Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814

Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 (sometimes shortened to Rhythm Nation 1814) is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Janet Jackson, released on September 19, 1989, by A&M Records. The album themes include various tragedies reported through the news at the time, exploring racism, poverty, and substance abuse. In 1990 Jackson went on her first head line tour called "Rhythm Nation Tour 1990". Since its release, the album has sold nearly 20 million copies worldwide.

Accolades
 Organization Country Award Year Source Parents' Choice Foundation United States Parents' Choice Award 1989  American Music Awards United States Favorite Dance Artist, Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist, Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist, Favorite Dance Single ("Miss You Much"), Favorite R&B Single ("Miss You Much") 1990-91  Billboard Music Awards United States Top Hot 100 Singles Artist of the Year, Top Selling Album of the Year, Top Selling R&B Album of the Year, Top Selling R&B Albums Artist of the Year, Top Selling R&B Artist of the Year, Top Dance Club Play Artist of the Year, Top Hot Dance 12" Singles Sales Artist of the Year 1990  Billboard's Tanqueray Sterling Music Video Awards United States Best Female Video Artist, Black/Rap, Best Female Artist, Dance, Director's Award, Black/Rap (Rhythm Nation 1814 Film), Director's Award, Dance ("Alright"), Tanqueray Sterling Music Video Award for Artistic Achievement (Rhythm Nation 1814 Film) 1990 MTV Music Video Awards United States Best Choreography ("Rhythm Nation"), Video Vanguard Award1990 Grammy Awards United States Best Music Video, Long Form (Rhythm Nation 1814 Film) 1990  Rolling Stone United States "Women In Rock: The 50 Essential Albums" — #27 2002  Quintessence Editions Ltd. United Kingdom 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die 2003  Rolling Stone United States The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time — #275 2003  Rolling Stone United States The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time — #277 2012  Entertainment Weekly United States The 100 Best Albums of the Past 25 Years — #54 2007  Slant Magazine United States "Best Albums of the '80s" — #43 2012  Spin United States "The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985-2014)" — #54 2014 

Track listing

Notes
All songs except interludes and "Black Cat" are co-produced by Janet Jackson.
All songs except interludes and "Black Cat" are produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
"Black Cat" is produced by Janet Jackson and Jellybean Johnson.

Personnel

Herb Alpert – trumpet, horn, brass
Julie Ayer – violin
Stephen Barnett – conductor
Steve Barnett – conductor
David Barry – electric and 12-string guitar
Lee Blaske – arranger
Chris Brown – bass
Carolyn Daws – violin
Hanley Daws – violin
David Eiland – programming
Rene Elizondo – background vocals
Richard Frankel – art direction, cover design
Johnny Gill – percussion, special effects, finger snaps
James Greer – background vocals
Guzman (Constance Hansen & Russell Peacock) – photography
Steve Hodge – background vocals, engineer
Peter Howard – cello
Janet Jackson – arranger, keyboards, vocals, background vocals, producer
Jimmy Jam – percussion, piano, drums, keyboards, programming, producer
Jellybean Johnson – guitar, drums, vocals, background vocals, producer
Jesse Johnson – guitar
Lisa Keith – background vocals

Kathy Kienzle – harp
Joshua Koestenbaum – cello
Jamila Lafleur – background vocals
Terry Lewis – bass, percussion, arranger, background vocals, producer
Tshaye Marks – background vocals
John McClain – background vocals, executive producer
Tamika McDaniel – vocals
Tarnika McDaniel – background vocals
John McLain – guitar, background vocals
Shante Owens – background vocals
Amy Powell – vocals
Randy Ran – background vocals
Nicholas Raths – guitar, classical guitar
Sonya Robinson – background vocals
Clarice Rupert – background vocals
Warlesha Ryan – background vocals
Tamas Strasser – viola
John Tartaglia – viola
Reshard Taylor – background vocals
Romuald Tecco – concert master
Anthony Thomas – background vocals
Hyacinthe Tlucek – concert master
Steve Wilson – background vocals

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (1989–91)PeakpositionAustralian Albums (ARIA)1Canadian Albums (Billboard)5Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)28German Albums (Official Top 100)39Japanese Albums (Oricon)8New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)  9South Africa (RiSA)1Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)24Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)23United Kingdom Albums (OCC)4US Billboard 2001US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums1

Year-end charts
End of year chart (1990)PositionUS Billboard 2001End of year chart (1991)Position Australian Albums Chart13

Certifications

Notes:
  * As of December 2009, the album has sold 8,500,000 copies in the U.S. according to Nielsen SoundScan, which does not count albums sold through clubs like the BMG Music. Combined, it has sold over 8,600,000 copies in the U.S. with additional 1.10 million copies sold at BMG Music Clubs. Nielsen SoundScan does not count albums sold through clubs like the BMG Music Service, which were significantly popular in the 1990s.

References

Category:1989 albums
Category:Janet Jackson albums
Category:Dance-pop albums
Category:New jack swing albums
Category:R&B albums