Tag: janet jackson

  • For the Patron Saint Janet Jackson

    For the Patron Saint Janet Jackson

    i have always believed in pop music. i have always believed in the beat. pop music, in its infinite power, was my only religion. and it was the patron saint pop divas like saint janet that i pray for sanctuary, for deliverance. as a young queer person in the late…

  • Still Special: 25 Years of “The Velvet Rope”

    Still Special: 25 Years of “The Velvet Rope”

    One could talk for hours about the cultural significance of an album like The Velvet Rope: the way its composition and construction provide a direct throughline to the songs and albums soundtracking our current times or how Its accompanying visuals amplify the project’s various moods and tones. There’s a weight to…

  • Janet Jackson: A Deep Appreciation Of

    Janet Jackson: A Deep Appreciation Of

    i met robert on the very first day of school in the seventh grade in september 1989. as soon as i walked into the classroom and witnessed him commanding space with his beautiful spirit, i knew the semester would be different. i would no longer be the “only one” in…

  • TONY VIRAMONTES

    TONY VIRAMONTES

    years before i knew who tony viramontes was, i knew of his art. sometime in 1986, three years before i began buying music on my own, my uncle took me to my first record store. as we walked into the store, i was in complete wonderment. it was the closest…

  • Songs That Soundtracked The AIDS Epidemic: Janet’s “Together Again”

    Songs That Soundtracked The AIDS Epidemic: Janet’s “Together Again”

    Sweet harp chords flourish as “Together Again” starts, then it picks up momentum with these lyrics “There are times when I look above and beyond, there are times when I feel your love around me baby, I’ll never forget my baby.” Janet Jackson released this single on December 2, 1997,…

  • My Mormon Journey

    My Mormon Journey

    One Wednesday night in late summer 1994, I snuck out the house with my friend Hopey and drove my mother’s 1970’s blue Monte Carlo to Woody’s, the only gay club in philly that had a teen night. The car was busted, but it got us around. After dancing our asses…