the orientation of her music -- created mostly by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis -- then you're wrong. Yes, she has explored other styles with a track like "Black Cat" but the majority of her sound always has been entrenched in soul music. Some have had pop leanings, some dance leanings, but it's almost always came from a soul music perspective.

That said, the Super Bowl incident happened before her "Damita Jo" album was released in 2004 -- so you can't blame that on Jackson's musical demise. The MTV allegations based on racism and sexism? C'mon, those are canned excuses.

Here is the real reason why Jackson is considered a has-been: She's a 40-year-old woman trying to make songs appeal to people who may not have been born when "Control" was released in 1986. It's not unreasonable to think some of the people in that target audience weren't born when 1989's "Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814" came out.

Jackson essentially has become like her brother Michael -- locked into an image and persona that's alien to an audience younger than her credit card accounts. That same image and persona speaks of someone who refuses to grow up and take into consideration that her peer group has moved on musically, and some now have children to whom she's trying to appeal. She's an anachorism.

Since the Great Nipple Incident of 2004, Janet Jackson has had a tough time creating buzz with anyone other than the FCC.

"20 Y.O." (Virgin) is unlikely to change the state of her world today. It seems once she went X-rated with 1997's "Velvet Rope," there was no turning back. The sexcapades are far tamer on her ninth release -- whose title refers to her 1986 breakthrough album "Control" -- but there is still much talk of finding the right spots and self-gratification.

The whisper and moans wouldn't be a problem if the tunes themselves were better. Co-written and produced with paramour Jermaine Dupri and longtime collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis , among others, the songs for the most part are breezy ballads and crunky dance tracks filled with musical references to her past hits and predictable lyrics sung in her ever-thin coo.

The few bright spots come early with the big beats and bouncy raps of the Missy Elliott-esque ``Show Me" and percussive grooves of ``Get It Out Me" (this should've been the first single instead of the limp Nelly duet ``Call on Me.") The heavy breathing that occurs throughout is supposed to evoke sensual pleasures but sounds more like the huffing and puffing of a 40-year-old pop star who's mad that instead of looking over her shoulder at younger acolytes like Beyonce and Ciara, she's looking up at them as they scale the charts.

http://www.boston.com/ae/...same_beat/

I haven't yet heard/ bought 20 Y.O. but I've read some pretty horrible reviews

However, I too have been listening to Damito Jo alot, and liking it

thekidsgirl said:

The horrible reviews are harsh....the glowing reviews are delusional. It's a 3.5 star release on a 5 star scale.

VinnyM27 said:

I definitely agree! Not her best work, but still it's an impressive one.

Nah...no fucking way, 20 Y.O is an upgrade over Damita Jo, 20 YO has some gems on there, you have to scan the CD and you can find some vintage Janet type shit on there.

goat2004 said:

I agree. I'm a die hard Janet fan and Damita Jo just did not do it for me It was the type of CD I could play at a backyard BBQ. It was mellow, mid-tempo grooves. 20Yo makes me wanna dance, I play it during my workout and have only skipped 1 song. Damita Jo only had a a few memorable tracks in my opinion.

I love Damita Jo still, but 20 Y.O. trumped it.

He has been a walking quote this whole janet era, my fav, so wrong but so funny JD quote would be from I think it was GQ or Giant where he said "I showed her its cool to be a nigga, just be chill" ,

CinisterCee said:

What's your fave song on 20 YO?

badujunkie said:

http://www.prince.org/msg/8/203699

CinisterCee said:

With a different tracklisting, "Damita Jo" would be a great Janet album, beating out "20 Y.O" and "All For You" and maybe even "RN1814" (because familarity breeds contempt).

Damita Jo

Lookin' For Love
Damita Jo
Just A Little While
Put Your Hands On
The One/Truly
Thinkin About My Ex
Like You Don't Love Me
Part of Me (that part after "Like You"...feels like an interlude)
All Nite (Don't Stop)
Slo Love
Moist
I'm Here
Love Me For A Little While (bonus track)

11 full tracks, just like "20 Y.O". All kiler, no filler (actually, "Truly" is kind of filler, but it can't be perfect)!

I just "obtained" 20 Y.O., and after a couple of listens, I like it much better than Damita Jo. I still prefer All For You, but I think Janet's new CD is actually a decent project.

VinnyM27 said:

Great choices there!

I'm glad u included the japanese bonus tracks!