Throwback: Happy Black History Month: Janet Jackson

Today is the 15th day of Black History Month. Because the current administration is racist, fascist and wants to deny the existence and histories of anyone that isn’t cis-het and white, there are some important things everyone should remember during this month — and every single month: 

• You can’t love Black artists and their work, and not see them as people 
• Black lives — and Black art matters 
• Black culture is American culture 

As we go through the month, I’m going to talk about a collection of Black artists. It’ll be fairly comprehensive and eclectic list — although it won’t be a complete list. Of course, there are some important Black artists, who were also born during Black History Month. 

So far, I’ve talked about the following, extraordinary artists:

• Big Boi, who also celebrated his 50th birthday on February 1
• Rick James, who was born 77 years ago on February 1
• James Brown, the legendary Soul Brother #1
• The Temptations‘ Dennis Edward, who also was born 82 years ago on February 3
• Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the godmother of rock ‘n’roll 
• Bobby Brown, who also celebrated his 56th birthday on February 5
• The legendary Bob Marley, who was  was born 80 years ago on February 6
• James Dewit Yancey, best known to the entire world as J. Dilla, one of the most influential and important hip-hop producers and beatmakers who was born 51 years ago on February 7
• Aretha Franklin, the queen of soul 
• Billie Holiday, whose influence on jazz and pop has been towering
• The legendary Roberta Flack, who also celebrated her 88th birthday on February 10 
• Janelle Monáe, who’s guably one of the most dynamic and exciting artists out there today
• The legendary  The Isley Brothers, who over the course of their eight decade career have written and recorded some of the most beloved, covered and sampled songs ever
• Ella Fitzgerald, arguably one of the greatest and most influential voices ever
• The legendary Maceo Parker, who also celebrated his 82nd birthday on February 14

Let’s talk about Janet Jackson today. Over the course of her nearly five decade career, the tenth and youngest Jackson child has sold over 100 million records, making her one of the world’s best-selling pop artists. She also holds the record for most consecutive Top Ten entries on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart by a female artist with 18. She’s also the only artist in the history of the Billboard charts to have seven commercial singles from one album — Rhythm Nation 1814 — peak within the Top Five. 

Back in 2008, Billboard placed her at #7 on the list of the Hot 100 All-Time Top Artistsand in 2010, ranked her fifth among the Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years. In 2016, they named her the second most successful dance/pop artist after Madonna. Additionally, she may arguably be on elf the most highly-awarded contemporary artists: Jackson has won five Grammy Awards, 11 Billboard Music Awards, 11 American Music Awards and eight Guinness World Records. Oh and let’s not forget that she has a start on the Hollywood Walk and Fame, and as of 2019, she’s a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. All of this is well-deserved. 

I don’t think you can talk about contemporary pop without mentioning Janet Jackson and her towering influence on it.