Funny how time flies indeed. It is hard to believe that it has really been 20 years since 'Control' dropped by one Ms. Janet Jackson. I remember when I first heard the first single "What Have You Done For Me Lately" on the radio. I was at home on a Saturday, probably cleaning my room or something. You know how the radio announcer recaps what was played during the last half hour. He said (and yes I can remember that far back) Janet Jackson's name as a part of the featured line up. I was really kind of surprised. When I heard the song I was like WOW! That was Janet Jackson? I didn't even recognize her voice at the time.

I mean you have to understand where I am coming from on this one. I actually have the two albums that were released before 'Control'. Do you remember the little punk-rock track "Come Give Your Love To Me" from the self-titled "Janet Jackson" and the second album "Dream Street" that was released about the time she was back on television playing the character "Cleo" on Fame.

Now I really have your attention!

I have really been a fan. Since the drop of 'Control' my girl has been constantly consistent with putting out CD's that for the most part I have fully enjoyed . . . until now.

The latest release "20 Y.O." didn't really move me like previous releases. I think the primary reason is that I don't feel that the songs that were produced in conjunction with Jermaine Dupri really fit her style. That whole ATL, Casio-keyboard – deep bass sound just wasn't working for most of the tracks. A few years ago I recall Janet stating in an interview 'If ain't broke don't fix it'. This statement was made during the time period when Sean "Puffy" Combs (that was the name he was using then) had been indicating that he wanted to produce her. I had much love for her at that time, because Puffy was producing and or showing up on everybody's tracks, everybody's stuff was sounding the same, and "Puff" was in everybody's video, etc. I really respected the fact that she wanted to stay true to the musical chemistry and bond she created with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and recognized that they had a good thing going so why mess it up.

Well all I can say is that we all take chances. She took one with her man collaborating with two of the greatest music producers and unfortunately it is obvious with this cd.

The first single released "Call On Me" featuring Nelly was pretty cool to me. Nice little sing-a-long with the light hearted feel that we have become accustomed to from Janet. My next favorite song (and yes this was produced with Jermaine Dupri surprisingly) is "Do It 2 Me". This one starts out with this little echoed out and looped vocal then this bouncing little beat with some strings behind comes in. Then of course J.D. comes in with his standard line asking 'Can you bounce wit' me'. I wished that he would have just kept quiet ant let the track just flow.

Actually I long for the day when producers will just go back to producing a track with a fat beat and not ask me 'Can I bounce with it', not tell me 'It's your boy (fill in the blank)', but I digress. Other than the un-needed vocal styling of Mr. Dupri, I think that this is a hot track. It really does get you bouncin' with it.

The track "With U" is tolerable but it will remind you so much of Mariah's "What About Us", I skip it every time. "Daybreak" sounds like a re-hashed version of "It Really Doesn't Matter" with a deeper bass drum from the Nutty Professor 2 soundtrack. So it really doesn't matter if you skip this track either.

The tracks produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis reflect Janet's true style that we have grown into with Janet over the last 20 years. "Enjoy" is a mid tempo track that has a little jazzy-steppers feel to it. This is definitely one song that you will enjoy each time you hear it. Of course it's not a Janet cd without the slow jams. "Take Care" and "Love 2 Love" are the only two ballads and they hit the mark. "Take Care" made me think about one of Janet's earlier slow jams that I love, "Come Back To Me". "Love 2 Love" is the more seductive of the two beat wise and lyrically, but much tamer lyrically than some of the previous slow jams that she has done over the years. At any rate, I love both of those tracks.

I guess every now and then age does catch up with you.

Until next time.