The song "Escapade" basically introduced me to Janet Jackson in the spring of 1990, and if you want a specific sign to identify the start of my enthusiasm for the youngest of the famous Jackson clan, look no further. If you need more solid evidence to explain my infatuation, however, I completely understand your hunger for something a bit more meaty and substantial. Because, let's face it, no matter how powerful and symbolic, a single cannot justify a life-long, pop-culture love affair. With over 25 years and counting, there has to be more than a simple song to warrant my unending support of Janet. So, ladies and gentlemen of the non-existent jury, I present to you Exhibit B, Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814.
I could ramble on about the album's numerous accolades and achievements, like how it became the biggest-selling album of 1990. Or how it has sold more than twelve million copies worldwide since then. Or how it earned Jackson the distinction of being the first woman ever nominated for a Producer of the Year Grammy. Or how it remains the only album ever to have seven commercial singles reach the top five on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. Or how it produced three number one hits over the span of three consecutive years, 1989-1991, and endures as the only album to have accomplished that. Or how the Rhythm Nation World Tour 1990 became the most successful debut concert by a recording artist. I could ramble on about all those things, but I won't. Instead, I'll tell you how the album was the second CD I ever purchased (after World Clique), but the first cassette tape I replaced after getting my first CD player. And how "Escapade" lured me to the album, but the title track, "Miss You Much," "Alright," "Black Cat," and "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" quickly established Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 as one of my early all-time favorites. And how "Rhythm Nation," "State of the World," "The Knowledge," and "Livin' in a World (They Didn't Make)" helped open my eyes to the social injustices faced by many people, particularly children, around the world. And how, at the age of thirteen, it therefore taught me the meaning of privilege, white and otherwise. And how I subsequently used lyrics from two different interludes to start off a paper written in my 11th grade social studies class, the first being: "We are in a race between education and catastrophe." The second stating: "In complete darkness, we are all the same. It is only our knowledge and wisdom that separates us. Don't let your eyes deceive you." And how these songs and interludes prove every bit as true and important today as they did when Jackson released the album in 1989. And how I whole-heartedly believed the album's opening words, "We are a nation with no geographic boundaries, bound together by our beliefs. We are like-minded individuals, pushing toward a world rid of color lines." And how I still believe those lines today and with every fiber of my being, perhaps more than ever before. So, if The Velvet Rope helped me to better see myself, Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 helped me to better see the world.
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I am a self-proclaimed pop culture geek and list enthusiast who is celebrating the big four-zero by counting down the most important, influential, and favorite music, movies, television shows, books, and video games of my life so far. Categories
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