If (Janet Jackson Song) - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

Critics favourably considered "If" as a sultry and sexually explicit song. Nicholas Jennings of Maclean's wrote, "One standout song is the guitar-driven If, with its explicit lines. "You on the rise/as you're touching my thighs". Craig S. Semon of the Telegram & Gazette commented: "One of the most exciting tracks on "janet." is the naughty seducer, 'If'." Jackson is consumed with sexual fantasies of a man who doesn't even know she exists. Wailing guitar chords and hip-hop programming move this punchy, fast-paced dance number as Jackson creates erotic pictures in the mind of her soon-to-be lover to get to his physique". Jon Pareles of The New York Times compared the song with her brother Michael, writing "'If' resembles Michael Jackson's 'Why You Wanna Trip on Me,' starting with screaming guitar and a chanted verse, rising to a sweet melody." Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine considered the song as "the orchestral flourish from Diana Ross & the Supremes' 'Someday We'll Be Together'", writing, " seems to exist for the sole purpose of providing the impetus behind one of the greatest dance-break routines in music video history." Some critics noted the presence of a riff guitar. Greg Kot from Chicago Tribune wrote, "There's a surprising, fuzzed-up guitar riff lifted from Peter Gabriel's 'Sledgehammer' that gives 'If' some punch."