All for You is the seventh studio album by American singer Janet Jackson. It was released on April 16, 2001, by Virgin Records. The album departed from the darker themes of her previous release, The Velvet Rope (1997), which addressed issues such as domestic violence and depression, instead embracing a more upbeat and lighthearted tone.
After her divorce from René Elizondo Jr., Jackson began working on her seventh studio album, All for You, aiming for a more carefree tone. She continued working with longtime collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, while also enlisting additional hip-hop producer Rockwilder, marking her first significant collaboration outside the duo since Control (1986). All for You is a pop and R&B album that incorporates elements of rock, disco, funk, soft rock, and East Asian music. Its lyrics center on themes of romance, passion, and sexuality, while also addressing betrayal and deceit. The album's explicit language and sexual content generated controversy, leading to bans in several countries.
The album was promoted with the critically and commercially successful All for You Tour. It produced three singles, including "All for You" and "Someone to Call My Lover". The former topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for seven consecutive weeks and reached the top ten of charts worldwide, while the latter peaked at number three in the US. All for You became Jackson's fifth consecutive album to reach number one on the US Billboard 200, logging the second-highest first-week sales for a female artist at the time. The album was certified 2× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and has sold an estimated seven million copies worldwide.
Critics generally responded positively to All for You, praising its production, upbeat tone, and Jackson's vocal performance. At the 44th Annual Grammy Awards in 2002, the album and its songs received three nominations, including Best Pop Vocal Album; the title track won Best Dance Recording. In support of the album, Jackson was named MTV's inaugural Icon and honored with the televised special MTV Icon: Janet Jackson, which recognized her contributions to music and popular culture. Retrospectively, critics have noted the influence of All for You on the works of artists such as Rihanna and Ariana Grande.
Background and development
In 2000, Jackson was separated from René Elizondo Jr., exposing their secret nine-year marriage to the public as he filed for divorce, leading to intense media scrutiny.
Amidst the divorce, Jackson began recording her seventh album. MTV News reported Jackson had nearly completed work on the "upbeat, fun and carefree" record, in contrast to the darker tone of her prior release. Producer Jimmy Jam stated, "This record now, even though it may not be the best of times in her personal life, she feels that the future is bright... She's excited about music and about life in general. She's excited about what the next year will hold for her, and that's the tone she's set for herself and [the album]." Explaining its concept, Jackson said:
Recording and production
All for You marked the first time Jackson enlisted additional producers aside from Jam & Lewis since the release of her breakthrough Control (1986), collaborating with hip-hop producer Rockwilder. After recording exclusively with the duo, Jackson felt the desire to recruit new talent, explaining "I think it was The Velvet Rope that brought all of that to some sort of completion for me... it was very cathartic for me doing that — I felt it was OK to go out and explore other producers." She pursued Rockwilder upon hearing Method Man and Redman's single "Da Rockwilder", desiring uptempo productions in a similar vein. Jackson also collaborated with The Neptunes. Several confirmed titles included "Boys," "Ecstasy," "My Big Secret," and "What It Is." Additionally, Spears' single "I'm a Slave 4 U" was originally written and produced for the album. "My Big Secret" was later recorded for Spears' In the Zone album, though was not released. Jackson was offered to record the Jaxx's single "Get Me Off" for the album, though declined. She would later record several unreleased songs with them for her following album, Damita Jo. An unreleased collaboration with Jay-Z was recorded. Outkast also featured on an unreleased remix of "Someone to Call My Lover". Jackson had planned to record a duet with Aaliyah, intended to appear on All for You in addition to Aaliyah's self-titled album released several months later, though was unable to proceed due to scheduling conflicts. A collaboration with Missy Elliott titled "Nasty Girl 2000," an updated cover of Jackson's hit "Nasty," was intended to feature Jackson and additional vocals from Aaliyah, but was not recorded. Jackson also desired to collaborate with British singer Robbie Williams. The album intended to feature a house and hip-hop direction during its early stages, with other potential collaborators including Dallas Austin, Swizz Beatz, Diddy, Missy Elliott, Teddy Riley, Kandi Burruss, and Darrell "Delite" Allamby. However, the collaborations did not come to fruition due to scheduling conflicts while filming and periodic illness throughout recording. An unreleased song titled "New Beginning" appeared in initial press releases but was not included on the album. Its concept focuses largely on the demise of her marriage to René Elizondo, Jr. and subsequent embrace of the single life, experiencing dating for the first time. It also contains themes of sensuality, deceit, and betrayal. Jackson said, "It's a different thing for me. Growing up, I never dated. I'm doing that now, experiencing that whole life." Its upbeat tempo intended to reflect Jackson's self-esteem, described as "a work in progress." Jam commented, "She doesn't see herself the way other people see her. You know...gorgeous and sexy and all that. That isn't the kind of person she is. Although she is closer to feeling like that person now than she was 15 years ago. Or even three of four years ago." Jackson commented, "I look back at pictures of myself from four years ago and I see the unhappiness in my eyes. But I'm in the greatest space now... I believe we have choices and paths, and it's about choosing the right path, the promising path." While recording, Jackson listened to artists such as St. Germain, Buena Vista Social Club, Thievery Corporation, Basement Jaxx, Outkast and Papa Roach.
John Mulvey of Yahoo! Music noted that All For You was a concept album which was rooted in Jackson's "traumatic" separation from former husband and collaborator René Elizondo, Jr. and detailed that with its first tracks, the record starts "tremendously, with a bunch of party tracks illustrating a newly-free woman checking out men on the dancefloor", before moving "to the bedroom, and some explicit shagging tracks, before a virulent suite detailing what a bastard her ex is", and concludes with a "soppy phase heralding a new life and the prospects of new love."
Music and lyrics
The album's interludes consist of Jackson's recorded asides, placing clips from her one-sided conversations between the tracks. "All for You" is an uptempo dance song utilizing elements of disco and funk. "Come On Get Up" follows with a "synth-frenzied splendor," fusing tribal house and dance-pop. "Love Scene (Ooh Baby)" is an ambient ballad incorporating flourishes of electronica and guitars, performed in a falsetto to "exquisitely carnal effect." It was described to feature "more moaning than a hospital emergency room," with Jackson singing, "I'm gonna kiss you/Suck you/Taste you." Its "rock 'n' roll sass" is laced with theatrical vocal arrangements, electric guitars, violins and cinematic strings. Jackson unveils anger and deceit, saying "Thought you'd get the money too / Greedy motherfuckers try to have their cake and eat it too." In response to critics regarding it about her divorce, Jackson explained it was directed towards several people, while Jimmy Jam revealed it to be written in regards to music executives and lawyers. On the ballad "Truth", Jackson discusses a failed romance with her former husband.
"Someone to Call My Lover" is a soft rock song, described as an "innocent daydream for the perfect man built over the acoustic guitar." Its speaks of the yearnings for "love and togetherness," desiring to find a new companion. It uses a guitar motif sampled from America's "Ventura Highway." Jackson was honored "in recognition of her place as one of the most influential and beloved tastemakers in contemporary pop... The show will eloquently demonstrate the impact that Janet has had, not only on her worldwide audience, but also on a generation of performers who will pay tribute by covering her songs." Jackson stated, "When I heard that MTV wanted to honor me with the show "Icon," I was speechless. I really was. It is an awesome thing—I feel young. There's still so much more that I want to do, need to do, for myself in this business. And I was just so surprised. But a wonderful surprise." Numerous artists paid tribute to Jackson and commemorated her success, including Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Aaliyah, Tommy Lee, Michael Jackson, and producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. It featured performances by NSYNC, Pink, Buckcherry, Usher, Outkast, Mýa, and Destiny's Child. Jackson performed "All for You" and "You Ain't Right" at the finale. The event was the highest rated television show of the night, ahead of all broadcast and cable programs among the youth demographic. Promotional ads for the special depicted Jackson's music, videos, and sexuality shocking conservative audiences and families, using the tagline "The world wasn't always ready for Janet. We are."
All for You was first released on April 16, 2001 in Japan, April 23 in the UK, and April 24 in North America. A limited-edition reissue of the album was announced on October 21, 2001, via Billboard, and released on November 20, 2001, including a bonus DVD, titled Janet: The Virgin Years, featuring Jackson's complete videography (excluding releases via other labels and collaborations), interviews and behind the scenes footage, spanning from the promotion of janet. (1993) to the making of All for You. The reissue features an alternate cover artwork and contains the clean edition of the album without "Would You Mind" in addition to the Flyte Tyme single edit and P. Diddy remix of the album's third single "Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You)"; Furthermore, Microsoft Network launched an ISP service titled "Janet on MSN", with Jackson also given her own online radio station.
The following year, Jackson was selected to perform at the Super Bowl XXXVI halftime show, though allowed U2 to perform in order to tribute the events of September 11 and due to traveling concerns following the tragedy.
Tour
In support of the album, Jackson embarked on her fourth world tour, the All for You Tour. The first dates were announced between July and October, in Canada and the United States. The North American leg wrapped in November in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Several dates were scheduled in Japan the following year, although the tour's European leg was required to be canceled immediately following the events of September 11 attacks, when many dancers were unwilling to travel citing safety concerns. Jackson said, "I have agonized over this decision. Like most people, the events of Sept. 11 have troubled me enormously and I remain concerned about the foreseeable future. If anything happened to anyone on this tour, I could never forgive myself." An appearance at the 2001 MTV Europe Music Awards was also canceled due to the tragedy. It was the sixth highest-grossing tour of the year, also ranked the third most successful by Pollstar. Its broadcast on HBO received over 12 million viewers, among the network's highest ratings, and increased album sales by fifty percent. It was later released on DVD as Janet: Live in Hawaii. The tour received positive reviews, with Craig Seymour from Buffalo News writing "her All for You tour marked another milestone for the veteran artist, who proved to be more comfortable with own ability to command an audience than ever before." It was considered an influence to many of her followers, adding "Jackson remains one of this generation's most exciting performers in concert, easily triumphing over the likes of young upstarts Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Destiny's Child. The Los Angeles Times stated, "Not only is Janet emulated by the type of show she puts on by the current teen-fab (that she made popular years ago), she still does it better than the 19-year-olds."
Singles
The title track was sent to radio stations as the album's lead single on March 6, 2001. It broke several airplay records upon its debut, being the first song in history to be added to every pop, urban, and rhythmic radio station within its first week of release, and also had the highest first-week audience impressions in history. Kevin McCabe of Radio & Records noted that "no other song has conquered all reporting stations in its first week at radio, let alone mastered three formats in one week". It became Jackson's most successful single in the US since "That's the Way Love Goes" (1993), staying at number one for seven weeks. Internationally, the song reached the top ten in most countries worldwide. Its music video received four MTV Video MTV Video Music Awards nominations, including Video of the Year and Best Female Video. It was also a success, peaking at number three on the Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks. The song became a top ten and twenty hit internationally. It earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. it peaked at number twenty-eight on the Billboard Hot 100, Its single version was later included as a bonus track on the album's re-release. "Come On Get Up" was released exclusively in Japan in November 2001. "Trust a Try" was also intended to be released as a single, with Jackson expressing her intention in an interview. However, its release as a single did not come to fruition.
Critical reception
Sample credits
- "All for You" contains a sample from "The Glow of Love", as performed by Change.
- "China Love" contains a sample from "Moonlight City Roa", as performed by Yoko Shimomura from the Legend of Mana soundtrack.
- "Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You)" contains a sample from "You're so Vain", as performed by Carly Simon.
- "Truth" contains an interpolation of "O-o-h Child", performed by the Five Stairsteps.
- "Someone to Call My Lover" contains samples from "Ventura Highway", as performed by America, and "Gymnopedié No. 1", as performed by Erik Satie.
Notes
- "Would You Mind" is not included on clean versions of the album or releases in Asia (excluding Japan) due to explicit content.
Personnel
- Michael Abbott – engineer
- Alex Al – bass
- David Anthony – producer
- David Ashton – assistant engineer
- David Barry – guitar
- Lee Blaske – string arrangements
- Mike Bozzi – assistant mastering engineer
- Evelina Chao – viola
- Nathaniel Cole – violin
- Fran Cooper – make-up
- D-Man – remixing, mixing
- Jonathan Dayton – video director
- P. Diddy – remixing
- Sean Donnelly – design, animation
- René Elizondo Jr. – video director
- Missy Elliott – performer
- Valerie Faris – video director
- Brian Gardner – mastering
- Charles Gray – viola
- Gael Guilarte – assistant engineer
- Jeri Heiden – art direction
- Steve Hodge – engineer, mixing
- Janet Jackson – vocals, producer, executive producer
- Jimmy Jam – multi-instruments, producer, executive producer
- Seb Janiak – video director
- John Kennedy – violin
- Kathy Kienzle – harp
- Joshua Koestenbaum – cello
- Tom Kornacker – violin
- Kim Kyu Young – violin
- Terry Lewis – multi-instruments, producer, executive producer
- David Mallet – video director
- Andrew McPherson – photography
- Dave Meyers – video director
- Karen Mitchell – make-up assistant
- James C. Moore – producer
- Adrian Morgan – producer
- Elsa Nilsson – violin
- Julia Persitz – violin
- Alice Preves – viola
- Q-Tip – rap
- Jason Rankins – assistant engineer
- Alexander Richbourg – drum programming, MIDI programming, Pro-Tools
- David Rideau – engineer, mixing
- Rockwilder – producer, drum programming, MIDI programming
- Matthew Rolston – video director
- Mike Scott – guitar
- Dominic Sena – video director
- Chris Seul – engineer
- Laura Sewell – cello
- Dexter Simmons – mixing
- Carly Simon – performer
- Daryl Skobba – cello
- Xavier Smith – drum programming, assistant engineer, mixing, MIDI programming
- Smog – design
- Michal Sobieski – violin
- Tamas Strasser – viola
- Tom Sweeney – assistant engineer, mixing
- James "Big Jim" Wright – keyboards
- Bradley Yost – assistant engineer, mixing
- Janet Zeitoun – hair stylist
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2001)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Urban Albums (ARIA)
|2
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Canadian R&B Albums (SoundScan)
|style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"| European Top 100 Albums (Billboard)
| 2
|-
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Greek Albums (IFPI)
| 7
|-
! scope="row"| Irish Albums (IRMA)
| style="text-align:center" | 16
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| 1
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2014–2016)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
!scope="row"| South African Albums (RISA)
| 1
|-
!scope="row"|South Korean Albums (Gaon)
| 39
|}
Monthly charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!Chart (2001)
!Peak<br />position
|-
|-
!scope="row"|South Korean Albums (RIAK)
| 3
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Year-end chart performance for All for You by Janet Jackson
! scope="col"| Chart (2001)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)
| style="text-align:center;"|75
|-
! scope="row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)
| style="text-align:center;"|81
|-
! scope="row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)
| style="text-align:center;"|82
|-
!scope="row"|Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
|27
|-
! scope="row"|Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
| 8
|-
! scope="row"| European Top 100 Albums (Billboard)
|align="center"|70
|-
! scope="row"| French Albums (SNEP)
| style="text-align:center;"|79
|-
! scope="row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
|align="center"|78
|-
!scope="row"|Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)
| align="center"|97
|-
! scope="row"| Japanese Albums (Oricon)
|align="center"|48
|-
!scope="row"|Norwegian Russetid Albums (VG-lista)
|align="center"|15
|-
! scope="row"| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)
| style="text-align:center;"|70
|-
! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)
| style="text-align:center;"|98
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| style="text-align:center;"|25
|-
! scope="row"| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)
| style="text-align:center;"|17
|-
! scope="row"| Worldwide Albums (IFPI)
|style="text-align:center;"|11
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2002)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"|Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
| 70
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| style="text-align:center;"|174
|-
! scope="row"| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)
| style="text-align:center;"|96
|}
Decade-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2000–2009)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 141
|}