Post by david g. on Dec 29, 2005 14:14:19 GMT -5
Janet Jackson gets poised for a comeback
With 2005 dominated by Mariah Carey's comeback, it looks like another diva may dominate 2006. Janet Jackson is ready to take control. Again.
Jackson's previous album, "Damita Jo" (Virgin), got a raw deal after her "wardrobe malfunction" at the 2004 Super Bowl - and the ridiculous political brouhaha that followed - scared off whatever radio and TV support she might have received. (If she had released "I Want You" or "My Baby," her collaborations with Kanye West from that album, today, she'd easily have a pair of Mariah-sized hits herself
But Jackson has put that setback behind her, says her longtime collaborator Jimmy Jam, who has produced all of her albums for 20 years with partner Terry Lewis. "Mariah is a home-run hitter; she really swings for the seats on her albums," he says. "Janet is like that, too."
Jam, who, along with Lewis, recently landed another producer of the year Grammy nomination for his work with Gwen Stefani, Mary J. Blige and others, says Jackson's new, still-untitled album is almost finished and is scheduled for an April release. The album's first single is due out in about a month.
Though he won't let any of the album's secrets out, Jam does reveal that the new record will include a tip of the hat to Jackson's breakthrough album, "Control," which turns 20 this year. And they all hope the new album will be as successful.
It's probably a pretty good bet, given the way America loves a comeback and the fact that Jackson's beau, Jermaine Dupri, was an essential cog in the Mariah machine.
"The important thing is that we're happy with it now," Jam says. "Once it leaves the studio, anything can happen."
www.newsday.com/news/columnists/ny-ffcol4568004jan01,0,340370.column?coll=ny-entertainment-columnists
With 2005 dominated by Mariah Carey's comeback, it looks like another diva may dominate 2006. Janet Jackson is ready to take control. Again.
Jackson's previous album, "Damita Jo" (Virgin), got a raw deal after her "wardrobe malfunction" at the 2004 Super Bowl - and the ridiculous political brouhaha that followed - scared off whatever radio and TV support she might have received. (If she had released "I Want You" or "My Baby," her collaborations with Kanye West from that album, today, she'd easily have a pair of Mariah-sized hits herself
But Jackson has put that setback behind her, says her longtime collaborator Jimmy Jam, who has produced all of her albums for 20 years with partner Terry Lewis. "Mariah is a home-run hitter; she really swings for the seats on her albums," he says. "Janet is like that, too."
Jam, who, along with Lewis, recently landed another producer of the year Grammy nomination for his work with Gwen Stefani, Mary J. Blige and others, says Jackson's new, still-untitled album is almost finished and is scheduled for an April release. The album's first single is due out in about a month.
Though he won't let any of the album's secrets out, Jam does reveal that the new record will include a tip of the hat to Jackson's breakthrough album, "Control," which turns 20 this year. And they all hope the new album will be as successful.
It's probably a pretty good bet, given the way America loves a comeback and the fact that Jackson's beau, Jermaine Dupri, was an essential cog in the Mariah machine.
"The important thing is that we're happy with it now," Jam says. "Once it leaves the studio, anything can happen."
www.newsday.com/news/columnists/ny-ffcol4568004jan01,0,340370.column?coll=ny-entertainment-columnists