Damita Jo
by Janet Jackson
  • Record Label: Virgin
  • Release Date: Mar 30, 2004
Metascore
53

Mixed or average reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 13
  3. Negative: 2 out of 13
  1. E! Online
    83
    Strong and sensual.
  2. The Guardian
    80
    The obligatory boring ballads aside, the results are astonishing.
  3. Blender
    80
    What's titillating about Damita Jo isn't some easy flash of sexuality, but the varied soundbeds that Jackson and her producers create to house her love games, and the confidence with which she plays. [May 2004, p.116]
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  5. The New York Times
    70
    The album is even sleeker and sexier than its predecessor, "All for You," and in saner times, that would be enough to ensure its success. [28 Mar 2004]
  6. Los Angeles Times
    63
    All this heavy construction is undertaken in the service of one of pop's thinnest, wispiest voices, and although Jackson's lack of vocal presence leaves a void at the heart of "Damita Jo," she's enough of a personality to create a few serviceable personas.
  7. Billboard
    60
    At 22 tracks, "Damita Jo" has its fair share of hits and misses.
  8. Q Magazine
    60
    The sex tracks themselves are more scary than seductive.... [But] the dancefloor tunes are far more slinky. [May 2004, p.107]
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  9. Entertainment Weekly
    58
    For the most part, the songs are stylized set pieces--the furthest thing from steamy R&B--and they evaporate as you listen to them. [9 Apr 2004, p.83]
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  10. AllMusic
    40
    Without strong rhythmic or melodic hooks, the album's slow grooves blend together and Jackson disappears into the productions.
  11. Dot Music
    40
    That it'll be her most scrutinised release is a problem, because its stilted, wearying, obsessive concentration on an uncomfortably forced notion of it's creator's sexuality means it's the only album she's made in the last dozen years that doesn't merit such focussed attention.
  12. Rolling Stone
    40
    Smacks of trying too hard.
  13. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    30
    Damita Jo, sadly, is an outdated product of the turn-of-the-millennium pop scene, in which female singers conflated sexual openness with empowerment.
  14. Playlouder
    20
    Finds her flailing club-footedly some twelve steps behind contemporary R&B, whispering distractedly through a seemingly unending array of interludes and phoning in songs that even Mariah at her most barely-there would dismiss as a trifle on the insipid side.

Awards & Rankings

32
#32 Most Discussed Album of 2004
57
#57 Most Shared Album of 2004

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 120 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 70 out of 120
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 120
  3. Negative: 32 out of 120
  1. NavySilver
    May 29, 2013
    8
    After being demonized by American press for her infamous nipplegate (in which Justin stay alive totally fine), this tempting album by JanetAfter being demonized by American press for her infamous nipplegate (in which Justin stay alive totally fine), this tempting album by Janet Jackson suffered great commercial flop. But the truth is that this is inevitable her best work in the 2000s. Other than the title track and the movie associated "Doesn't Really Matter", "All For You" (a.k.a the ultimate filler collection) is hardly a satisfying work for such an artist that used to probe into the deepest side of human being, and even the further on plastic R&B 20 Y.O. plus the pre-Lady Gaga era electropop Discipline, none of them reached the height to impress listeners and critics like her old works.

    "Damita Jo", on the other hand, is way more sensual than "All For You" while much more straightforward than "janet.". The reason you don't find such detailed expression like "My hands wrapped around, stroking up and down" in albums like "janet." and "The Velvet Rope" is that the sexuality expressed in these albums are supposed to be tied together with humanity, while the big leap forward found in "Damita Jo" is that she both revealed and created a complete personality of Janet's alter ego, or if you prefer, just the more private side of her life.

    Musically this album is nothing about vanguardism. Some of the materials you may find include 70s disco and 80s R&B ballad which not only are obviously abandoned old materials, and definitely would not hit, even without all the controversy she undergo a few months ago. Let's look at it with another perspective: This album, with all the modern soul elements, have a great consistency, which is great enough to say it's very precisely crafted. Even with all type of futuristic material you can imagine, "Discipline" failed to category itself as a classic, because "Damita Jo" already achieved the state that all the music elements can link up with each other, while expressing a complete personality of our lovely Damita Jo.

    The only other female singer that made her way to demonstrate her life within Music in such a detailed way is Mary J Blige. But ask yourself, are you actually interested in Mary J Blige's sex life? Most likely not.    … Full Review »
  2. coolmattsinegar
    May 3, 2023
    10
    Matthew Alexander "Matt" Sinegar [SIN-NA-GAR] (An EXTREMELY Mature & EXTREMELY Heterosexual (Straight) African-American/Black Man): Damita JoMatthew Alexander "Matt" Sinegar [SIN-NA-GAR] (An EXTREMELY Mature & EXTREMELY Heterosexual (Straight) African-American/Black Man): Damita Jo (2004) Is Literally Always One Of My All-Time Favorite R&B Albums.… Full Review »
  3. someonewhocares
    Jul 2, 2022
    5
    Damita Jo needed a lot to liven up her career after the personal disaster of All For You, and it certainly went down a similar road to All ForDamita Jo needed a lot to liven up her career after the personal disaster of All For You, and it certainly went down a similar road to All For You. Damita Jo can be tedious at times, but eventually, you'll hear the songs you'll know you'll eventually grow to love or to love em' instantly. But it took two years to record?! Damita Jo doesn't always sound like it did take that long to record, as most songs sound fast and over in a second.… Full Review »
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