Damita Jo

by

Janet Jackson

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To those who:

1) Thought she would tone down after the OVERLY EXAGGERATED super bowl incident

2) Was trying to do something "shocking" so she could promote a mediocre album and remind the world she's still exists (think Madonna @ the VMA's & "American Life")

3) Think the album is nothing but explicit, extreme, almost fetish sexual themes

...You're all in for a surprise

Yes, there are some sexual themes, but it isn't as drastic or excessive as some critics perceive it to be (it isn't anything different from the raunchiest lyrics by D'Angelo or Maxwell). It's actually a little unfair and hypocritical because had the accident NOT happen, people would've dubbed this album to be "sexy" and "exotic" or something. But the accident did happen, and now the same people are dubbing this album to be "trashy" and "cheap".

The songs on the album vary, ranging from slow ballads to upbeat club songs; "Spending Time With You" and "My Baby (featuring Kanye West)" have extremely catchy hooks. The fusion of rock and synthesizers in "Sexhibition" works well. The smoothness in "Warmth" is very appealing while the hypnotic flow of "All Nite (Don't Stop)" gets very addictive with each listen (just the way she sings the line "this rhythm just makes me high" leaves me yearning for more). But above it all, the song that got my immediate approval when I first listened was the old school R&B sound of "R&B Junkie". Though most of the songs on the album are good, there are those few things that I have a problem with: I don't understand what's so great about "Strawberry Bounce". The song is lacking; the lyrics are mediocre and the beat is too simple (it consists of Jay-Z in the background saying "bounce", handclaps, and "la-la-la" loops. It sounds more like little girls playing double-dutch jump rope). For some reason, the lead single (although it failed to get any airplay) "Just A Little While" sounds like a jingle for Pepsi (I don't know why, it just does). The main thing that seems to be bothering everyone is the interludes. Now, I don't mind interludes; I actually enjoy some... but many of her interludes aren't needed and some just don't make sense. Janet shares gems like "Country":

"J... Jo... Dunk? Booty... Damita Jo...isn't that like a country name -Damita Jo? It is isn't it? The "Damita" I don't think is country, but it's the "Jo" that's country, which just happens to be my father's name. Well my mother is from the south... so...Damita Jo..."

Wow! That was deep...

Anyway... In general, this album is decent enough to listen. This album starts off strong but then towards the end, it falls flat, leaving a shaky last appeal. The thing is that there aren't enough top quality songs to call this album "Excellent". Still, listening to the diversity of songs in "Damita Jo" was refreshing. When "it all comes down" to it, this album is pretty good.

Let's be honest. Janet Jackson made her best albums while she was still on A&M Records. With the exception of 1993's janet, the quality of her records on Virgin has been slowly decreasing. And I saw a number of reviewers state that this album, Damita Jo, has been getting bad press because of the Super Bowl incident. I personally think this album has been getting bad press because, well, it ain't that hot. In fact, some people have been arguing over whether this is better or worse than All For You, and I can't really comment on that aspect because all I heard from All For You were the singles (and "Would You Mind"); all I can say it that this album wasn't doin' it for me.

Maybe "bad" wouldn't be the best word to describe this album. Basically, this album is really uninteresting; a shame considering it has 22 tracks on it. And all the 2 to 3-star reviews for this album are pretty accurate (although I don't agree with the people that said The Velvet Rope was a classic album).

On the one hand, this album has way too many interludes, and in them Janet is pretty much talking about nothing. This is especially evident at the beginning of the album, where tracks 1 and 2 are both interludes [the same thing happened on Chapter II by Ashanti, who doesn't look much different than Janet Jackson (ironic?)]. But the full-length songs aren't that great either.

The only song I really like on here is "Truly". There are some tolerable songs like "I Want You" and "Just a Little While", but everything else leaves a LOT to be desired. And this is painful, considering that a majority of these tracks were written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis! Since when do they write bad songs??? Anyway, there are a lot of lazy contributions, like "R&B Junkie", "Spending Time With You" and "Strawberry Bounce" (which contains a sample of Jay-Z saying "bounce" from "Can I Get A..."). There's also the bizarre "Thinkin' Bout My Ex"; and after all the acclaim he's been getting lately, it's rather disappointing to hear Kanye West giving an uninspiring performance on the already lame "My Baby".

As another reviewer said, it's also difficult to hear what Janet is saying in some of these songs, as evidenced by "All Nite (Don't Stop)" and "SloLove". And when Janet decided to explore her sexual side in the past like on "Any Time, Any Place", for example, it really turned you on. Here, it's just annoying; just listen to "Moist" and "Warmth".

In the end, this album is nothing special. I think Janet (as well as Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis) lowered their standards for some reason to put this album out. Maybe the executive producer realized that in the end, because there?s no such credit anywhere to be found on the album (Alan Smithee, anyone?). I don?t know what crowd Damita Jo is supposed to cater to, but it sure didn?t hit home with ME.

Anthony Rupert