We have to give credit where credit is due: if it were not for ’80s R&B, the ’90s wouldn’t have reach it’s pinnacle. It were albums such as Janet Jackson and Bobby Brown’s Control and Don’t Be Cruel, respectively, played the role of Magic Johnson. Those are the two albums I would like to talk about.
Many may not know or simply forgotten about Janet’s first 2 albums — Janet Jackson and Dream Street — which did little to build a solid fanbase. However, that would all change when she linked up with super producers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to record her ’86 release, Control.
[Tune In To HipHop-Album-Debate, “The Podcast” Every Tuesday and Friday!]
Janet went in a different direction in terms of guidance by stepping from the shadows of her father/manager, Joe Jackson. She made reference on the title-track.
“When I was 17, I did what people told me,” Janet sings. “Did what my father said, and let my mother mold me. But that was long ago — I’m in Control.”
Other memorable songs from the album; “The Pleasure Principle,” “What Have You Done for Me Lately,” “When I Think of You,” “Let’s Wait Awhile,” and “Funny How Times Flies (When You’re Having Fun).”
Control atop both the US Billboard 200 and US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. It was certified 5X Platinum.
Bobby’s Don’t Be Cruel dropped two years later. Like Janet, this wasn’t Bob’s first rodeo as a soloist. Though he found success as a member of New Edition, King of Stage, his debut, showed little signs that he could stand on his own ten toes. Again, like Janet, he reached out to a super producer–duo in Babyface and L.A. Reid — in addition to Teddy Riley — for a new sound and direction.
Bob marched to the beat of his own drum. He let it be known in “My Prerogative.”
“Everybody’s talkin’ all this stuff about me,” Bobby sings. “Why don’t they just let me live? I don’t need permission, make my own decisions. That’s my prerogative.”
Bobby would use the New Jack Swing style of production for singles such as the title-track and “Every Little Step.”
Though New Jack Swing was the main component, there were memorable slow cuts such as “Roni” and “Rock Wit’cha.”
Like Control, Don’t Be Cruel atop both the US Billboard 200 and US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. It was certified 7X Platinum.
We have two albums — Control and Don’t Be Cruel, which again, if were not for their success, among others, ’90s R&B wouldn’t have been what it become.
Janet Jackson’s ‘Control’ or Bobby Brown’s ‘Don’t Be Cruel’?
[Polls Are Closed!]
Janet Jackson – Control – 60%
Bobby Brown – Don’t Be Cruel – 40%