Janet Jackson and Missy Elliott’s new collaboration is straight FIRE
When Janet Jackson first announced she was making new music, the following thoughts went through our minds in more-or-less this order:
1) JANET JACKSON’S MAKING NEW MUSIC!
2) This is not a drill.
3) Time to start brushing off those dance moves (which we didn’t have in the first place, but let’s not mince words now that JANET JACKSON’S MAKING NEW MUSIC.
Since then, what we’ve heard from new album Unbreakable (her first all-new album in seven years) has been fantastic. “No Sleeep” was her quiet storm comeback, the audio equivalent of a shirt strap sliding off the shoulder; title track “Unbreakable” is the kind of inspirational, bombastic R&B jam that Jackson helped pioneer. Now, we’ve got the requisite high energy dance/workout track, and it’s not just good — it also features an all-new Missy Elliott verse. Excuse us while we crank up our A/Cs because this track is HOT.
“BURNITUP!” is the kind of chair-dancing jam that all other chair-dancing jams aspire to be. Opening with Elliott’s joyful holler of “Whooo, Imma shut this down,” the rest of the track breaks down into a romp. The lyrics are all essentially calls to action (“Hurt your body, burn it up more”; “This that jam, now do your dance”), but it works because of both the tone of the song (delightful) and the sense of camaraderie between the two longtime friends, which comes through just in the audio.
We are thiiiiis close to hearing the album in full on October 2. In the meantime, listen to “BURNITUP!” below and come on, just try to fight that beat. (You can’t.)
Related reading:
Janet Jackson? Is that you teasing us with new music?
This Missy Elliott renaissance is getting better and better
Image courtesy of BMG.
