Janet Jackson’s Five Best Songs [Opinion]

Janet Jackson just had a baby at 50-years-old and shows no signs of slowing down. Even though her last album, Unbreakable, wasn’t a commercial success, it did receive outstanding reviews. However, none of the songs on Unbreakable made it into this list of Janet’s five best songs. Let’s take a look at those that did:

5. “Black Cat,” (1990)

“Black Cat,” released in 1990, was the sixth release from Janet’s megahit album Rhythm Nation. It proved that not only could Janet dance, but she could rock out as well. The song hit No. 1 in October of 1990 and became the third single from Rhythm Nation to do so.

As Songfacts notes, “Black Cat” made Janet the first artist to earn nominations across Pop, Dance, Rock, Rap, and R&B when it was nominated.

4. “When I Think of You,” (1986)

“When I Think of You” was the third single from Janet’s 1986 breakthrough album Control, and it hit No. 1 in the fall that year. It was written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the two most prolific collaborators of Janet’s career.

According to Songfacts, this hit single and others from Control were originally written for Sharon Bryant, the former lead singer of Atlantic Starr. After Bryant turned them down, Jackson swept them up and had major success.

3. “Come Back to Me”

“Come Back to Me” was Janet’s fifth single from Rhythm Nation, and it’s arguably the best, even if it didn’t hit No. 1. It was the definitive love song of the summer of 1990 — one in which Janet provided her most lush vocals to date. “Come Back to Me” also shows Janet Jackson as a masterful songwriter — something she’s never been given much credit for. The video for the single is also very touching. The remix to the song enhances it, rather than sounding like a different song like so many early 1990s remixes did.

2. “Everytime” (1997)

“Everytime” was a popular album cut from Janet Jackson’s best album to date, The Velvet Rope. It was played a lot in place of the album’s first release, “Got Till It’s Gone,” which was cancelled as a single since it performed poorly at radio. Had it been released as a single when The Velvet Rope first arrived in the fall of 1987, it could have been one of Jackson’s biggest hits to date.

Janet Jackson has never been known to have (technically) a great voice, but “Everytime” proves she can emote like almost no other singer of her generation. The song, which is about taking chances in love and constantly failing, still sounds fresh 20 years after its release.

1. “Together Again” (1998)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfK5QhZ9u7o

One fact that seems to have been lost over the years is that Janet Jackson embraced the gay community in the 1990s when doing so presented a risk to one’s career. Like Madonna, Janet didn’t shy away from her gay fans’ adoration.

One of her greatest contributions to the LGBT community was a moving song about the friends she lost to AIDS. What makes “Together Again” so unique is that it’s not a tear-jerking ballad, but rather a happy dance song that celebrates the victims of AIDS (not in a bad way) rather than morning their loss.

The song hit No. 1 at the end of January in 1998 and stayed there for two weeks. According to Songfacts, Janet Jackson’s label thought the topic of the song was too controversial. But Janet told her bosses that the song was “in her heart,” and 20 years later, it remains in the hearts and playlists of millions of music fans.

[Featured Image by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images]