Ayanna Dozier

This book gave me a new insight into what Janet Jackson was going through when she created “The Velvet Rope”. There was a lot of suffering and emotional turmoil for Janet while making this album. But, by making it out of that dark time and pouring her soul into her art, she was able to create “The Velvet Rope”.

Dozier does a great job of interspersing Black feminist concepts with discussion of the creative process behind the album. After creating janet., Jackson moved on from her former image as a cleaner cut pop star to a more erotic image. Dozier explores the context around how black women have historically been sexualized in very specific ways by society. Venture out of that bubble, and society immediately tries to box you back in. This is seen most starkly in the comparison of male vs female reviewers of the album. Men saw the album as boring and thought Janet manufactured her pain to sell records; many women were similar but the only reviewers who understood the point were women. We still have a long way to go as a society, but we can help get there by learning from books like this one.

I recommend this book.… (altro)

Janet Jackson's The Velvet Rope by Ayanna Dozier is an excellent addition to the 33 1/3 series. The combination of the author's personal history, contextualizing the album both historically and theoretically, and a rundown of the tracks make this a book that should appeal to a wide range of readers.

This album has proven to be very influential, especially for people for whom this was one of the first Jackson albums they can clearly remember. Dozier, if my understanding is correct, was 7 or 8 when it came out so the album has a larger impact on her than, say, Control or Rhythm Nation (previous albums that signaled Jackson breaking free from familial constraints and making important social commentary), which had a larger impact for older listeners. For those listeners, such as myself, The Velvet Rope was another step on the path, not a beginning of a new path.

As an aside, I love when a book mentions another book that I have recently read and makes me go back and reread it, or in this case part of it. Dozier mentions On Racial Icons from Nicole R Fleetwood, another book I highly recommend, which made me go back and reread the chapter centered on Diana Ross. I did also pull a couple other books off my shelves and looked some things up (Collins, Lorde, Berger, hooks, Walker) so this was a particularly rich read for me.

I highly recommend this to fans of Janet Jackson as well as readers who like to explore the intersection of popular culture with political and social commentary/justice.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (altro)