I only have one photo in my head… and these three gentleman aren’t in it! News broke today that veteran pannel members of  America’s Next Top Model fame will NOT be returning for  Cycle 18 of the long running Tyra Banks produced reality show.

Banks took to her Facebook to confirm the news stating

“To my Nigel Barker, Miss J, and Mr Jay: Thank you for all of our years together on America’s Next Top Model,” Banks wrote. “Working with you is always an absolute pleasure. Excited for what the future holds for us.”

While there doesn’t seem to be any bad blood between the crew, it’s interesting nonetheless for the show to can 3 figures who have been integral to the brand since its 2003 inception.

So who would you pick to replace them? Here are our choices!

Kimora Lee Simmons
Age:36
Occupation: Former Model, Creator and Former Chief of Baby Phat Fashions, Fabulous mom of 3.
Who Should She Replace?: Miss J

Top Model fans may remember that Kimora Lee Simmons was a judge in the first season of America’s Next Top Model but didn’t return after a scrap with fellow former supermodel Janice Dickinson. With 2 decades of experience in the fashion experience under belt, including a stint as Karl Lagerfield’s muse and head designer of the once popular Baby Phat brand, its high time for Kimora’s return to the ANTM Pannel.

Ellen von Unwerth
Age:58
Occupation: a true noted fashion photographer.

Who Should She Replace: Nigel Barker

No shade to Nigel Barker, but Ellen Von Unwerth is a true noted fashion photographer. German born icon is the creative force behind sexy album packaging such as Janet Jackson’s The Velvet Rope, Rihanna’s Rated R and Talk That Talk albums, as well as countless magazines spreads in the likes of Vogue, Marie Claire and Elle.

Fran Cooper
Age:?
Occupation: Make-Up Artist for Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Cindy Crawford
Who Should She Replace?: Mr.Jay

Fran Cooper has been a noted Make-up Artist for some time now! You’ve never seen Janet Jackson with a bad make-up job and 9/10x out of ten, Fran is responsible.

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After forcing us to “Get On It”  in December of last year with her Nutrisystem partnership, Janet Jackson has debuted her second commercial for the diet food giant showing off her svelte 45 years young body. Get into the commercial below!

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Just last week we got a look at Janet Jackson’s amazing photo spread for Harpers Bazaar Arabia! Now take a look at some behind the scenes footage. Janet is looking radiant as ever and just hearing her speak makes you wish  she was in the studio on another album!

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P.S We’re waiting on New Studio Album. HURRY UP!!

Image Credit: Janet Love/ Coco & Creme

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Unquestionably a legend in the world of entertainment, Blackglama  has announced that Janet Jackson will be the first legend to be featured for the second year consecutively in the brand’s iconic “What Becomes a Legend Most?” advertising campaign. “It became clear in our discussions of who the Legend should be this year, that continuing the momentum with Janet made complete sense,” says Joe Morelli, CEO of Blackglama. “She embodies glamour, luxury and sophistication, everything that Blackglama stands for.” Peep below for video of Janet shooting the ad campaign in Milan!

P.S: THE ABS ARE BACK!

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If you’re a Janet Jackson fan, you’re well aware of the mysterious cover of  Joni Mitchell’s ” The Beat Of Black Wings” that Jackson supposedly covered during The Velvet Rope era for a tribute CD for Mitchell. Titled A Case of Joni, the album never made it to shelves, leaving fans wondering what happened to Janet’s version of “The Beat of Black Wings”.

12 Years later and fans have finally gotten the track in their hands! Take a listen to the track below!

♫ ♫ Janet Jackson| The Beat of Black Wings (Joni Mitchell Cover) ♫ ♫Download audio file (Janet-Beat-of-Black-Wings.mp3)

Janet Jackson will always be one of my favorite singers for reasons I’ve yet to properly articulate. In the age of often overwrought vocal performances, currently spearheaded by the likes of Beyoncé and Jennifer Hudson, this may be considered a weak vocal performance. My generation however, often neglects to realize that Janet Jackson held her own for over two decades musically alongside the likes of the last great vocal powerhouses/show-offs: Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. Much like Sade, there’s something quite calming and pleasing about the tone of Jackson’s voice and the whispery singing style and feather soft vocals she seems to have trademarked for herself.  Handicapped by her own refusal to use her full voice more often in the later years (it glimmers every once in a while on certain selections ),  Joni Mitchell’s “The Beat of Black Wings” provided the perfect sonic opportunity for what has become the signature Janet Jackson vocal to shine.

In addition, Janet throws in those little signature Jackson ticks and phrasings that she and late brother Michael were always fond of, and even though it was recorded years before his death, I feel him in this song.  Few ever seem to take notice of the harmonies that are also part of Jackson’s signature vocal performances. She knows her voice isn’t the strongest and so she often (and cleverly, might I add) builds this lush harmonic bed of background vocals for her lead vocal to be shrouded in and protected by the brash, industrial instrumentation Jam and Lewis were always fond of.

Albeit unmixed and unmastered,  Janet’s rendition of this song is enjoyable and well worth the stories 12 year wait. Let’s just hope the wait for a new Janet Jackson album is much shorter.

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I don’t know about the rest of you but I’m really craving a new Janet Jackson album. These pics will just have to tide us over for now! Check below for more pics!

*Credit: Ms.Special

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Today is  Pop Icon Janet Jackson’s 45th Birthday! In a way, for Me, Janet Jackson remains one of pop music’s unheralded treasures. Sure, she’s sold millions of albums, racked up hundreds of awards and broken and set numerous records, but I still feel like there’s a certain level of respect that general public hasn’t offered Ms. Jackson. A certain amount of credit hasn’t been leveraged in her direction for the influence and input she’s had on the sound and direction of the various female pop acts that have emerged since she got in Control in 1986.

Nonetheless, on this day, Jackson’s 45th Birthday, I decided to share an excerpt of a paper I once wrote about Janet for an NYU-Recorded Music class titled “Record Producer As The Creative Artist” taught by distinguished cultural critic, Jason King.  In the paper, I argued that Janet was, albeit in a different manner, every bit as influential as Michael and Madonna. As you could imagine, I got an A!  Check out an excerpt below!

With respect to the legacy of Madonna, much of Janet Jackson’s influence on today’s Pop music is consistently over looked. Pop music critic Ernest Hardy calls Jackson the “unheralded mother-architect, for better or worse, of the current pop world.” Artists like Aaliyah, Ciara, Destiny’s Child, Beyonce and Britney Spears weren’t only taking influence from Madonna in their work, many of those moves were straight out of the Janet Jackson handbook, from Britney Spears’ chair routine in “You Drive Me Crazy” that paid homage to Janet’s extended “Miss You Much” video, to Ciara microphone sequence in her “Promise” video and Cassie’s “Me and You” video which were taken from “The Pleasure Principle” music video from the Control album. Hardy states “Britney’s career, like those of her countless clones, rather than being a youthful updating of Madonna’s blueprint, is actually the Clorox remix of Janet’s.” Jackson’s performance style was influenced by her videos in an age where the goal of the live performance was to recreate the perfection that was created on screen with the video.

Thus a Janet Jackson concert, known to be a high-octane pop spectacle experience , could quickly outsell a concert by a more technically capable vocalist. This helped her to sell out arenas and set the record for the highest grossing tour ever by a debut artist with the Rhythm Nation Tour in 1989. Jackson’s climb to success was mirrored in the change of the music industry from one that was heavily aural to one that had equal footing in the visual department as well.

Jackson’s ability to cross between genres and sensual sexuality allowed her to take artistic risks and gambles with an authenticity that wasn’t afforded to other artists on her level. As shown earlier the Rhythm Nation album had singles that could be played on multiple radio formats that allowed her music to be accessed by multiple types of consumer. Furthermore, Jackson was able to service all of these different formats without necessarily losing authenticity.

Therefore records like “Come Back to Me” could chart at #1 on the adult contemporary charts and songs like “Black Cat”, with its heavy metal sound, could top the Rock charts without seeming like a gimmick. Jackson’s ability to top a chart that was and continues to be dominated by White males also shows the importance of Jackson’s place in Pop Culture. The audiences that bought Janet Jackson records were a blend of races, genders, sexualities and socioeconomic levels. Her ability to be accessible to all of these groups added to her cultural capital. Former manager Quadree el Amin stated, “She’s bigger than Barbra Streisand because Streisand can’t appeal to the street crowd, as Janet does. But Streisand’s rich, elite crowd loves Janet Jackson.”(Norment)

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Billboard Magazine posted an article online a few weeks back with the headline reading ” Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball Tour Breaks Record for Debut Headlining Artist”. I was quite prepared to congratulate Gaga and her team on the feat, for I knew the record was previously held by Janet Jackson for her Rhythm Nation 1814 tour. Then I realized, Monster’s Ball was NOT Lady Gaga’s debut headlining tour, The Fame Ball was! Thus The Monster’s Ball isn’t the most successful tour for a debut artist, The Rhythm Nation Tour should still rightfully hold that record.

Some may call me a zealous stan for pointing this out but give credit where credit is due…. and do your research next time Ray Waddell!

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