After reading what you wrote, I looked at the video of Janet and JT and it looks like a poorly executed marketing ploy — where neither sexuality or control where present.

I think one of the reasons she wouldn't go back to Lewis & Jam is that it bears the impression that they are responsible for her best work, that it is more them than her, and perhaps that's fueling this kind of estrangement. I don't think it would be all that great if she did go back to them, for all the obvious and possibly superficial reasons.

And I never heard “Lovers & Friends” but when I heard “We Belong Together” I kept flashing back to Keys' “Diary”. Now, as negative as it was to say that Mariah was cribbing Alicia, it says much more negative things that she was cribbing Lil Jon. What's next? The M-Pain?

After reading what you wrote, I looked at the video of Janet and JT and it looks like a poorly executed marketing ploy — where neither sexuality or control where present.

After reading what you wrote, I looked at the video of Janet and JT and it looks like a poorly executed marketing ploy — where neither sexuality or control where present.

I think one of the reasons she wouldn't go back to Lewis & Jam is that it bears the impression that they are responsible for her best work, that it is more them than her, and perhaps that's fueling this kind of estrangement. I don't think it would be all that great if she did go back to them, for all the obvious and possibly superficial reasons.

And I never heard “Lovers & Friends” but when I heard “We Belong Together” I kept flashing back to Keys' “Diary”. Now, as negative as it was to say that Mariah was cribbing Alicia, it says much more negative things that she was cribbing Lil Jon. What's next? The M-Pain?

You roll your eyes, is what you do.

I hope the intention behind her latest blah album was to get all that shit out of her system, for good. She needs to make a great dance/pop album but in this American Idol age, I'm not sure that will even work for her anymore.

Comparing “We Belong Together” to Alicia Keys is way off-base, in my opinion. Actually, if you listen to Lil Jon's “Lovers & Friends” (which came out about six months before “Emancipation”), you'll notice that the songs are damn near identical. Basically, Mariah just wrote new lyrics to Lil Jon's backing track. Kids recognized the similarities and turned it into a hit, then the folks who'd been ignoring Mariah for the previous 3-4 years said “hey there, Mariah's back!” and turned the song from a hit into a smash.

Janet's worked with Timbaland before on several remixes, and I don't think she'd want any sort of close association with him for as long as Timberlake's his right hand man (when the three do collaborate, that's when you KNOW she's gotten really desperate). More than she needs a hit, she needs to prove that she's artistically viable again. No one has more simpatico with her than Jam & Lewis, so if I were her, I'd give Jimmy & Terry a call again. Besides, Quincy's retired. He hasn't produced an album other than his own in 20 years.

I agree with everything that was said in this article. Janet is talented and can do better than pretending to be one of these vacuous, no-talent young women in today's urban music. She needs better songs and better producers who can bring out the best in her again.

Anyway. Here I am talking about it.. meaning it still hasn't gone away. I *am* part of the problem.