Janet Jackson Preps First New Music In Five Years

Christina Lee | May 19, 2013 8:01 am

Janet Jackson sees our desire: Days before her fifth album janet. celebrates its 20th anniversary, the enduring pop diva announces that she’s prepping her first new music in five years. “We are creating the concept and initial thoughts on the music,” she says to Billboard. “I am excited about the direction that we’re taking.”

At this point in planning, the possibilities for Jackson’s new music seems endless. Her most recent album, 2008’s Discipline, had debuted at No. 1 only to fall swiftly from the charts, but it’s hard to ignore that she’d replaced long-time producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis with a wide array of still-relevant collaborators, including Darkchild, Stargate, Rodney Jerkins, Tricky Stewart, and The-Dream.

In addition, as Billboard pointed out, newcomers like Kendrick Lamar and How to Dress Well are referencing Jackson’s songs in their own music (Lamar’s “Poetic Justice”, How to Dress Well’s version of “Again”) — and would probably be happy to help update her sound.

“I have listened to the music that is out there and I love Kendrick’s ‘Poetic Justice,'” Jackson said. “There are artists, true performers that have come before me who have been a big inspiration to me. I hope I do the same for others.”