The Velvet Rope

The Velvet Rope is the 1997 album released by pop superstar Janet Jackson. The album came after a four year gap from her previous release janet. Surrounded by controversy it found Jackson expounding on the implied sexuality of the previous record by incorperating sexually explicit themes, photography and conversation dialogue into the record.

Related Topics:
1997 - Pop - Janet Jackson - Janet.

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The album is often remembered by the general public more for the photography and music videos accompanying it than for the music therein. The liner notes to the album contain photos of Jackson in various states of undress sporting tattoos around her panty line and various body piercings including a nipple ring that she frequently wore through her clothing. The ring was exposed in the music video to the album's second and most successful single, "Together Again," causing MTV to blur it out. (It is ironic to note that much hooplah was made of this same nipple being exposed years later.)

Related Topics:
Liner notes - Body piercings

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Within the context of the album Jackson lyrically flirts with sadomasochistic sex (AKA S&M,) lesbianism and bisexuality, casual sex, bondage, phone sex and other sexual themes. These acts are also depicted in booklet photos, including pictures of Jackson blindfolded or with her hands tied behind her back while laying on a bed. The album's title, then, has a triple meaning; it references the rope used to hold back fans when a celebrity is present, which to Jackson was also a metaphor for an individual's need to feel special by putting oneself in a private place. It also refers to rope used during bondage.

Related Topics:
Sadomasochistic - S&M - Lesbianism - Bisexuality - Casual sex - Bondage - Phone sex

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Jackson made various media appearances where she frequently talked about her personal life and sexual exploration (and piercings,) but rarely talked about the content of the album. The album did not do as well as her previous effort, critically or financially. The debut single "Got 'Til It's Gone" featured a sample from the Joni Mitchell song "Big Yellow Taxi," and was a radio success but not a hit. The video for the song featured Jackson portraying a Harlem singer in a Cotton Club style venue. The song also featured vocals by rapper Q-Tip.

Related Topics:
Joni Mitchell - Harlem - Cotton Club - Q-Tip

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The second single, "Together Again," was a huge dance club and radio hit. It was a disco and house music tribute to Jackson's gay friends who had died from complications with AIDS. The album cover featured Jackson with a greatly exaggerated Africanus hairstyle; on the back was a red ribbon with a pin through it. The success of the song inspired Jackson to release a single featuring various versions of the track; unlike normal remixes, these were actual re-recordings with totally different musical styles and alternate vocals.

Related Topics:
Disco - House music - AIDS - Africanus - Red ribbon - Remixes

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The single, "I Get Lonely" landed at #3 securing another hit for Jackson.

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Other singles from the album included "Go Deep," "Everytime,". None were major chart successes. Notable tracks include: "Tonight's the Night," a Rod Stewart cover which, when performed by Jackson, took on lesbian undertones; "Free Xone," a song about a homosexual man attacked by a co-passenger on an airplane; and "Velvet Rope," which featured a violin solo by acclaimed classical violinist Vanessa Mae.

Related Topics:
Rod Stewart - Vanessa Mae

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Like many of Jackson's albums, the album is filled with non-musical interludes that often have little or nothing to do with the music. One interlude in particular earned a great deal of note from conservative groups. In the brief track "Speaker Phone," Jackson (presumably simulates) a phone sex chat with a female. Towards the end of the track she moans, prompting her partner to comment "Yo' coochie's gon' swell up and fall apart!" This was picked apart by media, particularly comedienne Sandra Bernhard who quipped in her one woman show "I thought I said some crazy shit, but Miss Jackson...you so Nasty!"

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A coinciding tour called "The Velvet Rope Tour" covered the globe in promotion of the album.

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