All The Times Michael & Janet Jackson Collaborated With Rappers

It does not top the four fantastic albums she released one after another: Control, Rhythm Nation 1814, janet.

That said, in terms of subject matter and themes, much of Unbreakable reminds me of the music Janet offered in the 1980s in that it shies away from the overtly sexual material she became known for later in her career.

This 17-track set, which has Jackson reuniting with longtime collaborators Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, is full of soulful, electro and addictive tracks that will make your head bop or vogue – and make your brain think.

No need to lallygag. None are quite as anticipated as Jackson’s albums, but they also aren’t slouches either.

Unbreakable’s main weakness is shared by pretty much all of Janet’s albums – with 17 tracks, the running time is slightly too long, with tracks like “2 B Loved” getting lost in the lengthy shuffle.

For the lyric video, Ms. Jackson enlisted her dancers, tour crew, bodyguard, and even fans to display lyrics to the song via hand written cards/posters. Who would’ve ever envisioned her slipping on a pair of boots and cowboy-cut Wranglers to sing “Lessons Learned“, a country-tinged ballad about co-dependency?

With this month’s release of Unbreakable, her first album in seven years, Janet Jackson marks almost three decades of hit-making music and her influence on popular culture.

Wednesday night at the Smoothie King Center, Jackson started her show grimly determined, but by the midpoint, she loosened up, by her standards. “If Janet has converted, she’s definitely not putting any religious edicts forward on the album”. It’s a more reflective and mature Janet, singing mostly about love but also loss, on the poignant “Broken Hearts Heal”, a tribute to Michael, who died in 2009. That racy image came to define her, until her nipple-baring Super Bowl performance in 2004 took her exposure a step further. (The fact that she was “blacklisted” from radio and TV at the time certainly didn’t help.) Album-wise, Janet hasn’t really regained her footing since then. Janet gives us everything she has and leaves no question as to why she has maintained a fan base since the 1980s.

“You see I’m not the kind of girl you got to babysit, no, no, if you have things to do, I understand”, she sings, most likely about her beau. “After You Fall” is a tremulous piano ballad that showcases a very intimate Janet and her naked voice. “I will.” The album incorporates the sound of water flowing several times, which made this drought-stricken Californian feel both deeply calm and extremely thirsty. Continuing her growth as an artist and as a person Janet intriguingly states, “I’m proud to have stayed in the game and survived”.