Damita Jo is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Janet Jackson. EMI Music Japan released it first in Japan on March 22, 2004, before its release in Europe by EMI a week later. It was released in the United States by Virgin Records on March 30, 2004. Jackson began work on the album in August 2002 after finishing the All for You Tour, and continued until February 2004, with help from a wide range of producers including Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Dallas Austin, Kanye West, and Scott Storch, in addition to Jackson's longtime collaborators, duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Titled after Jackson's middle name, Damita Jo is a R&B, pop and hip hop album that explores themes of love and romance.
Damita Jo debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 and was considered a disappointment by the media compared to Jackson's previous efforts. To promote it, three singles were released: "Just a Little While", "I Want You" and "All Nite (Don't Stop)", while "R&B Junkie" was issued as a promotional single. Damita Jo received mixed reviews from music critics, who praised its production, but were dismissive of its excessive sexual content and its overlong duration. It was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Album, while "I Want You" received a nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards. The album sold three million copies worldwide.
Jackson's performance at the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show prior to the album's release, which ended in Jackson's breast being accidentally exposed by surprise guest Justin Timberlake, had a major effect on the album's commercial performance. Conglomerates involved with the broadcast who received massive fines by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), including Viacom and CBS, and subsidiaries MTV and Infinity Broadcasting, enforced a blacklist of Jackson's singles and music videos, although Timberlake remained unaffected. The blacklisting drew controversy amongst critics, who declared the album and its singles to likely have been commercially successful had the incident not occurred.
Background and development
In April 2001, Jackson released her seventh studio album All for You. It saw the singer working with new producers for the first time since Control (1986), while maintaining her partnership with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. It debuted at number one in the United States, selling 605,128 copies on its first week, and had sold 3.1 million copies across the country as of September 2009, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Its title track became the first song by a female artist in the decade to reach number one in the United States, where it remained for seven weeks, becoming her second-longest single to stay at the top. All for You received three nominations at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards, eventually winning Best Dance Recording for the title track. Following the album's release, Jackson embarked on the All for You Tour, which grossed over US$40 million in ticket sales.
Upon completion of the tour in 2002, Jackson started recording a new album. Her longtime collaborator, Jimmy Jam, stated that they "talked about a million different possible things to do and finally decided to do a brand-new album", as the singer was "itching to get back in the studio", hoping to release it in early 2003. As Jackson completed work on the album, she was featured as a performer on the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show, which took place on February 1, 2004, in Houston, Texas. At the end of the performance, guest artist Justin Timberlake pulled off a part of Jackson's costume, which accidentally exposed her right breast. Although the costume tear was orchestrated, her breast's exposure was not the intended result. However, the singer suffered backlash from the media, who accused her of planning the incident as a publicity stunt for her then-upcoming album.
Writing and recording
Recording sessions for Damita Jo lasted for a total of 18 months, the longest Jackson had spent recording an album. Jackson began work on the record in August 2002, reuniting with Jam and Lewis for initial writing sessions, and concluded in February 2004. During its initial sessions, Jam described its musical direction as "all over the place", from Jackson's usual house songs to "guitar-flavored things", as well as some having "a definite sort of ambient quality to them". He clarified that was not a clear direction at that moment; they would write songs and see what they liked or not, as part of the discovery process. He also revealed that they had been listening to Zero 7 and Télépopmusik during the process – the latter produced an interlude for the album.