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
Rufusized cover

Rufusized

Chaka Khan, Rufus
Urban Renewal cover

Urban Renewal

Tower of Power
Renaissance cover

Renaissance

Ray Charles
The Heat Is On cover

The Heat Is On

The Isley Brothers
Ask Rufus cover

Ask Rufus

Chaka Khan, Rufus
Stand! cover

Stand!

Sly & the Family Stone
Daydream cover

Daydream

Mariah Carey
Get Into Something cover

Get Into Something

The Isley Brothers