Picture a seven-year-old nOva knowing the words to Janet Jackson's "Pleasure Principle" verbatim but not knowing what any of those words meant, namely "principle"--which wasn't the guy whose office I was often called into in those days. I would later come to understand what this all meant, phrases like "feed your insecurities" and "human differential." It all boils down to her not wasting her time on a lover that just couldn't sustain something that started off satisfying.
It was produced and composed by The Time's Monte Moir, and is one of only two tracks from Control that don't involve Jimmy and Terry. While the song definitely has legs of its own, it was the video of Janet dancing alone in a warehouse studio, jumping off the backs of chairs and flinging sweat left and right that really set the single off. The simple, yet high-energy approach would eventually inspire the Britney's and Ciara's of current times. Control was Janet's breakout album and the clip for "The Pleasure Principle" is probably what can be considered a signature one, as it informed the better part of her musical and visual execution for years to come.
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The only other artist that rocked this hard back then was Michael Jackson.
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