New Album. New Body. Same Burning Desire.

“This is the one that always wants to pop out,” says Janet Jackson of what is possibly the most famous right breast in the world. “Look, it’s trying to pop out of my bra right now!” With that the singer we’ve watched grow from America’s Little Sister to international sex bomb dips into her black bra to adjust the frisky bosom that forever seared the term, “wardrobe malfunction,” into the lexicon.

“Sometimes, I really don’t understand America” the youngest Jackson sighs of the post-Super Bowl “Nipplegate” brouhaha. “In Europe the body is celebrated. I mean, it’s a beautiful thing that God created.”

Certainly, He did nice work when it comes to Miss Jackson. With her new CD, 20 Years Old—a collection that includes a duet with Mariah Carey and celebrates the two decades of pop superstardom begun when Jackson first joined forces with her songwriter/producers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, on 1986’s Control—the 5’4” Jackson is again sporting both her trademark six-pack abs and mile-wide-smile (“A lot fits in that mouth,” Miss Jackson If You’re Nasty can’t help but confess) after having gained and lost a whopping 80 pounds in the last year (pounds gained, she says, for a film role that, due to scheduling conflicts, didn’t pan out). She’s also very happy with her 20 Years Old co-producer, hip-hop titan, Jermaine DuPri.

“He’s making me feel like a woman and I’ve never felt like that before,” she says of Dupri, who, at 33, is seven years younger than the just-turned-forty-but-still-feels-twenty Jackson. “I would have Jermaine’s child. He lets me be who I am.”

Which, as it turns out, is a funny, forthright chick who’s both good as gold and bad to the bone. “I love receiving and giving love—I want to make people happy and bring joy to their lives,” she says in one breath. The next, however, finds her reflecting on the near future when she’ll be touring the 20 Years Old album around the world. At each live appearance, Jackson, traditionally, brings some lucky horndog on stage for a steamy, personal lap dance. And that, Janet confesses, is “my favorite part of the show.” Then with a wicked grin she ‘defends’ herself. “Hey, I’m just doing my job. And it’s a fun job to do.”

Gentleman, Janet is back.

DO YOU EVER DO THAT ‘JOB’ FOR YOUR MAN, JANET?
I say, When they ask, you give ‘em what they want. Why not? They’re asking you and they could easily be asking someone else. So, yes, he’s asked and I’ve given.

EXACTLY HOW NASTY IS ‘MS. JACKSON? HOW MUCH DO YOU NEEND IT?
Honestly? As much as I can get it. I mean, I know women are usually saying that they ‘have a headache’ because their guy wants it too much, but…..well, actually, the other day I had a journalist say, “Don’t you feel that by saying stuff like that that you’re making it difficult on women?” And, I’m, like, “I’m not trying to make it more difficult for women, I’m just talking about how I am.” I mean, I’ve never been in a relationship that the guy was as eager as I am. Until Jermaine came into my life, it was always the guy that was saying, “I’ve got a headache, not tonight.”

SO, TO QUOTE SOME OF YOUR SONG LYRICS, YOU WANT IT “EARLY IN THE MORNING”—
Late in the evening.

”ANYTIME”
Anywhere.

DID YOU FEEL THAT WAY EVEN AS A MORE, UH, FULL-FIGURED WOMAN?
Jermaine made me feel that way. He’d kiss me and say, It needs love, too.

WHEN YOU SAY ‘IT’ WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU MEAN?
Well, that it, but not that it. (laughs)

WE THINK YOU MEAN YOUR FORMER FAT. ANYWAY, WHEN YOU WERE A BIG GAL YOUR CHEST MUST HAVE INFLATED A BIT.
Jermaine would call me, “Double D.” I’d say, “I’m not a double D! I refuse to go up a size in a bra!” So I squeezed into a C.

AND NOW YOU’RE RIPPED. LOOK AT THOSE ABS OF YOURS.
You know, I didn’t set out for that to happen—I was just working out and getting these incredibly strong abs. But then people became all, like, “Where are those abs?! Show us!” So, like, in clubs, if I’m wearing a crop top girls will just come up, put their hands on me and rub my stomach. I’m serious! I’m, like, “Are you flirting with me right now?”

MAYBE. BUT DO GUYS DO IT, TOO?
Yes. And, sometimes, you’ll feel somebody grab your ass. And they don’t just grab it softly, but GRAB it. You’re just walking through the crowd so you don’t know who’s done it….

AND DO YOU LIKE THAT?
That’s the question, right? (laughs) Hmm. Do I feel violated? No. But do you really want someone you don’t know touching you in that way?

DEPENDS ON THE NIGHT.
Yeah—depends on whether you need a little pick me up, a little Red Bull moment!

BUT DO YOU THINK MONOGAMY IS A MUST?
Do I believe in it? Yes. But I also believe if there are other things you both want—and, if you have an understanding and agree to those things—then you do those things. But you have to have an understanding first! I do believe in monogamy, though. But you always have to keep it fresh. You can’t too comfortable, that’s when eyes start to roam.

BUT HOW DO YOU KEEP IT ‘FRESH’ WHEN YOU’RE AWAY ON A LONG TOUR?
Well, the girls and I do crazy things on days off. Like I’ll take security and we’ll go to sex shops. Some of my friends say, “How do you feel about being in a sex shop with those security guys?” and, I’m, like, “Well, they have sex, too—they’ll probably be coming back the minute they drop me off!” But, anyway, I’ll get a bunch of stuff for the girls, invite them to the room and pass out—

Basically, yes. (laughs) With the little ticklers. And the girls are, like, “Oh, my god, this is the best—a lifesaver!” ‘Cause when you’re on the road you need all that kind of stuff.

JANET, AS A 40-YEAR-OLD WOMAN, WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE ACTIVITY THAT LEAVES 20-YEAR-OLDS IN THE DUST?
Age is just a number to me and I see myself still as so much of a kid. But the one thing I love about us forty-year-olds is that we’re in the prime, sexually. And, hey, it’s nice when you’re with someone who’s younger because they can keep up. They know how to last! But, seriously, I will say this: I have way more experience, sexually, now. (smiles sweetly) And it shows.