Janet Jackson

Control and Rhythm Nation 1814 turn Jackson's emerging independence into a sustained musical and visual argument. The production she developed with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis has the force to support that change, while Rhythm Nation's disciplined choreography and coordinated clothing extend it into performance. Compare the personal assertions of Control with the larger social canvas of its successor. The point is not that a costume made her authoritative: the authority is audible in the records and organised into the movement.