Welcome to Ear 2 Da Sky! Each week, I will be going over topics within music culture and reviewing albums and EPs across genres, eras and artists that are submitted by readers like you, and listeners of my radio show, ear 2 da ground, every Wednesday at 11 p.m. on WHUS 91.7 FM! This week, I took the time to listen to Janet Jackson’s “All For You.”
After nine years into her solo career, “All For You” is Jackson’s seventh studio album. Released on April 16, 2001, it has a hefty 20 songs and clocks in at an hour and 13 minutes. She explores themes such as love, passion, sex and ultimately sexual liberation through her lyrics and skits throughout the album. The project was released through Jackson’s record label at the time, which was — ironically — Virgin Records.
A lot of the liberation and release in this album stems from Jackson going through a divorce with her then husband at the time, René Elizondo Jr. Throughout this whole project, you’ll see her go through a form of manifestation, in the way that from front to back, “All For You” is an upbeat and fun sounding album as she looks to rid the negativity from the divorce and move forward to the future.
Track three is the album’s namesake: “All For You.” She writes from her experiences as a newly divorced and single woman in the club, finding excitement in this new chapter in her life. You can hear this excitement in the opening line “All my girls at the party, look at that body / Shakin’ that thing like you never did see / Got a nice package alright / Guess I’m gonna have to ride it tonight.”
She gets on the chorus proclaiming over and over that “It’s all for you,” giving those at the club the go ahead, only if they are willing to put the work in. “All For You” is a very fun, upbeat and catchy song that you won’t really get sick of hearing. The song had sat atop the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks and won Best Dance Recording at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards.
“Love Scene (Ooh Baby)” is the eighth track off the album. Jackson ebbs and flows over the instrumental, singing about her physical longing for her lover. Her ability to create a chorus that is so simple but so incredibly catchy is underappreciated. Maybe it’s genetics. She describes in detail her fantasies of how impassioned she is by this unnamed lover. She lets the instrumental play out as you can hear her faint breaths interjected with the chorus, before rain overwhelms the track. It seamlessly transitions into “Would You Mind.”
I see this song as a matured version of “Love Scene (Ooh Baby).” Jackson is much more upfront about her desires in comparison, as if she has found more confidence in the time in between. In full transparency, I am struggling to find the words to describe this song that would be appropriate for the paper. Because she does just kind of moan and mimic an orgasm for the last minute of the song, but it is for art’s sake so I’m not discounting that.
But the Singaporean government must have thought the same, because this song, as well as the rest of this album, were banned in the country due to how explicit its content was.
With recent cultural resurgence due to the internet, track 16 is “Someone To Call My Lover.” It’s an upbeat, bright and carefree dance-pop song that pulls back the curtains to Jackson’s romantic life amidst her divorce. “Back on the road again, feeling kinda lonely / And looking for the right guy who’d be mine.”
She admits that she’s aware of how easily romantic she is, yet she also reflects that one of the symptoms of her inclination to love is often the one-sided commitment. This ultimately leaves her questioning whether or not she should change that.
Janet Jackson’s “All For You” is an extremely fun listen even with the moaning (it might even add to the fun if you’re into it). But in all seriousness, you can really feel that this album was crafted to be a fun, sanguine and bubbly experience. There is no point where the sound felt “forced.” Jackson created a window into her mind with the help of an extensive list of musicians and called it “All For You.”
Rating: 5/5
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