Rhythm Nation 1814

pitchfork

After her 1986 album Control and its assertion of her identity as an artist, Janet Jackson was thinking big. Rhythm Nation 1814 is a thrilling mix of social messaging and dancefloor pleasure.

rollingstone

Janet Jackson's last album opened with a declaration of independence: "This is a story about control," she announced. "My control." Three years later, her follow-up casts a wider net, moving from personal freedom to more universal concerns — injustice, illiteracy, crime, drugs — without missing a beat. Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation (a title that puts […]