Janet.

2022.01.31

Please note, I have decided to stop using Spotify due to their decision to keep Joe Rogan’s podcast on the air. A number of musicians have pulled their music from the service and many others are in negotiation to do so. Joe Rogan is hateful and spreads misinformation about the pandemic, vaccines, and a myriad of other things. I’ve chosen to stop using the service until they decide to make things right. So, you’ll probably see a lot more videos for the songs of the day. Maybe that’s better anyway.

Song of the day:

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Janet.

The 4-hour Janet Jackson documentary debuted over the weekend, with two hours on Friday and two on Saturday. I decided to watch all four hours in one sitting and y’all, it was fantastic. And emotional. And heartbreaking. And perfect. Did she tell us every single thing about her life? No. And why should she? But she did talk about a lot of the hard stuff, a lot of what she went through with the various men in her life, and you could tell it was hard for her to discuss certain things. She waved off the camera a couple of times saying she didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

I have always liked Janet and was a huge fan in the 80s and 90s. I own Control on vinyl. And while I loved Michael and even the Jackson Five, there was always something different about Janet, something stronger and empowering. Even for a young white girl from Wyoming. Learning more about how she became one of the greatest artists of all time was great. I could have easily watched eight more hours. Some of the information in the documentary wasn’t new but I felt like we got a few more details here and there. And she was nicer than I think anyone would have thought she would be about the whole Super Bowl scandal. I expected there to be more about that but it was just a small part of the story. And maybe that’s how she has to process it…as a blip in the bigger picture. I get that. Doesn’t make me any less irritated about what JT did though.

Watching this documentary made me think back to the times when the Control and Rhythm Nation albums came out and how I was mesmerized by her videos and her dancing. She seemed completely in control, completely in charge of things, completely her own person. Learning how she got there was a good reminder that we never know what’s happening behind the scenes unless someone specifically tells us. I’m glad she told us some of it.

If you watched the documentary over the weekend I’d love to know what you thought.

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Video of the day:

Seriously, if you haven’t seen the documentary, find some time and watch it. Even if you weren’t a Janet fan I think you’ll find that it’s eye-opening about the music industry, the Jackson family, and the dynamics between men and women. Seriously y’all, it’s all in there. And at the end of the day, SHE IS FABULOUS.