Janet Jackson Goes Behind ‘The Velvet Rope’ Again, Joins Reissue Party

On its reappearance, the album topped the US Apple iTunes store's R&B/Soul top sellers.

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Janet Jackson's 25th anniversary release on Friday (7) of a new, augmented version of her landmark album The Velvet Rope has seen the 1997 set jump back into the iTunes charts, as the artist joined the celebrations with a surprise appearance at a party to mark the reissue in London.

Shop the best of Janet Jackson's discography on vinyl and more.

On its Friday reissue the album topped the US Apple iTunes store's R&B/Soul top sellers, and at writing is in the Top 5 in the UK store's equivalent listing. The new edition of the album features ten bonus tracks, all making their debut on streaming platforms and including collectable B-sides and remixes such as "Accept Me" and "God's Stepchild."

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Numerous remixes, only previously available on CD singles, are also in the package, including Teddy Riley's TNT Remix of "I Get Lonely" featuring BLACKstreet, and Timbaland and Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott's "Go Deep" mix. Club mixes by David Morales & Frankie Knuckles, Masters at Work, Tony Moran, Jason Nevins, and Tony Humphries are also included.

Speaking at the launch event about the making of The Velvet Rope, Jackson said: "This album is so, so close to me." t was, I would say, out of all the albums that I’ve created, and especially with Jimmy [Jam] and Terry [Lewis], it was the most difficult…album for me to create." Jam himself joined the party via a live link.

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"I was going through so much in my life," Jackson went on, "and it was so deep, in trying to find and figure out who I am, where I stand. And at the end of the day, like I did with the other albums, just putting it down, never keeping a journal. I’m sure a lot of you already know this. And I didn't know if my fans would like it.

"I guess one of the best moments of my life connected to this album [was on] the day that it was released," she went on. "I was on the 405 freeway, and I was in traffic, I was headed toward the Valley, coming from Malibu, and someone honked their horn. Now by then, at that time, we had CDs.

"And this person kept honking their horn and I happened to look over, and there was a girl in the car, and she held up The Velvet Rope CD. And she smiled at me and she just nodded. It made me feel so good. That was the first person to acknowledge to me that, ‘Yeah, you did somethin’ that I really do appreciate.’ And 25 years later, it being No. 1, again?"

In June, Jackson spoke to Essence about Black Diamond, the new album project that she announced immediately pre-lockdown in 2020. "It's so funny because I see the fans asking, ‘When are we going to get ‘Black Diamond’?’ ‘Will you please release?,’" she said. "There will be music at some point. Exactly when? I can't say just yet…my number one job is being a mama."

Buy or stream Janet Jackson's 25th anniversary edition of The Velvet Rope.

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