Janet Jackson's Undermined Legacy

welcome back to pop dissected [Music] today we're going to be talking about janet jackson and how it seems many people have forgotten the impact she's had on the music industry and for women madonna is often cited as the sole artist who has paved the way for women and while she has she is not the only one but why do we forget the legacy janet has created in music well it was none other than the 2004 super bowl incident in which justin timberlake exposed janet's breast and who was blacklisted and received most of the turmoil janet since that performance janet's career has lost much of the leverage it saw during the 80s and 90s and she was written off by many with her influence in pop music and the industry widely disregarded so let's go through janet's career and list off several reasons why we need to remember the impact she's had in music and how she is just as influential as any madonna mariah or brittany first we have janet's third studio record control while her first two records may have been seen as uninspired control proved that janet was in fact in control of her image sound and career this record propelled her into super stardom and gave her a name amongst her famous family while madonna is often credited as the sole woman to push the envelope for female sexuality and women's empowerment janet's control was also a landmark record in bringing light to feminism to women co-writing seven and producing eight of the nine total tracks off the record control proved that janet had a hand in creating her art so often women are written off for their records with their male producers being slated as the reason for a woman's success control exemplified how a woman could very much have direction over her own career and not be a puppet as control was really janet's first record where it was entirely her voice she wasn't under the control of her father and broke away from just being a product in the jackson family she was now making a career with her name on her own terms control is jam-packed with feminist themes the lead single what have you done for me lately has janet expressing her dissatisfaction for a partner not putting in their effort into their relationship it was arguably the song that thrust janet into the spotlight relaying the narrative women should and do have standards for their male partners and that women aren't just here for you you are here for them as well inspired after an incident in which she was harassed on the street by men control's third single nasty has janet standing up for herself against said men the situation also inspired the lead where janet cited how she not only had to take care of herself but get an attitude and put men in their place thematically control is about simply taking control of one's life and as a woman janet was one of the earliest pioneers to push the concept of women taking a stand not only against men but standing up for themselves demanding respect and having an attitude of confidence secondly janet was very much an innovator in the r b in hip-hop genre which began with her record control this record was one of the first to effectively merge these two genres in a presentation that was just as fresh as it was revolutionary the utilization of these genres allowed janet to not only find success in r b charts but pop as well with the pop genre consistently proving to be one of the most popular genres it was a landmark that janet was able to transcend one chart but also popularized music made by black women into the mainstream with control mixing the aforementioned genres along with pop she was additionally able to push the genre of new jack swing into the mainstream a genre characterized by combining hip-hop r b and dance pop in short with one record janet jackson managed to create bridges between genres that were otherwise divided and relatively didn't cross into each other for the most part third we have sexual liberation among the releases of her self-titled record in the velvet rope janet began exploring her own sexuality this was a great step in her career after expressing she had suffered from her own body issues jaina became comfortable to embrace her own womanhood additionally she was specifically exploring a black woman's sexuality some have noted though aware of her contributions to the female identity madonna was more on the side of exploitation and shock where janet was using her sexuality as a catharsis and as one's own self-pleasure both women were still using female sexuality with the same end goal of normalization and acceptance albeit with different approaches with janet jackson tackling black female sexuality she was breaking the stereotypes and taboos about what it meant to be a black woman in regards to their sexual identity she was showing her audience in the world that a black woman can be in control of her sexuality and she was additionally fighting against the tropes of promiscuity and we know these tropes exist upon the response to her 2004 super bowl incident where many of janet's more sensual songs were brought up and weaponized against her after their performance it's truly sad to see how janet had worked so hard to fight against these ideas with her music and they would be ultimately used against her for something she was not responsible for fourth let's discuss the vast list of artists who have been inspired or influenced by janet jackson the list goes on and on but some recognizable artists to be influenced by janet are beyonce she learned from janet the importance of being a chameleon and evolving yourself over the course of each record cycle in an effort to showcase versatility and what you're capable of jennifer lopez declared the reason she wanted to be involved in the entertainment industry was janet inspired by her intense choreography in dance sequences and music videos lady gaga has also cited janet as one of the most important figures she looks up to and has even referenced janet across several of her own music videos rihanna stated janet was one of the first icons she found herself relating to and admired her energy which likely translated into rihanna's own very relatable work and for a rapid fire we also have selena pink tony braxton janelle monae and missy elliott the list goes on and on one thing we have to remember is that when so many artists cite you as an influence your impact is undeniable and janet has proven she has that impact lastly let's discuss in great detail why janet jackson is forgotten as such an important figure in music of course we know the super bowl controversy is part of that but what were really the prolonged effects of this mishap as we know this is justin timberlake's fault as he ripped a piece of janet's costume off as we can see in this photo she looks very mortified and i can only imagine what was going on in her mind during these moments janet responded saying she was embarrassed however there were far more important things for the world to be concerned about broadcasters apologized stating they didn't know the performance would include nudity anyway there were rumors this quote wardrobe malfunction was a planned stunt of jackson's and that it was planned by mtv however it was later revealed the stunt was in fact planned but to reveal a lacy bra underneath janet's costume so in turn we can say this was in fact a huge mistake the media hounded janet day and night in which she believed this was an effort to detract from real world issues potentially the ongoing war in iraq justin timberlake apologized for the performance saying he's sorry if anyone was offended and he was frustrated his character was being questioned interesting response but janet would go on to be blacklisted forced to resign from award shows and have cancelled performances while this incident didn't heavily impact her music career there was a definite shift in the consumption of her music and the performance of her singles timberlake however had no real negative impact on his career and even got to headline the super bowl and objectively one of the least impressive performances of the past decade though template has said he's made amends in private this incident shows the viewpoint society generally has not only on women but female sexuality and women of color why was janet the one receiving all this backlash why was her character question janet's career took a shift from something she didn't cause though she still procured number one records her singles faltered as time went on it's sad to see how janet fought amongst these stereotypes against the sexuality of black women just for them to be hurled at her years later despite this we have to recognize how janet has contributed to pop culture and the music industry has paved the way for so many modern musicians men and women her legacy may have been undermined by the super bowl but her name will never be forgotten she has made strides in equality love acceptance and many social causes and she continues to do so to this day her first name ain't baby it's janet miss jackson if you're nasty thank you so much for watching everybody be sure to drop a like subscribe and turn on that notification bell for more future content on all your favorite pop stars

Channel: Pop Dissected

Views: 9,557

Rating: 4.9553351 out of 5

Keywords: janet jackson, Pop Dissected, Pop Dissected Janet Jackson, Janet Jackson Control, Janet Jackson Pop Dissected, Janet Jackson Rhythm Nation 1814, Janet, Janet Jackson The Velvet Rope, Janet Jackson All For You, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson Super Bowl, Justin Timberlake Super Bowl, Janet Jackson Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson Madonna, Madonna, The legacy of Janet Jackson, Janet Jackson's Legacy, janet jackson live, what have you done for me lately, nasty, all for you, scream

Id: 38TX3cLsk5k

Length: 9min 24sec (564 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 23 2020