Virgin
Urban Contemporary, 2004

Hindsight is everything, but after listening to Damita Jo, I can imagine why Janet Jackson feels the need to bare her ugly nipple clamp on TV in a stunt collaboration with a whiny, McDonald’s-loving wannabe who rips off her brother’s repertoire. This CD is utterly dull. Even the best tunes here – such as the really rude Moist – are watered down versions of her better hits in the past. Doesn’t Just a Little While sound like some inferior two-bit rip-off of Escapade?

The problem with this CD is that Ms Jackson is caught in a time warp, it seems. The materials on Damita Jo come off like reject materials from her last two CDs cobbled together to give Ms Jackson some pocket money this year. From the tired interludes to her still going on and on about her sexual soul-searching – it’s been almost ten years since the world realize that she loves sex, so isn’t it time for something new? – Damita Jo is a CD equivalent of a washed-out shadow of a former star trying desperately to cling on to her past.

Even her “shocking” lyrics are laughable rather than erotic.

Janet Jackson and her production crew play it too safe with this CD. The really dated sound starts to show wear and tear all over Damita Jo – it is nothing more than hollow echoes of better music her Jackson’s older CDs. In fact, the listener is better off dusting Rhythm Nation 1814 or janet from their CD collection instead of spending money on a CD that is nothing more than recycled formulaic songs.

If Janet Jackson wants to compete or at least keep up with her contemporaries like Beyoncé, she needs a fresher and more updated sound. As it is, she chooses to be an empress with no clothes on her latest CD, but the thing is, she really is the empress with no clothes, if you know what I mean.