Flashback Friday: Janet Jackson - That’s the Way Love Goes | Was that bitch. Will always be that bitch. Happy 30th anniversary bitch.

Janet Jackson has been a huge presence in my day-do-day as of late. To be honest, Janet has a constant presence in my life, because she’s in a whole lotta my regular playlists and I’ve been a lifelong a fan of hers. But lately Janet’s presence has been with greater frequency, in different contexts and scenarios.

Firstly, I’ve been listening to “That’s the Way Love Goes” a heck of a lot over the past couple of weeks. For no particular reason other than I’m just into it right now. Second of all, earlier this week a K-pop fan talked out the side of their mouth about Janet’s dancing ability. Absolutely wild and foolish, given that none of the girls in K-pop right now aside from BoA could go toe to toe with 90s Janet. This tweet caught so much traction and had replies and quoted retweets from (formerly) verified accounts, that it caused Janet Jackson to trend. Between me giving my 2 pence on the nonsensical take (which folk retweeted and liked) and people I follow also chiming in, I was seeing Janet tweets on my timeline for days. Thirdly, Janet also kicked off her Together Again tour, and there’s been numerous fan videos floating about (which is what caught the attention of the aforementioned K-pop fan), and this all ended up on my timeline. And lastly, over the weekend I had to defend “You’ll Never Find (A Love Like Mine)” in the middle of a pub, after somebody said that Janet Jackson’s debut album had no good songs on it. The nerve.

So it’s been a Janet-filled past couple of weeks. And then on Thursday I saw that it was the 30th anniversary of “That’s the Way Love Goes”. So it just made sense that this Friday, I would flashback to not only Janet, but “That’s the Way Love Goes” - which just so happens to be one of Janet’s best songs.

“That’s the Way Love Goes” is greatness. Both the song and video. It’s such a great example of how sometimes less is more. But it also does a great job of showcasing Janet in a way that you wouldn’t think a song or video of this style could - which is exactly what made the song such a risk when Janet released it as the lead single from her Janet. album back in 1993. Janet has always been known for pop / dance records and energetic music videos with big choreographed routines. So, why then release a mid tempo / slow song, with no dance routine?

A lotta people forget that the first single off of Janet. was not “If”, but “That’s the Way Love Goes”. Although the plan was for “If” to be the first single, and it’s clear why. But going with “That’s the Way Love Goes” paid off massively. Not only was it one of Janet’s biggest hits, but it cemented a whole new mode for Janet which people wanted more of from her.

Something that Janet doesn’t get enough credit for is how good her mid-tempos are, and how she’s able to captivate by doing very little. “That’s the Way Love Goes” is so smooth in a way which plays to the softness of Janet’s voice; as opposed to her uptempo’s, where Jam & Lewis pack the music with so much density and have Janet layer so many of her vocals in order to fill out the song and make the sounds bigger. And the music video for “That’s the Way Love Goes” doesn’t have Janet hitting a single 8 count. She’s just vibing, and yet you still can’t take your eyes off her in the music video. We saw Ciara experience a similar thing with the release of “Promise”.

Janet is the blueprint for these pop / R&B girls for a reason.

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💿 Album reviews: Discipline | Damita Jo | The Velvet Rope
🔊 Spotify Playlist: This is Miss Jackson