Anyone heard Janet Jackson's new CD? Thoughts?

*muffled* *discombobulated*

she's very pretty though...

*shrugs*

I stopped buying CDs with the Jackson name on it a long time ago.

quote:

Originally posted by HonestBrother:
I stopped buying CDs with the Jackson name on it a long time ago.

youtube is my friend...

plus...

I was JUST introduced to the ipod! why is there a need to buy a whole CD anymore when you can pick and choose songs??? and place them skip free on your ipod...

*I'm technology challenged....

Not feeling it on the first two listens, so it's not a classic by any means. I'll know better in a week or so if it will stay in my rotation.

quote:

Originally posted by Khalliqa:
I was JUST introduced to the ipod! why is there a need to buy a whole CD anymore when you can pick and choose songs??? and place them skip free on your ipod...

*I'm technology challenged....

I still buy whole CDs because I want to support great artists. Plus, if the artist is really good, he or she will make CDs that tell a e story, with one song leading up to the next. If you only buy certain songs, you can't really get the message.

quote:

Originally posted by Rowe:

quote:

Originally posted by Khalliqa:

quote:

Originally posted by HonestBrother:
I stopped buying CDs with the Jackson name on it a long time ago.

youtube is my friend...

plus...

I was JUST introduced to the ipod! why is there a need to buy a whole CD anymore when you can pick and choose songs??? and place them skip free on your ipod...

*I'm technology challenged....

I still buy whole CDs because I want to support great artists.

I buy CDs too. Just not Jackson CDs.

Actually I'm addicted to the CD format.

I don't even have an ipod ... and I'm a mac owner.

quote:

Originally posted by HonestBrother:

I buy CDs too. Just not Jackson CDs.

Why the hateration HonestBrother?

I still buy CDs. I've got the J5/Jacksons, and even a couple of Jermaine's CDs, but I don't own a single Janet disc. And I'm not sure why.

quote:

Originally posted by HonestBrother:
I buy CDs too. Just not Jackson CDs.

Actually I'm addicted to the CD format.

I don't even have an ipod ... and I'm a mac owner.

I don't own an ipod either. It's not really good for your hearing to have music playing that close to the ear, especially loud music. And when one my favorite songs is playing, I like to crank my music all the way up. I really enjoy music. Anyway, I heard a couple of Janet's latest singles on the radio, and I wasn't impressed. It's more of the same. One of them had a nice little beat to it, but the song wouldn't have me running to the record store.

On Tuesday, February 26th (her birthday), I got Erykah Badu's latest CD, New Amerykah, Part I (4th World War). These days, Hip Hop, rather than Neo Soul, heavily influences Erykah's music. I noticed the inception of this transition on her last CD, World Wide Underground, released back in 1997.

Though I prefer the neo soul Erykah to the wanna-be-rap-star Erykah, the CD is pretty good. Production and beats are decent, crediting 9th Wonder. And of course the lyrics are more metaphoric than literal (Eryah's signature style), and it's also a lot more personal than the other CDs. On this latest CD, Erykah talks about the struggles of being a single mother, her relationships, and being underappreciated as an artist. In the CD jacket, there are photos of the actual drafts she had written for the songs (corrections and all). I suppose she wants listeners to know that she writes all her own music.

If you like hip hop and you're a loyal fan of Erykah, I'd say this is a good buy.

Links:

Erykah on Myspace
ErykahBadu.com
Interview with Erykah about single "Honey"

quote:

Originally posted by Santana St. Cloud:

quote:

Originally posted by HonestBrother:

I buy CDs too. Just not Jackson CDs.

Why the hateration HonestBrother?

I still buy CDs. I've got the J5/Jacksons, and even a couple of Jermaine's CDs, but I don't own a single Janet disc. And I'm not sure why.

Don't get me wrong.

I love J5. I have a lot of that stuff.

But I don't own anything made after Off the Wall.

I saw her standing next to Larry King, on CNN; Larry King had on jeans. Jeans! He was frail, standing next to this very pretty, (maybe) fit black American woman, trying to 'dance'. I could not watch it.

quote:

Originally posted by Rowe:

On Tuesday, February 26th (her birthday), I got Erykah Badu's latest CD, New Amerykah, Part I (4th World War). These days, Hip Hop, rather than Neo Soul, heavily influences Erykah's music. I noticed the inception of this transition on her last CD, World Wide Underground, released back in 1997.

Though I prefer the neo soul Erykah to the wanna-be-rap-star Erykah, the CD is pretty good. Production and beats are decent, crediting 9th Wonder. And of course the lyrics are more metaphoric than literal (Eryah's signature style), and it's also a lot more personal than the other CDs. On this latest CD, Erykah talks about the struggles of being a single mother, her relationships, and being underappreciated as an artist. In the CD jacket, there are photos of the actual drafts she had written for the songs (corrections and all). I suppose she wants listeners to know that she writes all her own music.

If you like hip hop and you're a loyal fan of Erykah, I'd say this is a good buy.

Links:

Erykah on Myspace
ErykahBadu.com
Interview with Erykah about single "Honey"

I'm really digging this album.

But I disagree with the idea that it is hip hop.

It's more like DEEP funk. Updated with some hip hop beats.

The sound is murky and funky.

But it is definitely moving away from the neo-soul sound for which she became known.

And the lyrics are nice.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: HonestBrother,

I'M AN ELITIST TOO.

quote:

Originally posted by MBM:
Anyone heard Janet Jackson's new CD? Thoughts?

I just bought it a few days ago and so far I only like Feedback. Actually, I stopped listening to it at about the half way point. I have to give it another try but it didn't hold my interest initially.

quote:

Originally posted by HonestBrother:
I'm really digging this album.

But I disagree with the idea that it is hip hop.

It's more like DEEP funk. Updated with some hip hop beats.

Absolutely. Soon after posting my review of the album, I thought about the album's intro, which was actually produced by Roy Ayers. So you're right, the album is heavily influenced by the "funk/70's" era. And notice, lately, she's been donning an oversized afro wig, just in case people didn't know what she was about.

quote:

But it is definitely moving away from the neo-soul sound for which she became known.And the lyrics are nice.

Oh my goodness, the lyrics on this CD are so relevant. In fact, I probably should have created a new topic about it, because I'd love to have a discussion about the CD's political content. Erykah is definitely evolving as an artist. In a recent interview, she described herself as a touring artist (who records on the side), but I still miss the neo soul Erykah too.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Rowe,

quote:

Originally posted by Rowe:

quote:

Originally posted by HonestBrother:
I'm really digging this album.

But I disagree with the idea that it is hip hop.

It's more like DEEP funk. Updated with some hip hop beats.

Absolutely. Soon after posting my review of the album, I thought about the album's intro, which was actually produced by Roy Ayers. So you're right, the album is heavily influenced by the "funk/70's" era. And notice, lately, she's been donning an oversized afro wig, just in case people didn't know what she was about.

I also noticed that much of the album was recorded at Electric Lady Studios (built by Jimi Hendrix in 1970). Even the album art reflects that period.

quote:

Oh my goodness, the lyrics on this CD are so relevant. In fact, I probably should have created a new topic about it, because I'd love to have a discussion about the CD's political content.

It's not too late.

I almost never buy CDs anymore, since the advent of I-Tunes. I don't really listen to the i-pod as much, but I-tunes on the PC is always playing. I think it's awesome to be able to have a collection exclusively of songs I like at my fingertips.

And no, I don't download whole albums unless either the whole album sounds good based on the snippets I hear, or unless the artist is one of my favorites. Otherwise, whichever cuts I like, I'll buy them.

I have only listened to brief snippets of Janet's album; I'm not impressed enough to buy it. I downloaded Erykah Badu's album. I haven't delved heavily into the lyrics yet, but I see it's pretty deep, and the music is gritty and funky. I agree with HB on the 70's funk influence. And as for the discussion above about "neo-soul," I guess that's why I need to go back to calling it "alternative R&B." I always saw the two terms as interchangeable, but it's not really. "Neo-soul" connotes a certain limited sound in the minds of most people, and it occurs to me that many of the early examples (from before that "neo-soul" term was coined) probably don't fit that specific sound either. From my perspective, Erykah's new CD fits squarely within the 4-corners of the alt-r&b scene.

quote:

Originally posted by Vox:
I almost never buy CDs anymore, since the advent of I-Tunes. I don't really listen to the i-pod as much, but I-tunes on the PC is always playing. I think it's awesome to be able to have a collection exclusively of songs I like at my fingertips.

And no, I don't download whole albums unless either the whole album sounds good based on the snippets I hear, or unless the artist is one of my favorites. Otherwise, whichever cuts I like, I'll buy them.

I have only listened to brief snippets of Janet's album; I'm not impressed enough to buy it. I downloaded Erykah Badu's album. I haven't delved heavily into the lyrics yet, but I see it's pretty deep, and the music is gritty and funky. I agree with HB on the 70's funk influence. And as for the discussion above about "neo-soul," I guess that's why I need to go back to calling it "alternative R&B." I always saw the two terms as interchangeable, but it's not really. "Neo-soul" connotes a certain limited sound in the minds of most people, and it occurs to me that many of the early examples (from before that "neo-soul" term was coined) probably don't fit that specific sound either. From my perspective, Erykah's new CD fits squarely within the 4-corners of the alt-r&b scene.

Y'all just hatin' on Janet's svelte figure!

quote:

Originally posted by MBM:
Y'all just hatin' on Janet's svelte figure!

I'm a man. So I'm cool with her figure.

But unfortunately I can't listen to it.

quote:

Originally posted by Rowe:
And notice, lately, she's been donning an oversized afro wig, just in case people didn't know what she was about.

She should rock an afro puff like she did as a kid in the 70s.