VelvetKnowledge1814

1. Anything 2. My Need 3. You (I think this is objectively the best track on the album, and her best written song ever, but the other 2 have a special place with me) 4. Empty 5. What About 6. I Get Lonely 7. Can't Be Stopped 8. Velvet Rope 9. Free Xone 10. Every Time 11. Go Deep 12. Together Again 13. Rope Burn 14. Got Til It's Gone 15. Special 16. Tonight's the Night

The suspicions some of us had of Wissam appear to have been at least somewhat true.

Janet Jackson‘s older brother Steven Randall “Randy” Jackson claims that his sister suffered “verbal abuse” and felt like “a prisoner in her own home” during her marriage to London-based Qatari businessman Wissam Al Mana. The businessman’s attorneys issued a statement saying he will not be responding to the “particular and deeply hurtful allegations”. Speaking to PEOPLE exclusively, the former Jackson 5 star, 55, says, “Enough is enough” as he opens up for the first time about what he says is a troubling situation for the superstar singer. “There’s a lot of pain. Janet’s been through a lot with her divorce. I’ve been through a lot, we all have,” says Randy, referring to Janet’s ongoing divorce and custody battle with Al Mana, 42. The pair, who wed in 2012 and welcomed son Eissa on Jan. 3, have been in London courts since April, when the star confirmed their split in a video she shot with Randy at her side. “Yes, I separated from my husband,” the 51-year-old said during the clip posted to Twitter in April, which also announced she’d be resuming her State of the World tour. She had postponed the tour due to her pregnancy. She continued, “We are in court now and the rest is in God’s hands.” As for what led to the divorce, Randy, who has attended court proceedings with Janet, draws a stark picture of his sister’s life with Al Mana towards the end of their relationship. “It was quite an abusive situation,” Randy claims. “It came on later in the relationship, verbal abuse and being [made to feel like] a prisoner in her own home. No pregnant woman needs to go through being called a bitch everyday. There were things like that. That’s what she went through.” In a statement released to PEOPLE, attorneys for Al Mana say “Mr. Al Mana is not going to dignify these particular and deeply hurtful allegations with a response. “The breakdown of his marriage to Janet Jackson is a cause of great sadness to Mr. Al Mana, and it is the wellbeing and privacy of their son, Eissa, that remains his sole focus.” Randy, who lives in London near the home Janet and Al Mana shared, claims that while the abuse was not physical, he was compelled to come to his sister’s aid earlier this year. “I told her, ‘You’ve got to move in with me or I’m going to go over there and there’s going to be hell.’ She was really pissed off. I told her, ‘I don’t care anymore. I’m tired of it. It’s too much,’ ” he says According to Randy, he wasn’t the only member of the large Jackson family to rally around Janet after the divorce, “My mom and [sister] Rebbie came out [to London].” As for mom Katherine Jackson, 87, and father Joe Jackson, 89, Randy says at first, he shielded them from what he knew. “I didn’t want them to know. My parents are up there in age so I wanted to protect them as much as possible, but now they know. Everybody in the family knows.” Soon after the news of their separation, Al Mana, who is reportedly Muslim, updated his website WissamAlMana.com with a passage from the Quran: “You shall most certainly be tried in your possessions and in your persons; and indeed you shall hear many hurtful things from those to whom revelation was granted before your time, as well as from those who have come to ascribe divinity to other beings beside Allah. But if you remain patient in adversity and conscious of Him – this, behold, is something to set one’s heart upon. – 3:186 “ Despite early reports that the couple’s split had to do with differing religious beliefs(Randy says Janet is Christian), Randy says that was not the problem. “I have a lot of Muslim friends and they don’t act that way at all,” he says. “It’s a personal issue that he needs help with and I’m going to pray for him, too. But I’m not going to allow her to live in that abusive situation. She’s my baby sister.” Al Mana also took to his website with a picture of his estranged wife and a positive message titled “Love”. It reads: “To the most beautiful person in the world, thank you for your divine love, your eternal support and for being my best friend. I love you so much. Inshallah, we will be together in the Great Forever.” Randy says things have been anything but amicable. Asked how Janet is doing now, he says it’s a tough time, noting that the famed “Control” singer has been breaking down into tears on stage night after night. While performing her song “What About” during her opening night in Houston on Saturday, she was overcome with emotion. “What you saw in Houston, it was her situation coming out, what she’s been going through.” Moreover, he claims, “The abuse is still going on.” Randy says the pair are still in contact mostly due to coparenting Eissa. “She has custody and he of course allowed her to bring the baby on tour, but it’s constant harassment. This tour almost didn’t happen, but by the grace of God we’re here and we’re very prayerful.” “It’s not about anger or vengeance,” says Randy as for why he’s decided to voice his claims. While he says Janet “wants Eissa to have a mother and a father,” the couple’s issues have grown too large. “We don’t like to put our business out there but sometimes transparency helps you. The devil thrives in darkness. I’m just here supporting her through this time.” Link: http://people.com/music/janet-jackson-verbally-abused-during-by-wissam-al-mana-randy-claims/

I love that Janet surprised us with a lot of the songs on this setlist. I think the ballads section of the show has a lot of potential. Maybe she could switch some songs in and out on different dates to keep the fans guessing. I'm kinda surprised we didn't see Free Xone or Can't Be Stopped because they were teased, but I'm so in awe at what she's done to revamp parts of the tour.

I can't stop watching the "All Nite" footage. She did the choreography so well, outdoing her backup dancers in the process, as usual! She's so kinetic!

"Anything" is in my top 3 fave Janet tracks ever. It's been fighting with FHTF for 1st spot.

Start with "Control" and work your way up from there.

Janet was recently featured on Very Smart Brothers/The Root's list for The 10 Best 'Brown Liquor' Songs of All-Time. (It's an obscure list, but I thought it'd be worth posting) In the author's words a brown liquor song is qualified by: 1) a pronounced bass line; 2) this bass line must be contrasted with an ethereal harmony; and 3) the sonic tension between these juxtapositions must evoke a mood that is either libidinous or mournful in nature. 6. “Anything” by Janet JacksonThis is the definitive Janet Jackson slow jam. Per Son of Baldwin, “Anything was Janet channeling her best Isley Brothers. ... You can hear it in her phrasings. Listen to the way she says ‘I’ for example. She puts that stank on it and turns it into ‘Yi.’ That’s a classic Ron Isley interpretation, made specifically for the bedroom. Janet updated it by adding her trademark honey-harmonies (a phrase coined by writer Danyel Smith to describe the sound of ‘I Get Lonely’) in the background. Smooth AF. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis added that hypnotic pulse and there you have it: folks ready to give up “Anything” in the act of lovemaking.” I suggest you pair this with Basil Hayden … neat. Link: http://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/the-10-best-brown-liquor-songs-of-all-time-1797871056

"Nothing" was a mistake.

It would be perfect if Janet got to her Damita Jo weight. I always felt that was her body at its best overall. AFY era weight would be far too hard for her to keep in check and I don't think she needs that much stress. I think what's most likely is that we'll get Janet at a weight similar to her 2010 American Idol appearance, which I'd be fine with.

It's great that he won. Since we're talking about Rhythm Nation, has anyone else noticed that its video along with Miss You Much's are not available on YouTube?

I hope she's spending her birthday well with Eissa.

How do you guys think the tickets are doing overall?

I chose Twenty Foreplay, but I'd also like STCML and Empty.

I've always wanted Janet to do more with jazz. She's stated before that one of her favorite genres is Brazilian Jazz so I'm surprised she hasn't really done much in the genre. The jazz heavy songs that Janet does have like SIT, MLITR, and even FBB are great and I'd like to see her try to expand on this. I've listened to some songs in a sub genre of jazz called electronic-jazz, and Janet could do something great there, I think. (Sorry for this ramble)

What interview is this from?

LegendToya is far too busy to accompany Janet on this tour.

I must say that more needs to be said about "You." The routine she did for that song on the VR tour is definitely one of her best-- in fact, I'd put it somewhere in top 10 at least. The dancers dressed up with masks on both sides of their heads was quite the clever idea from Tina, Janet and co. The costumes, along with the routine, really highlight the song's themes and atmosphere. ... And don't even get me started on that breakdown... It's a shame the song wasn't a bigger hit. I understand that it was important to promote the tour with a video, but "You" really deserved something more creative, I think.

I remember way back around '07-08 several channels had her videos uploaded and they all got taken down. About 2 years ago, a fan account named 'JanetVIDEOS' had almost all of her videos uploaded in very good quality, and many of those videos raked in views in the hundreds of thousands (sometimes millions) rather quickly before the channel was also deleted for copyright. It's definitely safe to say that none of this is a priority for her (and this has been happening slowly over the past 8-10+ years).

The original version of "Got Till It's Gone" has grown on me over the years, but I believe that the best version of the song is the Mellow Mix.

Madonna has kind of toned things down, but for Madonna that's probably not saying much (see her live performance of "Holy Water" and her 2016 Met Gala outfit). I neither want nor expect Janet to come on stage grinding on audience members (the gimmick was tired by the AFY tour tbh), or showing off excessive amounts of skin. It's unnecessary at this point and we've already seen her body shown off & exposed at its peak; if anyone wants that Janet, the photos and songs will always be there to return to. On the other hand, I think most can agree that her Unbreakable tour outfits were just ... I'd like for Janet to be balanced, so to speak. She can still be sexy while fully clothed. Her all white jumpsuit during the UCAP tour and her black suit during the VR tour are proof of that. If she wore stylish, sexy, but still classy costumes on stage, (mostly) everyone would be happy.

It's unacceptable that Janet has allowed her YouTube to be run the way that it is. An artist of her grandeur should put an effort into having all of her classic music videos uploaded on the most popular video sharing site, but Janet hasn't. Most of her videos aren't uploaded and the ones that are on YouTube are blocked in quite a few countries. This is basic stuff that Janet could get done (probably) without having to put much work in herself.

That's the thing: pregnancies (especially at Janet's age) are usually taken into consideration and planned beforehand. Why would Janet go on tour if "planning a family" with Wissam was on her (and his) mind in any capacity? We're all happy Janet's a mother, but that doesn't change the fact that the timing of it all makes her look bad, and puts her in an awkward position regarding her future touring prospects.

The recently uploaded videos on Janet's topic aren't available when I click on them (I live in Canada btw). On the topic of Janet's YouTube presence, she really needs to work on having her videos uploaded and available to view in as many countries as possible.

I couldn't even get through that video.