The Velvet Rope (Music For A Broken Fox)

Janet_Jackson-The_Velvet_Rope-Interior_Frontalso you know how i was listening to ( x “the diary of alicia keys” ) on repeat?
well after one of my readers suggested i listen to “the velvet rope”

none other by janet,
and i have been all about that album ever since.
this album is “me”.
i relate to it on another kind of level.
it has been my therapy for really moving on from that job wolf,
the fuck shit at this job,
and helping in my soul searching.
i don’t think an album has related with me as much as this.
ive listened to it before,
but like i said,
i wasn’t meant to receive the message at that time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghp7xqH7Tvk

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

“i heaaarrrddddd…
i heard that you was on the beach…”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxHbIoo3_xU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5fvwbXEnYE

and my all time favorite janet song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A54-cN_yU8I

persons-0024that song is on my “life” soundtrack.
i swear it is.
of course i went sniffin’ around the background process of this album.
i love doing that so i can get an idea where the artist was mentally/emotionally.
( x read the entire background here )
everything she has battled making this album,
i have also gone through/going through the same emotions/experiences.
janet has me feeling like i want to “re-invent” listening to this.
does anyone else love this album as i am?

lowkey: why do all the michael jackson stans hate janet?
did i miss the memo?

21 thoughts on “The Velvet Rope (Music For A Broken Fox)

  1. You know Jamari, Madonna’s Ray of Light too a while to grow on me. I used to work part-time in a music store when that song came out, and one of my co-workers would play it anytime he worked. I didn’t like it initially, but it grew on me. My favorite track from that album is Nothing Really Matters, which is a song about accepting growing up and accepting your responsibilities. At least that’s the message I took from it (lol), because at the time she had recently become a mom for the first time and realized a lot of her actions had consequences, and for the sake of her child she had to change (although mot much).

  2. This is definitely my favorite Janet album. I can listen to this album from start to finish without question!

    For me though, my “on repeat” album has been Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black for a long time. The tracks that speak to me the most are “Just Friends”, “Love is a Losing Game” and “Wake Up Alone”. The lyrics on those three tracks were/still are so relevant for me and made me realize how amazing Amy was as a songwriter! I even remember watching a Youtube clip of her singing “Love is a Losing Game”, and Amy started tearing up at one point while she was singing. Although it’s a sad song, it was refreshing to see her get so emotional.

    The anniversary of her death is the same date as my mom’s birthday so it’s a bittersweet day each year. I might have been in the minority, but I was really hopeful that Amy would sober up and release an epic follow up to Back to Black.

  3. I love Janet!!! I feel like we grew up together. She is like my little sister in my head. Okay, don’t judge me! Janet should do a Beyonce and just drop an album on iTunes!! The world would freak out, because she has been out of the lime light for way too long!! And we would buy it like crazy!! I’m ready for some new music from her!!!

  4. This is one of the best albums in music history and one of the best albums of her career in my opinion. And I’m not just saying that because I’m a fan. Velvet Rope has been on my life soundtrack for a while now.

  5. Great selection Jamari. I’ve had this album / CD since 97 I was 13 . I knew this was a deep album then. Always been a fan. Definitely Jan at her best artistically. Very healing album. I appreciate it more as I get older

  6. I see ya’ll Janet stans in here lol.

    She’s a little before my time so I’ve never bought or listened to a whole album, but I like a lot of her songs.

  7. Yay! Glad you liked it! From reading your past posts and what not I figured that this album would speak to you. Like you, I heard it as a child and didn’t really think much of it, but I went through a deep depression after a horrible break up and it definitely got me through it. I related to so much of it because being gay and not having anyone to talk to, my escapism was music, and songs like “Free Xone” where she celebrates homosexual awareness and “Tonight’s the Night” where she speaks about same sex love making, and “Special” made me realize that being who I am is perfectly fine. Those songs, along with the ones you posted, helped me deal with so much shit in my life. I still listen to it this day when I’m not feeling my best. It always snaps me right back to where I need to be. “My Need” is my shit too lol!

    And the theme of the janet. album is all about love…the ups and downs of love.

    1. ^thank you so much jays for suggesting it!

      this album literally said on “repeat album” this whole week.
      and it will be next week.
      for some reason,
      “empty” was touching to me.
      the whole album made me feel comfortable during the fire I have been dealing with.
      I was going through a few insecurities as well.
      the fact she addressed them in certain songs was healing enough.

      I love when artists put their pain in their work.
      when we need an escape,
      we can go to their music.
      rihanna’s “rated r” took the same concept as “velvet rope”.

      this is why I do it in my writing.
      everything isn’t always going to be sweet.

      since im not “in love” right now,
      I don’t think the janet album will be for me yet.

      1. I know this may not be a popular one,
        but madonna’s “ray of light” was also a healing album.
        it seems like she found herself on that one.

      2. Yes for Empty! She was way before her time with that one. She was singing about online dating, and being gay, that’s how most of our relationships start. Everything she describes in it, I’ve felt while online chatting with someone. And yea, hold off on janet. for now…when you find the right wolf…press play on it and let go and let God lol!

        1. ^yup!
          she was in 2014 when she made that song.

          i know ill get it” when I finally meet a wolf and listen to that album.
          that’s what I like about music.
          some albums don’t make sense until…

  8. Beast album. They should like Janet. Shit her and Michael share some similarities vocally and with stage mannerisms. You was about Michael.

  9. I LOVE this album. I agree…it’s very therapeutic. I miss this Janet. But you really can’t replicate perfection and that’s what this album is. It is at the very top of my list of favorites…only behind Mary J. Blige’s “My Life”. Now that album is the truth and I doubt there will ever be another album made in my lifetime that speaks to me like this one does.

    1. ShoYaRight…this is another great album of hers. I love this one, but not as much as her Janet. disc! That one spoke more to me than The Velvet Rope, but I love this CD as well.
      For many artists, there will always be that one CD that is their “defining moment” as an artist. That one album that speaks to fans on many levels at a given moment in their lives. I think The Velvet Rope was that CD for Janet, although it faced a lot of backlash on the topics she approached.

      1. Yes, Christian… I LOVE the Janet album as well. It actually was the album that turned me into a major fan of hers. She really took the world by storm with “Again”, “Anytime, Anyplace”, “That’s The Way Love Goes” and we can never forget about “If”! She was on fire. I really loved, “Because of Love”. It’s so sweet, carefree and timeless. That was my joint. And miss THROB still goes deep. She was so ahead of the times!!! There are a few songs on there that are just okay for me so that’s my only complaint about it, but overall it is a very solid and great album.

        I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY love the “All For You” album though. It’s deep but it’s also fun. I can play it all the way through. Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis and Janet really gave us a great pop album here. I love playing it whenever I’m getting ready to go out or during the gym. It was a little slept on though. I think it really should have gotten more sales and recognition.

  10. Velvet Rope was Janet at her best creatively
    I didn’t know that Michael fans didn’t like Janet
    Her fans loves him, I never heard that.
    What about, I get lonely, Together Again, ROPE BURN! are my favs

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