Damita Jo
Janet Jackson
Kanye West, Babyface
Virgin Records (USA), 2004
1 CD
Catalogue #: 84404
EAN: 0724358440423
UPC: 724358440423
You save: 20%
Personnel includes: Janet Jackson (vocals); Kanye West (rap vocals); IZ (electric guitar, Moog synthesizer, drums, percussion, vinyl scratches); Kevin Hunter, Glenn Jeffery (guitar); Goran Kajfes (horns); Bobby Ross Avila (Fender Rhodes piano, Moog synthesizer, bass, drums); Jimmy Jam, Dallas Austin (keyboards, programming); Ervin Pope (keyboards); Colin Wolfe, Keenan Holloway (bass); BAG (programming); Tony Tolbert, Tony Reyes (background vocals); Babyface.
Producers include: Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Janet Jackson, Bobby Ross Avila, IZ.
Just as the furor over her notorious exposure at the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show died down in the spring of 2004, the iconic Janet Jackson unleashed DAMITA JO. While the soul-baring, bedroom-eyed record is unlikely to win over anyone scandalized by her Super Bowl antics, Jackson's fans--and fans of sensual, soulful pop in general--should enjoy the sultry outing, which continues the theme of sexual discovery that she began on 1993's JANET.
With over two decades of dominating the charts and a lifetime as musical royalty, Jackson knows her way around a tune, and DAMITA JO is swimming in pop hooks. There are a number of down-and-dirty tracks such as "Strawberry Bounce," "Warmth," and "Moist," which slink joyfully and lustily through the night. However, Jackson truly scores when she combines the distinctly carnal with more innocent pop notions, as she does with sublime beauty on the Dramatics-esque "I Want You" and with verve on the irresistible dance-rock of "Just a Little While."
Tracklist
Janet Jackson
In the wake of Michael Jackson's monster success with THRILLER, most of his brothers and sisters tried their hands at launching similarly styled solo careers, with varying degrees of success. But the only one to become a major recording figure on her own (and achieve staying power) was Michael's youngest sister, Janet Jackson, who became one of the biggest and most successful recording artists of the 1980s/'90s thanks to such albums as CONTROL and THE VELVET ROPE. Following the somewhat lackluster sales of 2004's DAMITA JO album and her now-infamous "wardrobe malfunction" at that year's Super Bowl halftime show, Jackson kept a relatively low profile for a few years, but returned strong in 2006 with 20 Y.O.
Kanye West
Kanye West first gained fame as an acclaimed hip-hop producer, working with Jay-Z, Foxy Brown, Mase, and others. West's solo debut was delayed due to a serious car accident, but when THE COLLEGE DROPOUT finally appeared in 2004, it took the hip-hop world by storm with its combination of old-school R&B samples, inventive contemporary production, and clever rhymes. And while West continued to churn out hot tracks for a bevy of artists, popping up in the credits of what seemed to be an impossible number of CDs, he was still able to continue his run of critically and commercially successful releases, 2005's LATE REGISTRATION and 2007's GRADUATION, and become the undisputed King of Hip-Hop in the '00s.
Babyface
Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds is one of the few achievers of a true pop-music trifecta: writer, producer, and recording artist. While penning songs for some of the biggest pop stars of the 1990s--Boyz II Men, Toni Braxton, and Whitney Houston, among others--Babyface also perfected a mature, urban pop sound that marked him as one of the finest and most successful producers of the decade. A popular singer in his own right, Babyface won a best R&B vocal Grammy in 1995, and released the star-studded FACE 2 FACE in 2000.
