FREE ESSAY ON JANET JACKSON

JANET JACKSON

Janet Jackson
You know she's a Jackson. And you know she's a singer. Of course, you know the girl can
dance. You know she's a leading lady in Hollywood. And maybe you still think of her as a
cute little girl with a famous last name and big , bright eyes. Do you think she's what
she was yesterday? Better think again. As many of her other fans and followers already
know, the only label that fits her is… Janet.
Time flies when your having fun and that's the way she wants its. Since the grown Miss
Jackson burst upon the music scene in 1986 with Control Selling eight million records and
establishing her as a bold, sensual, independent woman, she's been breaking the molds and
banishing the stereotypes the world would set for her. She's not just the cute, little
girl- actress we loved on Good Times and Different Strokes or the earnest teen we
followed of Fame. She's not the Jackson family's baby-not any more. Clearly, the only
thing you can safely say about her is that she's Janet.
And that's saying a lot. Consider that she's already appeared in five television series,
made seven albums, and starred in a major motion picture. She's sold over 24 million
albums worldwide, achieved five Top Five hits from her 1986 record, Control and a record
seven Top Five Hits from the 1989 Rhythm Nation 1814 album, four went to no.#1. She
followed that up with a record breaking world tour, a movie and her self-titled album
Janet.
You might think that a woman with a pedigree and resume as impressive as this would have
had a smooth ride all along. Not so. Says Janet, I went through a great deal of pain from
about sixteen to nineteen and a half… Pain that I really wouldn't wish upon anyone.
During those years, challenging years for anyone, Janet released two albums, Janet
Jackson (1982) and Dream Street (1984). She spent a difficult and lonely year away from
her family in New York while appearing in Fame, and by the time she was nineteen, had
been through a divorce after a short-lived marriage to James DeBarge of another somewhat
less famous singing family, the DeBarge Family. Finally, and perhaps most significantly,
Janet fired her father as her manager, for the first time taking total control of her own
career. It should come as no surprise that the tittle of her next album was control.
Clearly, it was Janet's announcement to the world that she was no longer just the
littlest Jackson , but a strong woman with a mind, body and career of her own. Control
won two American Music awards in 1987 . Newsweek magazine described it as irresistible
danceable alternative to the sentimental balladry and opulent arrangements of some of the
then more famous female singer.
Many pop stars, having found a formula that worked, would be content to make more of the
same. But when Rhythm Nation 1814 hit charts in 1989, a different , more mature, more
confident Janet Jackson announced herself. Having established her own artistic identity,
Janet looked outside herself. Of course, there are still some very personal songs on this
record, and very sexy ones such as Black Cat, but more that that, the songs of Rhythm
Nation 1814 reflect her long held concern for the state of society and the place of the
individual in that society. Rhythm Nation 1814 won praise, not just because its a great
record to listen to with hard-hitting dance tunes, heart felt lyrics and visually
stunning videos, but because it is an uplifting collection of songs. unlike so many issue
oriented albums, Rhythm Nation 1814 didn't just point out the problems, it struck a note
of hope. Making such a difference album is a risk for any artist but this one paid off.
Like Control, Rhythm Nation 1814 sold eight million copies, but more remarkably, the
album set a new record by placing seven singles in the Billboard Top Five. Her Rhythm
Nation tour a nine month marathon, played to nearly two million delighted fans and
raised, through a percentage of ticket sales, nearly $400,000 for the cities in schools
program.
With unprecedented success like that, Twelve Top Five singles from two albums of work,
most artists might be forgiven for going right back to what works and making more of the
same music for a public that is clearly hungry for it. But not Janet…
Rather than follow up immediately on the success of the Rhythm Nation 1814 album and
tour, Janet decided to do something different. She took a starring role in the film
Poetic Justice. That shouldn't be a surprise from a woman who says of herself, What
interests me most is trying to do things that haven't been done before. And this project
was too right to pass up. In a role actually written for her by award-winning director of
Boyz in the hood, John Singleton, a childhood friend, Janet plays the starring role she
found to be very close to home. Janet credits her experience in that role with helping
her to further reveal herself in her work. She says the character she portrayed, I Found
we had a lot in common. No matter how wealthy you are and no matter how poor you are,
love is love and pain is pain. Its still the same feeling.
And so came janet.,her most personal most sexual album. This time I wanted to make an
album that focused on love and all its ups and downs. janet., the album and tour, brought
together influences from such diverse artist as Antonio Gaudi, a 19th Century Spanish
architect, opera diva Kathleen battle and rapper Chuck D from Public Enemy. janet.
is an exquisite fifty minuet melting pot that is as much a statement of who Janet is now
as much as a statement of what the world could be-a tightly knit harmony uniting new and
old, funky, and classic, sexy and smart, techno and soul to make something that defies
categories-just as Janet does.
This past Saturday (Oct.10th) I attended Janet Jackson's latest tour titled The Velvet
Rope which included a combination of Janet's old, and new hits which build into a two and
a half hour show that show cases her life growing up. It was an excellent tour and I
would recommend it to anyone.
Bibliography
Miss janet .com