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

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