Janet Jackson Reviewed

Janet Jackson
20 Y.O.
(Virgin)

What is “Janet Jackson” after nipplegate? Because there was an album directly following the incident (Damita Jo) and permanent suspicions as to her designs, people will look to 20 Y.O. for answers, a confession, something.

Well if she has her druthers, Jackson will ignore those needs. Janet, unlike her contemporaries Madonna and brother M.J., is ill-suited to controversy. She was foreign to it before Justin Timberlake so ruthlessly nippled her, and the exposure, pardon the pun, proved there is such a thing as bad press. 20 Y.O., whatever its purpose, doesn’t seek to build upon or acknowledge the incident. In fact, it’s almost as if the album were conceived in a vacuum, wherein the whole Jackson franchise was reverted to the mid ’80s by letting JJ utter “Let’s dance” as an intro to “Get It Out To Me.” It’s a bold and ultimately unmemorable venture into radio territory without top producers or lyricists, neutered of any character whatsoever in order to reestablish Janet as a mainstream icon. Whatever, it doesn’t work. R&B moves faster than any other genre; perhaps instead of ignoring what happened, the best thing for 20 Y.R. would be divesting what she has learned or much less — gulp — done.

3

— Steve Forstneger

Category: Spins, Weekly