Janet Jackson's 'The Velvet Rope' Getting Deluxe Reissue for 25th Anniversary

"The Velvet Rope: Deluxe Edition" drops on Friday. 

Halloween is on the horizon but for Janet Jackson fans this week may feel a little more like Christmas.

That is because the diva is giving her devotees an early gift Friday (Oct. 7) to celebrate the 25th anniversary of her classic album “The Velvet Rope.”

The five-time Grammy Award-winner will release a new deluxe edition of her sixth studio release. In 1997 the triple-platinum EP was Jackson’s fourth consecutive album to top the Billboard 200 chart.

A concept piece that was born out of her own bouts with depression, Jackson said the album was one of her toughest to make.

“You feel like the walls are closing in on you, and you can’t escape,” she recollected to Entertainment Weekly about recording the album in a 2001 interview. “That was happening to me during “Velvet Rope,” and I just felt like there was no way out.”

Fortunately for music lovers, the process of Jackson dealing with her own internal demons through her music, translated into a melodic and therapeutic treatise on female sexuality and mental health.

While she was not sure how her fan base would react when she was writing and recording the raw songs, which also touch on domestic violence and kinks, she persisted.

“I’m sure it did alienate a lot of people, but that’s what I was feeling, and I wanted to write about it, so I did,” she said.

It is a good thing she did too.

Produced by longtime collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the effort was named one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone. Pitchfork counts it as one of “The 150 Best Albums of the 1990s”

In addition to No. 1 hits like “Together Again and “I Get Lonely,” the new edition features 13 remixes as well as B-sides and rarities like “Accept Me” and “God’s Stepchild.” It will be the first time several of the songs have been made available to stream.

Remastered versions of some of the most memorable Jackson visuals for the project will be made available to watch on YouTube in tandem with the release.

See the complete track listing for "The Velvet Rope: Deluxe Edition" below:

THE VELVET ROPE: DELUXE EDITION
Component 1:

1. Interlude -Twisted Elegance
2. Velvet Rope [feat. Vanessa-Mae]
3. You
4. Got 'Til It's Gone [feat. Q-Tip & Joni Mitchell]
5. Interlude - Speaker Phone
6. My Need
7. Interlude - Fasten Your Seatbelts
8. Go Deep
9. Free Xone
10. Interlude - Memory
11. Together Again
12. Interlude - Online
13. Empty
14. Interlude - Full
15. What About
16. Every Time
17. Tonight's The Night
18. I Get Lonely
19. Rope Burn
20. Anything
21. Interlude - Sad
22. Special
23. Can't Be Stopped
24. Accept Me [Bonus Track] *
25. God's Stepchild [Bonus Track] *

Component 2:
1. I Get Lonely (TNT Remix Edit) with BLACKstreet *
2. Got 'Til It's Gone (Ummah Jay Dee's Revenge Mix) *
3. Go Deep (Timbaland/Missy Remix) featuring Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott *
4. Together Again (Jimmy Jam Deeper Mix) *
5. Every Time (Jam & Lewis Disco Mix)
6. I Get Lonely (Jam & Lewis Feel My Bass Mix) *
7. Got 'Til It's Gone (David Morales & Frankie Knuckles Def Club Mix) *
8. Together Again (Tony Moran 12" Club Mix) *
9. Go Deep (Masters at Work Thunder Mix) *
10. Together Again (Tony Humphries Club Mix Edit)
11. I Get Lonely (Jason vs. Janet The Club Remix)
12. Go Deep (Masters At Work Vocal Deep Disco Dub)
13. Got 'Til It's Gone (Armand Van Helden Bonus Beats)
* = new to streaming

Watch: Will Smith Releases Teaser for Runaway Slave Movie 'Emancipation'

Will Smith is having a relatively rough year for a guy who won his first Academy Award in March.

Of course, slapping the host of the show about to fete you is probably not the best way to get on the good side of karma.

While Chris Rock famously declined to press charges for the incident, Smith did get a 10-year ban from attending the ceremony. He also was grilled mercilessly by the internet and went into hiding when he should have been celebrating the apex of his acting career. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Will Smith (@willsmith)

Things are finally looking up for the actor, who apologized to Rock for the assault on the comedian in what the latter referred to as a "hostage video,” however.

Smith's first post-slap project, “Emancipation,” is generating positive buzz. Following a recent screening his performance as Peter — the real-life runaway slave depicted in the "Whipped Peter" series of photos in Harper's Weekly in 1863 that served as a searing indictment on slavery — was compelling enough for Apple to give it a December release.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by NAACP (@naacp)

The feature will be released to theaters in a limited release on Dec. 2, before making its debut on Apple TV+ a week later — making it eligible for this year's Oscar nominations.

That doesn't guarantee, of course, that Smith will remotely add another best actor trophy to his case remotely next year. If the word-on-the-street is to be believed, though, the movie and the powerful performance that drives it might be the most important of his career.

I had the pleasure of watching the film #Emancipation and can’t begin to tell how powerful this is for OUR community and OUR history. It’s a story of adversity, of resilience, of love, and of triumph.

Thank you Antoine Fuqua and Will Smith for sharing your gifts!#ThisIsPower

— Derrick Johnson (@DerrickNAACP) October 1, 2022

"I had the pleasure of watching the film #Emancipation and can’t begin to tell how powerful this is for OUR community and OUR history," NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson posted on Twitter following the screening. "It’s a story of adversity, of resilience, of love, and of triumph. Thank you Antoine Fuqua and Will Smith for sharing your gifts!"

Watch the teaser for the movie below:

Coolio Dead at 59

©Facebook/Coolio

Grammy Award-winning rapper Coolio died Wednesday at a friend's house in Los Angeles. He was 59.

TMZ first broke the news and his longtime manager, Jarez Posey, then confirmed it to multiple outlets.

Posey said the star went to the bathroom and when he did not return for a “long time,” friends broke down the door and found him on the floor.

According to Posey paramedics were called after he was found unresponsive but their attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead.

Born Artis Leon Ivey Jr., Coolio was one of the most recognizable names in rap in the late 1990s.

One of the nicest dudes I’ve known.
Good people. R.I.P. Coolio 🕊 🌹 🕊 pic.twitter.com/yQF9ZonbKA

— MC HAMMER (@MCHammer) September 29, 2022

The Pennsylvania native found success in the music industry after moving to Compton, California, where he went to community college and worked as a volunteer firefighter before devoting himself to music full-time.

In 1994 his debut album "It Takes a Thief" made him a star. The platinum album's lead single "Fantastic Voyage" reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, while it peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard 200.

Coolio kept the momentum going with his next release 1995's “Gangsta’s Paradise." The hit from the soundtrack of the Michelle Pfeiffer film "Dangerous Minds" earned him a Grammy for best solo rap performance.

He went on to make the song the title track of his second studio album released the same year. "Gangsta's Paradise" went on to sell over two million copies in the United States and generated two more major hits for the artist in "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)" (No. 5 Billboard Hot 100) and "Too Hot" (No. 24).

After the news broke, friends, fans and former colleagues took to the internet to eulogize the fallen star. Among them was Weird Al, who the rapper feuded with after the parody song master released the song "Amish Paradise." The two squashed the beef later.

"RIP Coolio," he wrote in a simple and touching tribute.

RIP Coolio pic.twitter.com/Z53f3n6HDU

— Al Yankovic (@alyankovic) September 29, 2022