The Velvet Rope cover

The Velvet Rope

Released

Wearing a brave heart on her sleeve, Janet Jackson entered a ’90s R&B climate heavily influenced by hip-hop (Jodeci, Mary J. Blige) with The Velvet Rope — a 100 percent Janet Jackson classic. Her mastery of pop perfection shines through on “We Go Deep” and all over tracks like “Got ’Til It’s Gone” (featuring Q-Tip) and the AIDS-inspired celebration of life, “Together Again.” Thunderstorms and fingersnaps in a Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis-produced ballad always denote danger; “Anything” proved that her previous album janet.’s sexual liberation was no one-night stand.

Miles Marshall Lewis

Recommended by

Suggestions
Ask Rufus cover

Ask Rufus

Chaka Khan, Rufus
Show Some Emotion cover

Show Some Emotion

Joan Armatrading
Daydream cover

Daydream

Mariah Carey
Steppin’ cover

Steppin’

The Pointer Sisters
A Musical Affair cover

A Musical Affair

Ashford & Simpson
Whitney Houston cover

Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston
Emotions cover

Emotions

Mariah Carey
Between the Sheets cover

Between the Sheets

The Isley Brothers
The Tour cover

The Tour

Mary J. Blige