Damita Jo is the eighth studio album by American singer Janet Jackson. EMI Music Japan released it first in Japan on March 22, 2004, before its release in Europe by EMI a week later. It was released in the United States by Virgin Records on March 30, 2004. Jackson began work on the album in August 2002, after finishing the All for You Tour, and continued until February 2004, with help from a wide range of producers including Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Dallas Austin, Kanye West, and Scott Storch, in addition to Jackson's longtime collaborators, duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Titled after Jackson's middle name, Damita Jo is an R&B, pop and hip-hop album that explores themes of love and romance.
Damita Jo debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200. To promote it, three singles were released: "Just a Little While", "I Want You" and "All Nite (Don't Stop)", while "R&B Junkie" was issued as a promotional single. Damita Jo received mixed reviews from music critics, who praised its production but were dismissive of its excessive sexual content and its overlong duration. It was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Album, while "I Want You" received a nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards. The album sold three million copies worldwide.
Jackson's performance at the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show prior to the album's release, which ended in her breast being controversially exposed by surprise guest Justin Timberlake, had a major effect on the album's commercial performance. Conglomerates involved with the broadcast who received massive fines from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), including Viacom and subsidiaries CBS, MTV and Infinity Broadcasting, enforced a blacklist of Jackson's singles and music videos, although Timberlake remained unaffected. The blacklisting drew controversy amongst critics, who declared the album and its singles to likely have been commercially successful had the incident not occurred.
Background and development In April 2001, Jackson released her seventh studio album All for You. It saw the singer working with new producers for the first time since Control (1986) while maintaining her partnership with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. It debuted at number one in the United States, selling 605,128 copies on its first week, and had sold 3.1 million copies across the country as of September 2009, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Its title track became the first song by a female artist in the decade to reach number one in the United States, where it remained for seven weeks, becoming her second-longest single to stay at the top. All for You received three nominations at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards, eventually winning Best Dance Recording for the title track. Following the album's release, Jackson embarked on the All for You Tour, which grossed over US$40 million in ticket sales.
Upon completion of the tour in 2002, Jackson started recording a new album. Her longtime collaborator, Jimmy Jam, stated that they "talked about a million different possible things to do and finally decided to do a brand-new album", as the singer was "itching to get back in the studio", hoping to release it in early 2003. As Jackson completed work on the album, she was featured as a performer on the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show, which took place on February 1, 2004, in Houston. At the end of the performance, guest artist Justin Timberlake pulled off a part of Jackson's costume, which accidentally exposed her right breast. Although the costume tear was orchestrated, her breast's exposure was not the intended result. However, the singer suffered backlash from the media; a 2004 Associated Press report speculated that the incident was a publicity stunt for her then-upcoming album.
Writing and recording
Recording sessions for Damita Jo lasted for a total of 18 months, the longest Jackson had spent recording an album. Jackson began work on the record in August 2002, reuniting with Jam and Lewis for initial writing sessions, and concluded in February 2004. During its initial sessions, Jam described its musical direction as "all over the place", from Jackson's usual house songs to "guitar-flavored things", as well as some having "a definite sort of ambient quality to them". He clarified that was not a clear direction at that moment; they would write songs and see what they liked or not, as part of the discovery process. He also revealed that they had been listening to Zero 7 and Télépopmusik during the process – the latter produced an interlude for the album.
The record saw Jackson teaming up with several new producers, among them Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Kanye West, Dallas Austin, Scott Storch, and duo Bag & Arnthor, consisting of Anders Bagge and Arnthor Birgisson, in addition to Jam and Lewis. Sessions with West took place in October 2003; he described their work together as "unbelievable". Austin worked with Jackson in Atlanta from late 2003 until early 2004 before deciding which songs would make the final cut. He considered it "easily the most sexy thing she's done" and that it was "her Dirty Mind". He also described it as a "really sexy record, but not in a sensual way. It's bold, it's fun, it's really positive. Nobody's sad, nobody's mad. It's just really fun songs where she happens to be talking frankly about sex". From his point of view, it was also "one of the best records she's made". Songwriter Sean Garrett described being "starstruck", calling the session an essential part of his early career. "I thought working with Janet would change my life and it definitely did. The record put another big name on my list, but that was a really cool experience".
Several collaborations were considered during the album's recording sessions. Jam discussed potentially writing a duet with Timberlake for the album in its initial stages, but never came to fruition. Additionally, collaborations with Richard X and Basement Jaxx were announced, although they did not happen. Sessions with Daniel Bedingfield, Mario Winans, and Diddy were also planned but did not take place. Other sessions with producers such as duo Dre & Vidal and 7 Aurelius took place, with the former revealing that he and Jackson had made "cutting edge, hard-hitting dance music" for Damita Jo. However, the tracks did not appear on the final product.
Like her previous releases, the concept for Damita Jo was influenced by Jackson's life and feelings at the time. Jam stated, "Her albums are always what she's thinking at the moment. [...] Her thoughts may change six months from now. Her biggest thing is to be honest with her fans. Whatever stuff she wants to talk about, it's coming from her heart". The singer confessed that she was "divulging myself a little more on this album, and it's definitely much more intimate. That's another side of myself that people have seen, but not to this level". Comparing the process of producing to directing, Jackson searched for "sensitive people who can technically express what I'm going through emotionally" when seeking new collaborators. The singer considered writing a song about the incident at her Super Bowl performance to express her concerns, as nearly seven songs had not been completed by that point.
Composition Themes
Damita Jos lyrical content is divided between themes of love and romance, discussing lust and monogamous intimacy. An underlying theme of alternate personalities is explored, with Jackson's substitute personae "Damita Jo" and "Strawberry" appearing on several songs. Jackson explained that the record shows different characters of her personality which she displays at different moments in her life, as well as a "more private side" to her. Spliced between several songs are "mystifying" interludes, in which the singer attempts to intimately communicate her inner thoughts with the listener. Commenting on the album's themes, Jackson said:
"If there's any obsession at all, it's this culture's demand that we be sexually categorized as either gay, straight or bi. [...] I do think they oversimplify sexuality. If we accept those categories, we feel constrained to choose. But the categories are artificial and often arbitrary. We aren't one thing but many things. We're everything at once. At different times in our life – at different times in the course of a single day – we respond in different ways. The common denominator shouldn't be sexual preference. It should be love. I like to think Damita Jo is all about love".
Alternate identities presented include "Damita Jo", an aggressive persona mentioned during the album's title track and "Sexhibition", as well as "Strawberry", a lascivious performer who emerges on "Strawberry Bounce". Speaking about the personae, Jackson said, "She's another way to express and expose a deeper part of me". She detailed their personalities, revealing that Damita Jo was a lot harsher and "quick to put you in your place", whereas Strawberry was the most sexual of them all and the wildest one. Rob Tannenbaum wrote in an article for Blender that the latter identity represents "a time when she doesn't need to be the polite, professional Janet, and can turn into raw, unrestrained Strawberry". Jackson added, "It's not an everyday indulgence. Not even every week. But every now and then I like playing around in that mode." She further said that the characters "absolutely" live inside of her, and "it feels wonderful" to release them. Following the incident at the Super Bowl halftime show, Jackson was urged to remove or tone down the suggestive lyrics of several songs but resisted pressure to do so. "A lot of people had concerns and wanted me to take certain songs off the album, but I refused, because in doing so I wouldn't be who I am. I'm not going to change, and that's fine. Either they like it, or they don't", she stated.
Music and lyrics The album's opening monologue, "Looking for Love", serves as a prelude to the album's content of romance and passion. Jackson deciphers society's unification within the desire for affection in a breathy tone over a spatial and "dreamy" electronic backing: "So many different characters live within us – all looking for love". The second song, "Damita Jo", is composed of hip-hop and brittle funk. The instrumentation includes bells, cat calls, and rap inflected scratches, with "shyly sexual" vocals. Thematically, the singer describes her alter persona as being "Sexy, quiet / Shy but down for a good time" but also asserting that "There's another side, that I don't hide, but might never show". Next track "Sexhibition" is an electro-infused funk song composed of "cleverly crafted" verbal puns, delivered with "saucy assertiveness". The song opens with rattling tablas and stuttering guitars. In the lyrics, Jackson again sings from the point of view of "Damita Jo", in "intermittent vocal bubbles" to discuss the pleasures she intends to provide; she states "Relax, it's just sex", at the song's closing.