Janet Jackson - Discipline (2008)

 

Discipline is the tenth studio album by American singer Janet Jackson. It was released on February 22, 2008, by Island Records. It is her only album released with the record label after her five-album deal with Virgin Records was fulfilled with the release of 20 Y.O. (2006). Jackson worked with producers such as Darkchild, Ne-Yo, Shea Taylor, Stargate, Johntá Austin, Jermaine Dupri, Tricky Stewart, and The-Dream on the album. Jackson's long-time producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis did not contribute to the project. The album was executive produced by Island Urban president Dupri and Jackson. The album experimented with the electropop, house, and dance-pop genres and also contained R&B and hip hop-oriented tracks.

The album received generally positive reviews, with critics arguing that it was an improvement on Jackson's two previous albums. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, becoming her sixth to top the chart, and her first number-one album since All for You (2001). However, sales of the album quickly fell, and by June, the album's promotion had officially ended. Jackson started her Rock Witchu Tour—with the support of Live Nation—in early September to positive reviews, but by the end of that month, Jackson parted with her record label due to the album's commercial failure. Four singles were released from the album: the lead single "Feedback" reached number nineteen on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Jackson's best charting single since 2001's "Someone to Call My Lover",^[1] while the following singles–"Rock with U", "Luv" and "Can't B Good"–did not match the success of "Feedback". 

 

In July 2007, it was announced that Jackson had signed a recording contract with Island Records, after her five-album deal with Virgin Records was fulfilled with the release of her album 20 Y.O. Originally, Jackson wanted to go on a tour in support of 20 Y.O. in 2007; however, Island Records executives asked her to record a new album, which would become Discipline, instead.^[2] Jackson stated: "I was supposed to go on tour with the last album [...] We were actually in full-blown tour rehearsals at that point ... learning numbers, getting everything together, set designs [...] I had to kind of shut everything down and go into the studio."^[3]

The album was recorded during a six-month period at locations in Burbank, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Edina, Detroit, New York City, East Orange, Atlantic City, Atlanta and Miami. Jackson worked with producers such as Rodney Jerkins (who produced the lead single "Feedback" alongside D'Mile), Jermaine Dupri, Ne-Yo, Shea Taylor, Stargate, Johntá Austin, Tricky Stewart, and The-Dream. Jackson's long-time producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, did not contribute to the project.^[4] The album was executive produced by Island Urban president Jermaine Dupri and Jackson. She did not write or co-write any songs on the album, a departure from her usual practice of co-writing and producing all of the songs on her albums.^[5] The song "So Much Betta" contains sampled portions of the track "Daftendirekt" by the French house music duo Daft Punk.

 The deluxe edition of Discipline included a DVD entitled The Making of Discipline, split into five chapters which document the production of the album, its promotion, and the "Feedback" music video.^[7] The first chapter, entitled "Photo Shoots", shows Jackson creating a new image for the album and adopting different looks for different markets. She spent two days working on photos for the cover and credit booklet, revealing that she still feels uncomfortable in front of the camera despite two decades in the music industry. In the second chapter, "The Studio", Jackson expressed her opinion on recording work, stating that although she usually enjoyed the experience, it was, at times, tedious. She discusses further how her songs are built up in layers and parts, from melodies and background vocals or sounds.^[8] The third chapter, "Rehearsals", shows the rehearsals of the dance routine for the "Feedback" music video. The DVD reveals that the eight dancers had been practicing for over a week before they started working with Jackson. The dancers then had three days to rehearse with Jackson and a further two days to complete the video. Jackson described the video as a metaphor for sexual tension.^[8] The fourth chapter, "Behind the Video", shows the making of the video itself. Jackson told the director that she wanted a futuristic, moody concept, and he came up with the idea of jumping between planets. The final chapter is the lead music video in its entirety.