C'mon baby, let's get away: Janet Jackson.It is not much of an exaggeration to call Janet Jackson, who performs Saturday night at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, the direct forerunner of most current female pop stars.
The techno-soul hybrid she pioneered in the ’80s (and the conflation of transgression, liberation and desire at the heart of much her writing) is now the sound of the commercial airwaves. Rihanna, Britney Spears, Keri Hilson, Ashanti — they’ve all followed in Jackson’s stiletto-heeled footsteps.
Still, it has been awhile since she has had a Top 10 hit. Part of that is her own doing, and the inevitable result of the inward turn her writing has taken. After topping the Billboard charts 10 times in the ’80s and ’90s with songs such as “Miss You Much” and “Love Will Never Do (Without You),” Jackson turned her attention to more personal and intimate subject matter. Her interest in sexual exploration — always a recurring theme in her music — began to dominate her albums, and her production grew more adventurous, electronic and indebted to offbeat hip-hop.
But it also became increasingly clear that her label didn’t know how to handle her. “Discipline,” her inspired 2008 release, hardly got any promotional push.
“I try never to have regrets,” says Jackson, 45, in an e-mail interview. “I’m very happy with my career and what I’ve been able to accomplish. But I still have much more that I want to do.”
Jackson is one of the most successful recording artists in the history of popular music. It’s hard to imagine a record company not putting more muscle behind a new set by a male artist who had cast a similar shadow over popular culture.
“I think there is an element of truth to that,” says Jackson. “But I also think that the music business is changing a lot right now. The record companies are looking for new means of promoting artists, especially since it has become more common for artists to do things for themselves.”
Jackson parted ways with her imprint shortly after the release of “Discipline,” instigating the break herself. She was looking to the future — toward new ways of reaching her massive audience through digital channels. It is likely that she will retain more control over her next studio set.
Yet this summer, she is looking back. Her recent concerts have been reminders of just how many hits are in that golden songbook of hers. She’s touring in support of “Number Ones,” a compilation of her most popular material. That means 15 songs from “Control,” “Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814” and “janet.,” the three mid-’80s albums that made her an international star, and virtually nothing from “Discipline” and other recent sets.
Jackson doesn’t mind taking the time to re-engage with her prior work.
“I love singing all of my songs,” she says. “The meanings of the old songs don’t change, but my outlook on life has. When I sing my older material, it takes me back to what was going on in my life then. I don’t keep a diary, so this is as close to one as I get.”
It’s not lost on Jackson that these songs have a particular meaning for those who grew up in the ’80s. She has subtitled her tour “up close and personal” and has made good on that promise by taking it to amphitheaters and smaller venues.
“I had always performed in arenas. I was doing a private date at Radio City Music Hall, which is a much more intimate venue. All I could think was this was how I wanted to do my next tour. I can look out at all the faces in the audience. That gives me so much energy.”
She’s after that kind of intimacy because she always has been an artist with a message to deliver. Sometimes it’s been an autobiographical one — about her life, her desires, her fantasies. Even when her music has been sexually explicit, she has linked her libido to self-definition: The erotic is always political for her.
She was one of the few pop stars of the ’80s to consistently address current events in her songs: social justice and discrimination, gender equality and street harassment. The tracks on “Rhythm Nation” suggested that love and sex might set us free, and even if they didn’t, we’d have a much better time on the dance floor if we followed our instincts.
"Music is always changing but I think you still hear songs about social issues," says Jackson. "I think we have made progress since the '80s, but we still have a long way to go."
Janet Jackson
Where: PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel
When: Saturday at 9 p.m.
How much: $25 to $250; call (800) 745-3000 or visit ticketmaster.com.