In April 2001 Janet Jackson released her seventh studio album 'All For You', which saw her working with new producers for the first time since 'Control' in 1986, while maintaining her partnership with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. It debuted at number one in the United States, and 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. 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, she started recording a new album, with a hope 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. At the end of the performance, guest artist Justin Timberlake pulled off a part of Jackson's costume, which accidentally exposed her right breast, and although the costume tear was orchestrated, her breast's exposure was not the intended result. As a consequence, the singer suffered a backlash from the media, who accused her of planning the incident as a publicity stunt for her then-upcoming album, and it resulted in the blacklist of Jackson's singles and music videos from many major radio formats and music channels worldwide.
Recording sessions for 'Damita Jo', a title taken from Jackson's middle name, lasted for a total of 18 months, and was the longest that she had spent recording an album. She reunited with Jam and Lewis for initial writing sessions in August 2002, concluding in February 2004, and during its initial sessions, Jam described its musical direction as "all over the place", and that there was no clear direction at that moment. The record saw Jackson teaming up with several new producers, among them Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Kanye West, Dallas Austin, Scott Storch, and duo Bag & Arnthor, consisting of Anders Bagge and Arnthor Birgisson, in addition to Jam and Lewis. The album was released first in Japan on 22 March 2004, before its release in Europe by EMI a week later, followed by a US release by Virgin Records on 30 March 2004. Although it debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 381,000 copies in its first week, the album was considered a sales disappointment compared to Jackson's previous efforts. Prior to the Super Bowl incident and blacklist, music journalists predicted 'Damita Jo' would have massive chart success and outsell its predecessor 'All For You', which had sold eight million copies worldwide, and although the album received positive to mixed reviews upon release, some critics concentrated on the controversy over the Super Bowl incident, or the sexually-charged nature of some of the songs, which were composed well before the incident. Even though the album contained 22 tracks, there were a number of recordings which were left off the final running order, including a Just Blaze remix of 'Just A Little While' with new vocals, lyrics, and instrumental, titled 'Love Me', and this post takes that and a number of other out-takes to compile an excellent companion album to 'Damita Jo'.
Track listing
01 Sex, Lies & Videos
02 Put It on You (Speed It Up) (feat. Jinx Bezzle & Hasan)
03 Love Me (Just Blaze Mix)
04 Could This Be Love
05 All Nite (Don't Stop) (Remix)
06 Put Your Hands On
07 Ruff (I Like It) (feat. Pharrell & Jevar)
08 I'm Here
09 What Can I Say
10 Pops Up
