Janet (album) - Production

Production

The album was produced at Flyte Tyme studios in Edina, Minnesota. Songs on the album, with the exception of "What'll I Do", were written by Janet Jackson, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and mixed by Steve Hodge and Dave Rideau; "What'll I Do" was written and produced by Jackson and Jellybean Johnson. Jackson took a larger role in songwriting and production than she did on her previous albums. She explained that "ll my records are personal, and janet, is the most personal of them all. That's why this time around it was important for me to write all the lyrics and half of the melodies." Jam described the record as being "a more mature album musically." David Ritz noted that Jackson and her producers took risks by experimenting with musical influences that had not appeared in their previous work. He explained: "She asked Kathleen Battle and Public Enemy's Chuck D to contribute—an opera diva and a hardcore rapper, two artists one would not associate with Janet—and somehow pulled if off. Beyond Jam and Lewis, there's now a recognizable Janet Jackson production style that's gutsy and, in some cases, even eccentric."

"That's The Way Love Goes" contains a sample loop of "Papa Don't Take No Mess" written by James Brown, Fred Wesley, Charles Bobbit, and John Starks. The song "Again", was originally just an experimental sound the production duo was considering. While Jackson found its melody compelling, the trio did not give the song serious contemplation until the film producers from Poetic Justice requested a ballad for the films soundtrack. Jackson subsequently wrote the lyrics for "Again" and shaped them around Jam's melody. The song was arranged by Lee Blaskey and accompanied by members of the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.