Alright, so a big part of Missy Elliott‘s legacy along with her crazy songs and crazy looks was her crazy videos. Those videos that were so weird, that used such strange costuming and visual techniques. Plus the videos almost always included something really funny/silly, some guest appearances by the top artists of the time, and amazing choreography that was copied countless times.Missy’s videos are truly what made her a star, and here are 10 of her best.
So, there are A LOT of people who maybe didn’t know who Missy Elliott was when she came and stole Katy Perry’s Halftime Performance. Some may have known who she was, but never got into her music. Hence the huge spike in Missy’s music on iTunes.
I notice her singles are doing great, but not necessarily her albums. I think if she had some sort of Greatest Hits album available, that would be a hit today, but since she doesn’t (crap! she actually DOES, it’s called “Respect M.E.” but it wasn’t released in the states) some people might be wondering where to start with her actual discography. And I’m here to help!
Here are the 5 Essential Missy Albums I think any one would enjoy.
1. “Miss E… So Addictive”
I picked this as the top choice because it was her most succesful. It had super hits “Get Ur Freak On”, “One Minute Man” and “Take Away”, but aside from that I think this album is probably her most FUN and her most diverse. I mean she has great R&B (“Old School Joint”, the aforementioned “Take Away”, “Step Off” with Tweet) and some great Hip Hop (“Slap Slap Slap”, “Dog in Heat” with Method Man), and there’s even a really good dance song on here that will blow your mind (“4 My People” featuring an amazing verse from Eve). It’s a really well rounded album, and I think that it being her third that she had become really comfortable in what she was doing. So, yeah start with this one.
The 5 BEST : Old School Joint, Get Ur Freak On, Take Away, One Minute Man, X-Tasy
2. “Supa Dupa Fly”
This debut is INSANE, and surprisingly not dated. You have to realize that the introduction of Missy also meant the introduction of her producer Timbaland who went on to become a big star just like Missy. At the time of this release, those Timbaland beats were so new and unique and totally not like anything you had ever heard before. I think because both of them were so new, the album and it’s production have a tendency to get kind of one-note towards the end. It’s also a little moody and slow towards the end, but the album is definitely front-loaded with some #BANGERZ. This is a good place to follow up, but don’t lose all faith in Missy if you don’t like this entire album.
The 5 BEST : Friendly Skies, The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly), Beep Me 911, Pass da Blunt, Sock It 2 Me
3. “Under Construction”
Missy’s 4th album was also her attempt at creating a concept album, as “Under Construction” deals with her trying to re-build Hip Hop. And there are songs like “Wake Up” and “Back in the Day” that go along with that message. The album is overall really fun though because almost every song pulls from something out of the Old School Hip Hop days of the 80’s, like “Funky Fresh Dressed” or even hit singles “Work It” and “Gossip Folks” that have huge chunks of samples from 80’s Hip Hop classics. Mixing the old with the new was a genius idea, and paying homage to an era that MADE her the artist she is was also a nice touch, making this a really enjoyable album.
The 5 BEST : Gossip Folks, Work It, Go To the Floor, Nothin’ Out There, Funky Fresh Dressed
4. “Da Real World”
Personally this is my favorite album by Missy, it’s really dark in both lyric and production vibes. It might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but for me I loved it because she and Timbaland continued to look forward and make innovative beats that no one ever heard of. Among the stand outs are first single “She’s A Bitch”, the Eminem assisted “Bus a Rhyme”, the ratchet-“The Boy Is Mine” track with Lil Mo “You Don’t Know”, the Beyonce duet “Crazy Feelings” and the Cash Money all star featured “U Can’t Resist”. Those songs right there show the diversity of the album, from hardcore rap sounds to slow jammed R&B. It might be one you have to grow into, but it’s definitely a great and timeless album.
The 5 BEST : She’s a Bitch, Crazy Feelings, Smooth Chick, U Can’t Resist, You Don’t Know
5. “The Cookbook”
Simply because this 2005 album was the very last time we’d be able to buy a new album from Missy. OVERALL it was a decent outing, but something felt OFF. For one, she worked with more producers and actually Timbaland’s productions aren’t even the majority here as we have some from Pharrell “On and On” and some from Rich Harrison “Can’t Stop” and some Scott Storch “Meltdown”. In fact, Timbaland only produces two songs on here so that’s probably why the album felt a little odd. Still I think this is essential (I actually prefer “This is Not a Test” to this album) because it was her last recording, and whenever she comes out with new material you will know where she left off musically.
The 5 BEST : Lose Control, Joy, Partyime, Can’t Stop, Click Clack
Yay Patriots!!!
Okay I actually didn’t watch the Superbowl, or Katy Perry’s Halftime Performance… but it’s kind of PERFECT that Missy Elliott was Katy’s “Surprise” guest last night, and it’s also perfect that Missy stole the show and has since had a huge spike in single and album sales on iTunes.
Perfect because I had planned on doing a Missy #WCW Day this week. But I’m going to post a MINI-Missy Day today with just three posts. I decided to do it today because I’d be a fool not to, I mean I can only imagine lots of people are Google Searching her today – and I’d love to get some of those hits!
So let’s start out with my 25 Favorite Missy songs! And Yes, I’m qualified to post and rank this because I am a HUGE Missy fan, and have been from the very beginning. Anyway, here goes the first post of a potentially fun Missy Monday!!
25. Beep Me 911
24. HOT
“Don’t carry guns, Kick Ass with a chain… you know what I’m sayin’… Don’t carry guns, Kick ass with a chain (WAAT-AA!!!)”
Okay so maybe we’re not totally done with #JANETDAY – but after this gets published we will be.
I kinda wanted to come back and just post ALL of my Janet Jackson Photoshop work! Some of these I really impressed myself, some didn’t turn out quite right, but what the hell… I’ll just share ALL of it with you! You’ve seen a bunch of these because I made them specifically to use for this Blog special… but ofcourse they went through different drafts and I just kind of want to share the journey for a second.
ALBUMS
For the Discography Reviews, I wanted to meld all the album covers together and see what I could do. I have to admit the First image is a little lazy, but I still like it.
SINGLES
I wanted to do like I did with Jamiroquai and put ALL her single covers together and see what I could do. I have to say… even though it’s hard to look at, I LOVE what the paint daub effect does. But I chose a more clear one for obvious reasons.
VIDEOS
Yeah, I had this idea to take pictures of Television sets from the 80’s and beyond and put Janet in them. I was So happy this looked as cool as it did.
THE REST
So here’s the rest. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the series of Janet with her arms up and three different poses. And I LOVE the one that’s extra saturated with the pink, it just looks incredibly cool to me. But I actually love everything in that entire set. My second favorite is the one I used for her Live performances, I actually like the different combinations and it was hard for me to chose which one to use for that post. Young Janet is adorable to me, I sectioned off different parts of the pic like her hair and portions of her dress and gave it some neon 80’s flair. I think it turned out really cute. The roulette of Janet was a last minute idea, and I LIKE it but I didn’t quite execute it in a way that’s all that pleasing for me. And I tried to do a semi-comic book style for Nipplegate. I was going to talk about that incident more in a post about Janet’s legacy, but I HATE the pics and I didn’t think that post was necessary SO!
Any thoughts!? Let me know, and I hope you all ENJOY the rest of your day!!!
OMG let me tell you guys something, I feel SO vindicated today because this #JanetDay Redux went surprisingly well.
“I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!”.
Anwyay for a closer post, I thought I’d do something a little fun.
Janet Jackson was known for her incredibly long tracklistings, which came from the fact that she was one of the artists that LOVED doing Interludes. Sometimes those interludes, that came between every song almost, were annoying and pointless but it was something we got used to from Janet. Some were supposed to be extra sexy, some were supposed to be inspirational, some motivational and some just funny little peeks into Janet’s personality.
So here are my 10 favorite Janet interludes.
10. RACE
9. YOU KNOW
8. TWISTED ELEGANCE
7. SPINNIN
6. TV
5. LOVE PT 2
4. HEY BABY
3. LET’S DANCE
2. PLEDGE
1. LOOKING FOR LOVE
The BEST because it could have been it’s own song. I LOVE the backing production which is so electronica-smooth! I also LOVE the sentiment behind what she’s saying… we are all flawed and complicated and contradictory… but we’re ALL looking for love! So sweet! Just like Janet!
In 2010, Janet Jackson got secretly married (again!) to her billionaire beau, and she effectively dropped off the face of the planet. Who could blame her though, she had been there done that and was over the industry it seemed. She ventured into acting for a while, than weight loss endorsements, but after some personal issues got very public Janet just seemed to give up on maintaining her legacy. But only a few months ago, it was rumored by various sites that Janet was back in the studio and working on a new album.
I had mixed feelings about that rumor to be honest. On one hand, I feel like Janet has accomplished so much in the three decades she’s been a relevant music celebrity, so her Hits and Classic videos and performances and everything else associated with her will carry her for the rest of her life and beyond. I felt like there was not a need for her to come back out, although being a big fan I was excited at the idea.
But, if she does indeed attempt a come back further questions come up. Like what should the sound be on the new material, who should she work with, and how will she ever get another #1 Hit again? It’s really difficult to try and predict chart success these days – it’s not JUST about the quality of the song, or the awesomeness of the video, or even the amount of promotion (err payola) associated with a song that makes it a hit. It’s really a mystery how hits become hits. What’s not a mystery though is that the youth control the industry these days, which makes it hard for anybody older than 25 to get a hit. Of course there are exceptions (Cher in 1999 as one prime example), so we can’t cancel out Janet. But my main piece of advice would be for Janet to completely not give a single fuck about getting on the charts or having solid sales. She needs to get into the studio and do music that actually inspires and moves her.
One thing I read recently on Wikipedia is what could have been with Janet’s 2001 “All For You” album. It appears she recorded a lot of stuff that didn’t make the album, and there were acts she really wanted to collaborate with including Basement Jaxx. The Jaxx actually created the song “Get Me Off” for Janet, and I think that is the perfect example of what Janet needs to do. The song is so not radio friendly, but more of a Hipster Dance type thing. The kind of song that Indie heads would love and would actually increase Janet’s underground cred. And those outside of that fringe would respect her integrity.
For some reason, I imagine Janet doing something like a OfMontreal style. Really random and hectic type music, but paired with a softer R&B Dance sensibility. I think she could pull it off. And as far as WHO she should work with? Two POPULAR producers come to mind and that’s Calvin Harris and Diplo. And her hooking up with Basement Jaxx finally would be a good look for both. In fact there are a bunch of songs on their recent album that I think she’d sound great on. Though I think the best thing for her to do is find some unknown producer with the passion to do something different.
I really think this would work best, because she needs to stop trying to compete and just do what Legends do… which is follow the instincts that have gotten them so far. However, I Know it must be difficult for someone like Janet to just give up on mainstream success so if that’s what she ultimately wants for the new album than I have some additional advice.
First, she needs to do an entire album with either Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis or Rodney Jerkins. I feel like either choice is great because they seem to know her. Ofcourse JJ and TL know her from decades of working together exclusively, but the Rodney Jerkins collaborations on “Discipline” were perfect and showed that his adoration for her provided perfect soundscapes for her voice and lyrics. Working with one production team exclusively would eliminate the feeling of jumbled-ness that affected the flow of her last two albums. And I also think she needs to move away from all the sex songs and focus on having fun again (“When I Think of You”, “All For You”) and putting out music that’s relateable and enjoyable (“What Have You Done for Me Lately”, “Miss You Much”).
My last note might be a dumb one, but here goes. Madonna, Mariah and even Whitney Houston to a degree have all done collaborations with new artists like Britney Spears, Miguel and Faith Evans respectively. It’s a sort of passing of the torch I suppose, and Janet has never done that. So, why not pass the torch to another incredible dancer and soft-singer of Pop/Urban dance cuts… Ciara! Now both of their careers have floundered in the past, but a collaboration might be just what both needs to get their names out there again. I don’t know, I just think it would be cute — and they could possibly accomplish a joint ALBUM together. It would definitely be hot, because both provide pretty good music. The idea alone would definitely be Trending Topics, and the buzz alone could amplify sales. This is the most far fetched idea, but why not!!
So in closing, if Janet really does feel like she needs to come back again… I would urge her to follow her heart and her musical brain and not try to do what’s selling. It would hurt my heart if she came out with a lame Max Martin type song just to compete with Taylor and Katy. Just do what you wanna do, regardless of what the outcome might be.
The 90’s were clearly Janet Jackson‘s highest career peak with all of the hits and record breaking sales and sold out tours. The 00’s started out great for her, and we all know what happened after that. Yes, the Superbowl tarnished her career big time, and it sucks because her next slew of albums were severely underrated. Well I won’t say that, they weren’t ALL gold, but there is a lot of great Janet material that went unnoticed. In fact some of her best work to date came from this underrated era of Miss Jackson.
2001’s “All For You” was Janet’s last big success. The title song was a big hit and the album sold on par to her previous material. And yes, the album is fun and all but there’s just something about it that doesn’t sit well with me. Look, she has some great cuts on here from the sexy “When We Ooo” and “Would You Mind”, to the upbeat “Come on Get Up” and “Someone to Call My Lover”. She even gets a ambitious with the Lenny Kravitz assisted Rock cut “Trust a Try” and the Folk meets Pop meets Hip Hop “Son of a Gun”. Overall it’s a satisfying album, but maybe the fact that it followed “The Velvet Rope” was it’s biggest downfall. The previous album was a tad darker, and more personal while this album comes off way too LIGHT and Popp-y. Almost a regression from the previous album. It’s fine though, maybe she just wanted to have fun and do feel-good pop records, it just doesn’t provide enough real substance to stand against her best work.
Grade: C+ Best: When We Ooo, China Love, Someone to Call My Lover
Unfortunately 2004’s “Damita Jo” came on the heels of the unfortunate Superbowl incident. And even though she promoted the hell out of it, the album still flopped and started to overall downturn in her career. It’s unfortunate because “Damita Jo” is really, honestly, a really good album. I won’t say ALL, but MOST of the songs here are incredibly enjoyable and easy to get into. And it’s odd, but a testament to her talents, that she sounds so comfortable and in her element on these songs when this is the first album since “Control” not produced entirely by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. She definitely stands well on her own with songs like “Sexhibition”, “Island Life”, “Slolove” and “Thinking About My Ex” – which show the diversity of the album, but mostly how Janet is able to put the appropriate type of vocal stylings on the wide range of styles here. Great album but bad timing. It happens, but hopefully years down the line people will be able to appreciate the album without the controversy clouding their judgement.
Grade: A- Best: Slolove, I Want You, R&B Junkie
The problem with “20 Y.O.” is that it feels like it’s trying to be something and not succeeding. I’m not sure what the concept here is? The album was released 20 years after “Control”, so you’d think it’d be an homage to that album or 80’s Funk/Techno stylings. And that would make sense on songs like “Get It Out Me” or “Show Me”, but the rest of the album doesn’t have the same feel as those upbeat tracks. Okay, so maybe with her than boyfriend Jermaine Dupri (with the help of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis) producing the majority you’d think the aim was to be more Urban, and that would be the case for songs like “So Excited” and “Call on Me” with Nelly. But again, it doesn’t really all stay within that same vibe. So the result is a try-hard album with no clear focus. It has it’s number of good songs, from “With U” to “Enjoy” to the aforementioned “Show Me” and “So Excited”, but it’s not a very cohesive album and ultimately it feels a little dull!
Grade: C- Best: With U, Show Me, So Excited
Most times when I’m listening to 2008’s “Discipline“, it irritates me thinking about the potential this album had and how Janet’s label completely dropped the ball. Honestly, the album is front-loaded with amazing songs. The incredible dance track “Feedback”, the stuttering staccato fun of “LUV”, the midtempo weirdness of “Rollercoaster”. There’s the ambient club vibe of “Rock With U” and the vintage fun of “2Nite”. And than, somewhere between the down tempo (err, boring) “Cant B Good” and the cute (but also a little boring) “Greatest X”, the album just takes a dive. The rest of the album feels so incredibly dated, like they were pulled from old sessions and just added on to fill the album out. And while some of those songs (“So Much Betta”, “The 1”) might have been HOT 4 years prior to the album, they just don’t carry on the BANG that the first half of the album gave. Still, I think this is a very underrated album, and there could have been a great number of hits and taken her back to where she deserved to be as an Icon. Oh well.
So really, you can’t have a whole day devoted to the fabulous Miss Janet Jackson if you don’t talk about her amazing Live performances. I mean, yeah she was a notorious lip-syncher, but she was ALWAYS given a pass because she goes so hard on the choreography. And while not all of the 10 performances listed below include dancing, all of the Top 10 show Janet’s versatility and just how amazing she was on stage.
10. “Alright” from Jackson Family Honors
This 1994 special was totally forgetable, but I always remembered this performance for a few reasons. I thought the staging and set design was great. I always love seeing her perform this song, and she did a great job of matching the fun and energy of the video and putting it on stage. Lastly, you have to remember that in 1994 Janet was THE Jackson. Michael was having his legal issues, and the rest of them were has-beens or never-weres, so not only was this a huge moment for Janet fans… but she was the main draw for this entire special and she definitely delivered.
9. “All for You” from MTV Icon
The main reason I love this performance from Janet’s MTV Icon special (I don’t really like the song) is if you notice the dancers, they all have different outfits Janet wore in past videos and performances. It was a cute element and while the dancing was on point here, that was my favorite thing of the whole performance.
8. “Again” from The 66th Annual Academy Awards
Janet isn’t a SINGER, so I was impressed that she was able to tackle this huge performance in a satisfactory way. I thought she looked great as well. Look, it was just nice to see Janet at the Oscars.
7. “All Nite (Don’t Stop)” from Saturday Night Live
***So, yeah, this is NOT from Saturday Night Live. I could not find a clip of that performance, so this Jay Leno performance will have to do!***
The thing about the SNL performance was that they gave her such a small stage, but the dancing and staging was done to perfection (and she was doing all those moves in heels!)
6. “I Get Lonely” from The Rosie O’Donnell Show
This is probably the most surprising performance ever. I remember being excited that she was going to be on Rosie (a show I LOVED around this time), and I had an inkling she would perform “Lonely” since it was her current single. I just never imagined she’d do this slow stripped down piano version of it. And… she KILLED IT!! Like I said before, she’s not a singer, but she knows HOW to sing which is evidenced in some of the choices she made here.
5. “What Have You Done for Me Lately/Nasty” from The 29th Annual Grammy Awards
SO FUNKY!!!!!
4. “Doesn’t Really Matter” from the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards
I don’t like the way she looks here, I really hate the goth-look and it doesn’t match the song at all. BUT, the dancing is perfection. Even the beginning when she and her dancers are just standing there and they break out in different spastic poses and moves to the beat. Than you get the first breakdown, and the second one, and it became clear that Janet still had it!
3. “Throb” from Saturday Night Live
***This is actually a crappy version of the performance, it’s the video but the audio is actually from the album. Kinda sucks but it’s the best I could find.***
This was also a shocker for Janet fans. We were excited she’d be the musical guest that night, but not sure what she’d sing. What we got was this Dance-Off that is so fierce and so full of energy that you can’t help but to love it. THIS performance made me LOVE this song!!! (and I love it a lot, stay tuned!)
2. “All For You/Rythm Nation/Rock Your Body” from Superbowl XL
Before Justin Timberlake ruined her career (lol!), this was a VERY pleasing Superbowl performance. Sucks that she only did two of her own songs, the flow of her set was perfect. It’s such a shame that such a big performance for her was overlooked because of one nipple, but hey… America is WEIRD!!
1. “That’s the Way Love Goes/If” from the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards
So sexy, so fierce, so on point! Everything about this performance KILLS!!
Often times, artists that are known for their visual output (either great music videos, or great live performances, or both) they are a bit underrated. Artists like Janet Jackson aren’t always taken seriously as musical artists because critics write them off as being more about Look than Quality. In Janet’s case though, that’s not all true. Sure she has her fair share of “Fluff” songs, but she also has an immense discography that has a great array of quality songs.
This listing of my 25 favorite Janet songs shows her diversity and range in genre, tone and vocals. Proving she does have some substance when it comes to creating new music.
(Yeah, I don’t know what’s up with WordPress today. I have tried FOUR TIMES to write descriptions for each song and why it made the list, but WordPress won’t SAVE any of it. So after the 4th time of getting through over half of the songs, I give up! And maybe… just maybe, I’ll come and re-edit it later but I’m over it today! sorry!)
Janet Jackson‘s Discography is a really great one. Sure, she’s not really known for being incredibly deep or anything like that… she’s known for fun dance music (and a number of sexy baby-makers). That should definitely be your expectation if you want to get into some of Janet’s work and if you go in thinking that way it’s hard to be disappointed with the 8 albums Janet has blessed us with over the past 2 decades.
Let’s start with the two Janet Jackson that everyone tries to forget. “Janet Jackson” and “Dream Street“. The ill-informed debut albums from Janet that were huge flops and are basically forgotten about now. The debut self-titled album is actually not bad for a 80’s teen album. Thematically it talks all about young love (ha, hence the title of a single “Young Love”). The album overall is both sugary sweet and cheesy as hell, but it’s also pretty catchy at times. It’s just not anything that is unique or forward thinking as it’s your basic by-the-numbers Pop.
“Dream Street” is much worse though, the album is still POP but tries horribly to have darker themes in the songs and experiment with more new wave elements in the music. This album is barely memorable other than the title and the cheese-tastic album cover.
Now let’s get to the GOOD STUFF!!!
True magic happened when Janet Jackson met up with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and together the three came up with the mid-80’s classic “Control“. An album that borrowed some of the funk of Prince and The Time, but matched with the Pop goodness and catchiness of Michael Jackson. The collaboration was genius, and it became the breakthrough album Janet needed to make her an international star. The sound was FRESH and new, and really became the sound that was most emulated on Urban radio at the time. And it’s no surprise, because the production of each track is so infectious and funky and fun. The other thing that was so fresh about this album was the frank nature of the lyricism, which was unique to the industry at the time. Songs like “What Have You Done for Me Lately” and “Nasty” were topics that radio listeners could relate to, and “Let’s Wait While” was a great message song for her teenaged fans. “Control” is a well rounded album, but the main thing you’ll take from it is the Funk and the Fun!
Grade: A Best: Nasty, Let’s Wait Awhile, Control
The follow up to Janet’s breakthrough further solidified her as a force in the industry, as “Rhythm Nation 1814” became a best-selling record-breaking album. The album is front loaded with message songs about the state of the world (ha! “State of the World” being one of the songs), and her main focus is on education and harmony amongst the population. It’s good stuff, and it excels at delivering the message without being TOO preachy. “The Knowledge” and “Rhythm Nation” are two examples of this concept working well, with “State of the World” being just OKAY and “Livin’ In a World (They Didn’t Make)” being pretty schlocky but passable. Than we get to the dancing, and this album has a great consecutive block of great dance songs from “Miss You Much” to “Alright” to “Escapade”. The album closes with more slow numbers, but overall the album is great. Another triumphant collab between Jackson and Jam and Lewis, and a successful attempt at making topical lyrics danceable… another trend several artists would follow afterwards.
Grade: A – Best: Alright, Love Will Never Do (Without You), Miss You Much
1993 brought the introduction to SEXY Janet, as her fifth album “janet.” was oozing with intimate themed material. At the time this album was popular, you couldn’t tell me nothing about it, to me it was the shit! Over 20 years later, I find the album a bit overloaded and over produced. I feel like a lot of the songs stand on their own, but mixed together the album is too much. She aims to be really eclectic in sound here, where she has slow jams and House songs, mixed with Rock songs and even old school Jazz (Jazz influenced I should say, because “Funky Big Band” is hardly a Jazz song). Like I said though, the songs individually are great, but the 27 track album is too much to handle altogether.
Grade: B – Best: Throb, Anytime Anyplace, That’s the way Love Goes
Which brings us to possibly the BEST Janet Jackson album there is, “The Velvet Rope“. Before this albums release, Janet talked a lot about how her depression influenced the album so you would imagine it would be extremely dark and sad. And yeah, songs like “What About”, “Got Til It’s Gone”, and even the bouncy “Together Again” deal lyrically with tough issues of domestic abuse and loss. Overall though I was pleased to find this album had a slew of really fun songs (“Go Deep”, “My Need”), and really sexy slow jams (“Anything”, “Tonights the Night”, “I Get Lonely) as well. It’s a really well rounded album with TOP NOTCH production from Jam and Lewis (what they do on “Empty” STILL fries my brain every time I listen to it). It’s definitely a Janet we haven’t heard before, her vocals are a lot less POPPY and it just gives us a sense that Janet is a real person. Finally!
