JANET JACKSON IS BACK!!!

[JumpinJack AJ]

Janet Jackson Is Back! New Music and World Tour Coming in 2015

by Sophie Schillaci and Meredith B. Kile      9:27 PM PDT, May 15, 2015

 

Getty Images

She's back!

Janet Jackson announced Friday that she'll be debuting new music and embarking on a world tour in 2015.

 

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"I promised you’d hear it from my lips and now you will. This year, new music, new world tour, a new movement. I’ve been listening. Let’s keep the conversation going," Jackson says in the announcement video posted late Friday evening, a day before her 49th birthday.

The announcement comes less than one year after the 25th anniversary of the performer's iconic Rhythm Nation 1814 album.

Since Jackson's last studio album, 2008's Discipline, was released, there has been much chatter about what's next for the singer.

Just last month, Jackson cheekily responded to a fan's missing persons flyer that had made its way around the web. Twitter user @myvelvetrope mocked up a poster declaring that Jackson was "missing" from the entertainment industry, and that "We NEED you back." The image was shared by Jackson's frequent collaborator Jimmy Jam, while the superstar responded: "LOL. Too funny, too sweet."

 

NEWS: Surprise! Janet Jackson Makes First Red Carpet Appearance in a Year

Meanwhile, rumors about a comeback had been swirling, spurred on by an uncredited photo of upcoming releases purported that Jackson would have a new offering via Atlantic Records out in July. A rep for the label denied the image's validity, confirming to several media outlets that Ms. Jackson would not be releasing an album with them this summer.

Days later, Styleite reported that Spotify had allegedly spilled the beans on a July 28 tour date at the Comerica Theatre in Phoenix, Ariz., though the venue reportedly remained tight-lipped about its validity.

Most recently, Jackson's official website shared an item from EST.1997 titled, "Is Janet Jackson Readying a Modern-Day Rhythm Nation?" pointing to the frequent use of #ConversationsinaCafe on social media.

Details on what the new music will be have yet to be revealed, though Jackson's announcement tweet included the #ConversationsinaCafe hashtag. Perhaps a potential album title?

 

http://www.etonline.com/music/164659_janet_jackson_is_back_new_music_world_tour_coming_2015/

[Jazzy Julie]

I'm so excited! I've never seen her live, the last time she toured I was on holiday. Nothing is going to stop me this time. I hope her new album is more successful than the last.

[bigted]

yeah, great news, it's about time we get another janet album and tour, 2015 is a comeback year in music!

[JumpinJack AJ]

BMG TO RELEASE JANET JACKSON’S FIRST NEW ALBUM IN SEVEN YEARS THIS FALL 2015 THRU HER OWN RHYTHM NATION RECORDS

 NEW YORK/BERLIN, 3 JUNE 2015 – BMG is proud to announce that it will release the first album in seven years from Janet Jackson, icon, music artist, B.E.T honored, award-winning songwriter, producer, singer, Oscar and Golden Globe nominee and winner of the NAACP Best Supporting Actor award, publisher, dancer, businessperson, philanthropist and one of biggest-selling artists in popular music history.

The worldwide partnership with Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation will see the release in Fall 2015 of her first as-yet-untitled album and a commitment to pursue the full range of options within the broader Bertelsmann group of which BMG is part. With Rhythm Nation Janet Jackson becomes arguably the first female African-American recording artist to form her own record label. At Rhythm Nation Janet plans to offer a home to both new and established recording artists.

The partnership with BMG makes Janet Jackson the biggest worldwide superstar yet to quit the traditional record label system for a so-called artist services deal, designed to put artists in the driving seat. Unlike a traditional record deal, under an artist services deal the artist retains ownership of their recordings and full oversight of all costs and revenues.

With sales of over 160 million records worldwide, Janet Jackson stands as one of the best-selling artists of all time as well as one of the most awarded with a string of hits that have left an indelible impression on pop culture. Her lengthy string of hits has powerfully influenced popular music, leaving an indelible impression on pop culture and opening doors through which other top artists have followed, many acknowledging her impact on their musical perceptions.

Ms. Jackson’s May 16 announcement of an upcoming new album and a world tour via #ConversationsInACafe sent fans into a social media frenzy.

BMG CEO Hartwig Masuch said, “Janet is not just a supreme artist, she is a unique cultural force whose work resonates around the world. It is an honor that she has chosen BMG to release her long-awaited new album. We look forward to collaborating with her across every platform.”

Janet commented, “Thank you to the talented team at BMG, my new artistic home. The opportunity to be creative in music and every form of entertainment has great potential here.”

Jon Cohen, EVP of Recorded Music at BMG Chrysalis US said, “Janet is a cultural icon and pop star like no other. The release of her long-awaited new album will undoubtedly be one of the musical highlights of 2015. It is an honor to work with her.”

Janet began her career at the age of seven when she first performed with her family at the MGM in Las Vegas. The worldwide breakthrough came with her third album Control in 1986, her legendary collaboration with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis which created the musical fusion of pop, R&B, soul, dance, jazz, rock and rap which defines her unique sound. Control won four American Music Awards out of twelve nominations and was nominated for an Album of the Year at the Grammys.

Next came Rhythm Nation 1814, a socially-conscious album critiquing injustice, illiteracy, crime, drugs, and racial intolerance, which last year celebrated its 25^th anniversary. It remains the only album yet to have launched number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in three separate calendar years

1993’s janet sent her career into the stratosphere and brought the worldwide smash ‘That’s The Way Love Goes’. From 1995’s Design Of A Decade retrospective through studio albums The Velvet Rope, All For You and Discipline, Janet has continued to thrill and inspire her fans worldwide.

Janet Jackson is one of very few music artists to have also achieved a successful acting career. Initially known as a young TV star, her first three films opened at number one at the box office with her next two big screen projects opening in the top three. Janet’s music has also made an impact in the film world when the artist received an Academy Award Nomination in the Best Music, Original Song category.

Zach Katz, Chief Creative Officer, BMG Chrysalis US, said: “Janet’s list of achievements and accomplishments is truly staggering. She is a global artist whose career has touched on virtually every area of popular culture. Her new album will undoubtedly have a significant impact. We look forward to collaborating with her and Rhythm Nation to nurture a new generation of artists.”

Venus Brown, for BMG Chrysalis US added: “As die-hard fans of her work and of the musical jewels that Janet Jackson has bestowed upon the world, we are beyond thrilled that she has chosen BMG to be her new partner. Her music and her video and concert styling, particularly Rhythm Nation 1814, changed the course of pop music.”

The agreement with Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation Records is the latest high-profile milestone for the new BMG, just six-and-a-half years since its launch. Key to the BMG approach is a commitment to transparency and fairness to artists, typified by its Artist Services deals. Over the past year BMG has released albums by the likes of alt-J, The Smashing Pumpkins, Anastacia, Backstreet Boys, Nena, Bryan Ferry, You Me At Six and The Charlatans.

Janet Jackson is represented by William Morris Endeavor, Sterling Winters Company, attorneys Tom Hoberman and Don Steele, and JDJ Entertainment.

About BMG

BMG is an international company focused on the management of music publishing and recording rights. BMG’s services cover the entire range of rights administration, development, and exploitation, placing the needs of songwriters and artists at the heart of its business model. Since its launch in 2008, BMG has established a presence in eight core music markets and now represents the rights to around 2.5 million songs and recordings, including the catalogues of Chrysalis, Bug, Virgin, Mute, Sanctuary, Primary Wave and Talpa Music, as well as many prominent artists and songwriters attracted by its service-orientated model. BMG is a wholly-owned subsidiary of international media company Bertelsmann, whose group interests embrace broadcasting and TV production (RTL Group), books (Penguin Random House) and magazines (Gruner + Jahr), media services (Arvato) and print (BePrinters). In the United States of America and Scandinavia the company trades under the name BMG Chrysalis, in Benelux under the name BMG Talpa Music. 

 www.bmg.com

[JumpinJack AJ]

Oh man!  This is so good.  Janet just put out her new song "No Sleep."  It's so dope.  It's not dancey.  It doesn't have a garbage commercial rapper on it.  Just a laidback R&B groove.  I love it!

 

 

[Jazzy Julie]

Love this! It sounds like I'm back in the 90's when RnB was good. I don't know how this will do in the charts but I don't care, im happy. 

[bigted]

1 million streams in a day means it's probably gonna be a hit, loving this, welcome back janet!

[Turntable]

Pitchfork named it best new song 

[JumpinJack AJ]

Inside Janet Jackson's Comeback Gamble and the Hurdle of the 'Aging Diva' Stereotype

By Melinda Newman and Gail Mitchell | July 23, 2015 10:30 AM EDT

 

Janet Jackson accepts the ultimate icon: music dance visual award at the BET Awards at the Microsoft Theater on Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Los Angeles. 

Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

 

Ageism? hardly. With tour tickets selling briskly and a new album bringing major buzz, the 49-year-old bucks the trend.

Time can be cruel to the female pop star rounding 50. No matter how little her talent might diminish, under the spotlight’s glare, critics gleefully count ­wrinkles and listen for pitchy vocals in a way that rarely happens with male artists. Just ask Madonna, 56, or 45-year-old Mariah Carey, whose journeys into middle age have been ­challenging at best. Britney Spears, 33, Jennifer Lopez, 46, Celine Dion, 47, and Shania Twain, 49, already have taken the Vegas route. (Granted, Cher at 69 seems immune, but she’s the exception to most rules.) Can Janet Jackson, at 49, avoid the syndrome?

She’s off to a strong start. Since a May 16 online tease of “new music, new world tour, a new movement,” Jackson has rapidly reeled off news about the launch of her own Rhythm Nation Records (a worldwide partnership with BMG), her first studio album in seven years and the initial two legs of a world tour, starting Aug. 31.

Jackson’s new single, “No Sleeep,” rose to No. 5 in its second week on Billboard’s Adult R&B airplay chart -- her first top five hit on that tally in 11 years -- and the song will get added sizzle when the album version, featuring red-hot rapper J. Cole, goes to radio on July 23. But most of all, her 65-date Unbreakable Tour is selling tickets at a blazing clip. According to promoter Live Nation, 88 percent of the tickets on the trek’s first leg (Aug. 31 to Nov. 15) were purchased two weeks after going on sale; nearly 80 percent of the tickets for the second leg (Jan. 12 to March 9) were gone in two days.

Janet Jackson & J. Cole Team Up for 'No Sleeep' Remix: Exclusive

After a long lukewarm period, it seems the world wants Janet Jackson back. Still, by diva standards, the Janet rollout has had a relatively low profile so far. Why? “I think there’s a desperation to a lot of the older divas,” says Jon Cohen, evp of recorded music at BMG US. “They’ve got to hit it out of the park. With Janet, if she doesn’t put out a cross-format smash right out of the box, people think it isn’t a success, but that’s not it. This was completely calculated.”

Indeed, initial talk of a “multiple Janet projects occurring simultaneously” goes back at least to 2010, according to one source who was working with Jackson at the time. Back then, she was managed by Kenneth Crear and it seemed that new music was imminent, having built up “so much good will” over the years that “you just had to mention her name, it didn’t even have to be anything of substance, and people would go ape-s---t.”

But then, following a 2011 No. 1s tour, Jackson effectively pulled a vanishing act, ­marrying Qatari ­billionaire Wissam Al Mana in 2012 and shelving those very endeavors for what, to longtime fans, seemed like an eternity. Enter Kathy Ireland. The model/­businesswoman took a vested interest in Jackson’s career through Sterling/Winters, Jackson’s ­management company, which is owned by Kathy Ireland Worldwide and run by ­president/COO Stephen Roseberry. Sharing management duties are Jaime Mendoza and Jessica Davenport of JDJ Entertainment, who, as a group, negotiated with BMG to lock down a recording budget for Jackson (to the tune of at least $500,000, according to an insider) along with a sizable marketing spend.

Hot 100 Chart Moves: Janet Jackson Returns With 40th Career Hit, 'No Sleeep'

Alternative financing models are becoming the norm even for heritage artists once used to grandiose paydays. Jackson herself landed a record-breaking $32 million deal with Virgin Records in 1991. Nine years later, Carey commanded an $80 ­million contract for four albums. But Carey signed to Epic earlier this year for a more modest advance of $2 million, according to sources. Speaking to Billboard in May, Epic chairman L.A. Reid laid out the lay of the land: For Carey "to even be on the radio at this point in her career is a huge accomplishment," he said. "Because radio doesn't cater to veteran artists or legends. Radio caters to in-the-moment stars."

So what is a Janet Jackson album worth in 2015? She’s one of the most successful artists in pop history, having sold some 20 million albums in the SoundScan era, which began five years after her 1986 breathrough, Control. During that time, she's also notched 10 Hot 100 No. 1s (through 2001) and 27 top 10 singles overall, tying her with Carey and Elton John. Her last album, 2008’s Discipline, has moved a respectable but hardly blockbuster 456,000 units, according to Nielsen Music. Her Number Ones package released in 2009, meanwhile, has moved 273,000 units.  

BMG, which is ­providing ­marketing and promotion while the singer retains ownership of the recordings, declines to reveal specifics about Jackson’s ­licensing deal, but an insider familiar with the company’s contracts says BMG tends to favor “small-money, short-term deals.” In Jackson's case: no advance but an attractive back-end (a 50/50 split). 

Janet Jackson, Miguel & Lauryn Hill: Real-Time Twitter Chart Rewind Ep. 55

The investment saw the singer through the last seven months of round-the-clock production with longtime collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for an album that is eyeing a late September release. 

Adds Cohen: “The project needs a level of money to protect it. Janet and her camp are extremely aware that it’s 2015 -- ­everyone is realistic about what record-selling and streaming mean in this era. Janet was very fair about the deal.”

It’s about the long view, says former Virgin president Phil Quartararo, who has a hand in steering Jackson’s current career path as a member of her extended “team,” and that means life for an artist beyond the “pop silo.” Jackson, he says, “has had such a vast career in music, TV and film; she’s not your average pop star. We’re going to work this record for a long time. It’s not something that’s going to come and go.”

A version this article first appeared in the Aug. 1 issue of Billboard.

[bigted]

Here's the remix video with J Cole, this is complete fire:

 

[JumpinJack AJ]

I love this song so much.  I hope she defeats the odds and ends up with a dope project that is just successful, if not more than Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, etc.  She could single-handedly help other legendary artists have a chance at Top 40 success again.

[JumpinJack AJ]

Janet Jackson Makes a Definitive Comeback with the Mellow, Consistent R&B of 'Unbreakable'

A laid-back and self-aware Janet turns in one of the finest albums of her career.

• Winston Cook-Wilson
• October 5, 2015

Janet Jackson is almost 50 years old, and with over 150 million albums sold into her 33-year recording career, is one of the best-selling female pop stars of all time. Yet she’s a freshly independent artist: After her career-long relationship with Island Records petered out following 2008’s Discipline, she’s now releasing music via her own Rhythm Nation records. Despite or because of her new situation — and doubtless the album’s lengthy and painstaking gestation period — her eleventh release, Unbreakable, is one of the most consistent of her auspicious career. Largely, it’s a laid-back album of disco and hip-hop-informed songs that blur reference points to form an out-of-time, stylistic compound that’s distinctly Jackson’s.

Songs like the title track, “Shoulda Known Better,” “Night” and “No Sleeep” sound wholly modern while recalling musical threads of the past three decades. Though the album lacks some of the distinct, sexually charged aggressiveness and fearless stylistic pivoting that characterized Jackson’s groundbreaking work of the 1990s (see The Velvet Rope and the excellent janet.), the sound and dramatic posture seems commensurate with a pop star of her stature and long resume. It’s certainly not uninspired. Unbreakable is exactly the kind of record a great artist makes when they feel like they have something to say, but nothing to prove.

Since the language of ‘90s R&B and ‘80s pop is fully baked into the DNA of some of the best Top 40 music of today, Unbreakable sounds largely in line with the pop music of younger artists. However, it feels like we are moving a step (or three) closer to the genuine article, reviving elements from a source text which have been lost in translation. Like Mariah Carey’s underrated Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse of last year, Unbreakable feels like Janet successfully striving to take her place next to her imitators: from Ciara, to Tinashe, to Ariana Grande. Every song of the album was co-written and produced by Jackson’s legendary longtime collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who helped Jackson distinguish herself as an artist in the 1980s. Jam and Lewis have clearly stayed in tune with trends, while remembering the dynamics of their old chemistry with Jackson.

Unbreakable, to its benefit, lacks the more aggro clubbiness that punctuated her past three albums. Second single “BURNITUP!” gets closest to this angular, early-’00s-derived sound (think “Sexy Back”), but it is salvaged by an infectious, unusually moody chorus. More successful as a club-friendly song is the DJ Mustard-informed, trap-cymbal-studded “Dammn Baby” which puts a inspired spin on a contemporary idiom but imbues it with distinctly Jackson-esque, nimble melodicism reminiscent of the best parts of All of You, the 2001 Janet album to which Unbreakable is closest in sound. Most of the other stylistic experiments on Unbreakable — most notably the EDM-tinged “Shoulda Known Better” — are carried off expertly. Even more questionable detours — the vaguely country-flavored ballad “Well Traveled,” and the cartoonish gospel-pop of “Gon’ B Alright” — have charming moments which make them feel like more than misguided flubs.

Jackson’s public reputation, very sadly, suffered unambiguously following the “wardrobe malfunction” of Super Bowl XXXVIII, which resulted in her videos and singles blacklisted at various outlets, and a steep drop-off in album sales. Following that, Janet morphed gradually into something of a side attraction: Her long-standing position at the vanguard of pop, as she was for so many years, was weakened. But the release of Unbreakable solidifies what seemed apparent after the warm reception for its first single (the loping after-hours disco of “No Sleeep,” which, though it’s just recently entered the Hot 100 in the 60s, is Janet’s longest-running No. 1 on the Adult R&B charts, and critically beloved) and her receipt of BET’s Ultimate Icon award in July: musically, Ms. Jackson is back and fully on top of her game. She’s now a legacy act, but not in the pejorative sense: She’s making her impact felt again.

Unbreakable, which is projected to sell between 90 and 105k this week, is a definitive late-career triumph for Jackson, boasting strong songwriting and savvy production which is more than capable of winning her new fans.

https://www.inverse.com/article/6762-janet-jackson-makes-a-definitive-comeback-with-the-mellow-consistent-r-b-of-unbreakable

[Jazzy Julie]

Just bought tickets to see her live next year. This has been a good week for me and music. 

[bigted]

i'm gonna listen to this album later on google play and i'm gonna get the cd soon, it's great to have janet back in music again!