Few albums in the history of American music have ever had the far-reaching and lasting artistic impact of superstar Janet Jackson's 1986 Control. From its empowered message and songcraft, to its genre-defining production, and the extraordinarily compelling emergence of the singer as a musically complete artist, Control was immediately greeted as the watershed album-and Jackson the definitive artist-in no less than three distinct musical categories, namely, pop, R&B and hip-hop.
With the hotly-anticipated release of the new Janet Jackson album 20 Y.O last September, her new work promises to be no less influential, as Jackson teams with the most successful pop/R&B producer of the post-2000 period, Jermaine "JD" Dupri, and longtime friends and hitmakers Jimmy "Jam" Harris and Terry Lewis, her original collaborators on Control. The four now make up an unparalleled dream team of talent behind the microphone and the mixing board. Just as Control marked a personal rebirth and a smashing creative achievement twenty years ago, 20 Y.O. celebrates, at once, two decades of continued growth, as well as the essential newness of creativity. The set's lead single, "Call on Me," featuring St. Louis hip-hop star Nelly, which is now hitting radio airwaves here in the Philippines.
The six powerful and innovative hit songs and videos that came off Control-"What Have You Done for Me Lately," "Nasty," "When I Think of You," "The Pleasure Principle," the title track, and "Let's Wait Awhile"-were minutely examined by fans and young performers, and they launched a thousand admirers and imitators through the balance of the Eighties and the Nineties. Jackson's revolutionary video clips have continued to be acknowledged as the true classics of the music video era, whose dance style and cinematic production values set the bar higher than anyone had ever dared attempt. Still, for young female listeners, it was the imaginative and liberated lyric content that resonated most-just the way that the producers and co-writers Jam & Lewis realized it would, as Jackson's witty, honest and intimate poems took shape as songs in their Minneapolis-based Flyte Tyme studio in late 1985. Control sold over 5 million copies in the U.S. alone in just three and a half years-at which time Jackson and Jam & Lewis rocked the world again with the follow-up album, Rhythm Nation 1814.
With the collective track record involved, there's no way to avoid high expectations for the upcoming album-and no reason to. 20 Y.O. is a sure thing to throw down the new standards, blow a new generation of minds, light a fire under every young artist, and rock the party. "Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are musical powerhouses," says Dupri. "Our individual success has been unparalleled and has kept music fans bouncing to our beats and singing our songs for years. The world has no idea what they are about to experience-Janet has the best production trio possible-and I guarantee, we will deliver!"