Being a wife won’t keep Janet Jackson from her other true love: music. After secretly marrying billionaire Wissam Al Mana last year, the 47-year-old has spent the brunt of her time overseas, but in an interview with Billboard she revealed plans sure to excite fans across the globe.
“I am working on a new project,” Jackson said. “We are creating the concept and initial thoughts on the music. I am excited about the direction we are taking.” As for when the music will be released, she said, “I don’t want to rush it … I don’t want to put a time constraint on the creative process.”
The Billboard interview commemorates the 20-year anniversary of her groundbreaking janet. album, which has sold more than seven million copies since its 1993 release. “I can’t believe it is already 20 years!” she said. “I always write my music based on what is going on in my life. I wanted to allow people in … I want my fans to really know me. That janet. album was sexual and I was beginning to really discover that side of me.”
In pulling out a sexier side, Jackson effectively shed any leftover comparisons to brother Michael Jackson’s monstrous career and solidified herself as a pop star in her own right. Two decades later, janet. still strikes a chord with listeners, recently getting a rap makeover by way of Kendrick Lamar’s “Poetic Justice” which samples her single “Anytime, Any Place.” “I love Kendrick’s ‘Poetic Justice.’ There are artists, true performers that have come before me who have been a big inspiration to me. I hope I do the same for others.”
With 10 albums under her belt, and over 100 million records sold, it’s safe to say that she’s more than reached the goal of inspiring others.
Jackson’s last studio release was 2008’s Discipline, followed by two compilation albums, the last of which, Icon: Number Ones, dropped in 2010.