Pop #5: This is a Pop About Control

Janet, SZA and the evergreen theme of control

Sep 29, 2020

“This is a story about control. My control. Control of what I say. Control what I do”. Our beloved Janet Jackson’s debut album opens with this very line on the legendary title track, Control. She sets the stage with a common theme in pop star mythos, an almost rite of passage: you either establish your career “in control” of your narrative, or you spend subsequent eras trying to reclaim it. In 1986, Janet introduced herself outside of her family’s looming legacy as her own woman and musician by literally telling us verbatim that she was in control. Janet wasn’t a little girl anymore, and she’d tell her story her own way. 31 years later, another album named Control (stylized CTRL) would break into the zeitgeist and capture r&b fans' hearts and minds. With CTRL, SZA also established herself as an icon, after years of writing and major features. SZA of course didn’t have the baggage of the Jackson name to break free from, but still, CTRL’s release was a cultural moment, speaking to a generation finding their way through modern love and loss, highlighting desire, sexuality, social media and communication in a way we hadn’t heard in popular music. Control, wanting it, claiming it, or losing it: it’s all about Control.

Of course Control is far from CTRL stylistically (For a clear through-line to SZA and all contemporary R&B, look no further than Janet’s opus, The Velvet Rope), but still the themes, meditations, frustrations and revelations are similar. These are two young Black women discovering themselves, questioning their relationships, ruminating on the trying men in their lives and reclaiming their independence on every track. Through pop melodies and the snappy production of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Control follows Janet through flirty lyrics and exquisite beats. The soundscape is exactly of the time (1986) yet never once feels stale or dated. From the wonderful vocal production and fun flourishes (the sound of a car crashing as she details her first love, the scene before What Have You Done for Me Lately, etc.), the production is just as much a voice as Janet’s. The entire album is telling a story of a girl breaking free of all that’s held her back, literally witnessing her being thrust into adulthood, when you’re desperate for control in life but have to make it up as you go until you figure it out.

“These are two young Black women discovering themselves, questioning their relationships, ruminating on the trying men in their lives and reclaiming their independence on every track”

Like Control, the production on CTRL tells it’s own story (but in a comparatively quieter way). Through the trap beats and hazy synths of Broken Clocks, you immediately get that anxious feeling SZA describes in the song: “all I’ve got is these broken clocks, I ain’t got no time just burnin’ daylight”. First of all, the song is a banger. But what makes it phenomenal and an album stand-out is how it synthesizes every aspect of a day in your twenties. Running late to your day job, thinking of your ex, going out, bitching about your situation, feeling stuck in the same place, hitting the pillow and pressing repeat. Burning daylight. It’s a song desperately searching for presence but is stuck in the past, as SZA lives through the what-ifs of an old flame haunting her memory. It treats a past relationship as they truly serve us in real life: an active memory. They continue to live with you, whether they end well or not.

Another distinction between the two records is the age difference between Janet and SZA when they recorded them. Janet was 19, and these songs highlight this as she first discovers control almost with rose colored glasses. This mystical, intangible thing that you know you need but have no idea how to obtain. When CTRL dropped in 2017 SZA was 27, probably hitting her Saturn return at that point, and living a full 20 Something life by then, with all of the highs, lows, wins and setbacks that come with it.

“…the production is just as much a voice as Janet’s. The entire album is telling a story of a girl breaking free of all that’s held her back, literally witnessing her being thrust into adulthood, when you’re desperate for control in life but have to make it up as you go until you figure it out.”

Both albums completely changed their respective music landscapes when they dropped. For SZA and all of contemporary r&b for that matter, there is before CTRL and there is after. Virtually every r&b record, both male and female, take their cues from SZA’s sensibility and sound. With an Alanis-esque honesty (and pronunciation) SZA’s enduring authenticity and strength is in her individuality and her unconventional structure. Hooks flow in and out of each other, some songs have one chorus, some have the traditional three, some don’t seem to have choruses at all. This breaking of the norm is the key: with SZA we focus first and foremost on her storytelling. She has a way of just grabbing a hold of your ear and not letting go.

What CTRL has done for contemporary r&b, Control did for all popular music: full stop. Control is the blueprint for a pop debut for the star that wants to be “taken seriously”. You see it in pop acts from Beyonce & Rhianna to Gaga & Britney. And this is only the tip of the iceberg of Janet’s enduring legacy (we aren’t even touching Rhythm Nation in this letter, arguably one of the most influential records ever). Janet taking control of her narrative paved the way for women in the industry to start doing things on their own terms, singing about things they wanted to and relatable experiences no one had touched yet. An truthfulness in pop music that hadn’t been seen.

“With an Alanis-esque honesty (and pronunciation) SZA’s enduring authenticity and strength is in her individuality and her unconventional structure. Hooks flow in and out of each other, some songs have one chorus, some have the traditional three, some don’t seem to have choruses at all.”

Like Janet, at 19 I was declaring my independence in a similar way. “I got my own mind, I wanna make my own decisions”. And I did. I’ve built an entire life for myself based on the decisions I’ve made, and yet, I still don’t feel in control. Like SZA, having lived five years of my twenty-somethings, I can vouch for the fact that “out of control” is exactly what my twenties feels like. CTRL opens with a voice note, “And my greatest fear is that if I lost control or do not have control, things would be fatal”, and the closes with SZA “Stuck in them 20 somethings”, embracing the uncertainty and fear of not having control of your life. On the track, she crowns herself “Ms. 20-Something”, owning it for all of it’s messy unpredictability and it’s uncontrol. It’s almost a healing prayer, as she surrenders her control in order to finally have it. “God bless these 20 somethings”. Whatever I thought these years would bring, who I would be or what I would be in control of, is completely out the window. I’ve realized, my twenties have been all about meeting myself where I am as opposed to who I thought I’d be, or who I am *supposed* to be, and reckoning with those things not aligning, at least not yet. But growth, like most things, isn’t immediate. It takes the actual passage of time to see the forest for the trees, to actually sit with and live with who I am. I’m not in control yet, and who knows if I ever will be, but I do have Ms. Jackson (if ya nasty) and Ms. 20-Something to keep me company while I figure it out.

Pop of Jared

Discussion about this post