Format 7"
12"
CD
cassette | Genre R&B
soul
quiet storm | |
B-side "Throb"
"And on and On" Released May 23, 1994 (1994-05-23) Recorded 1992–93; Flyte Tyme Studios
(Edina, Minnesota) Length 7:08 (album version)
5:11 (R. Kelly remix) | ||
"Any Time, Any Place" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson from her fifth studio album Janet (1993). It was written and produced by Jackson and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and released as the album's fifth single on May 23, 1994, by the Virgin label. The song lyrically depicts Jackson having sexual intercouse in public. A remix produced by R. Kelly was also released.
Contents
"Any Time, Any Place" reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became another R&B chart-topper for Jackson. She has performed the song on three of her tours.
Composition
"Any Time, Any Place" was co-written and co-produced by Jackson and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. It is a R&B ballad, based on sexual liberation, similar to the music of Barry White and Marvin Gaye. Jackson sings about she and her lover having public displays of affection and sexual intercourse. It also features saxophone and fingersnaps, with additional sounds of rain and thunder. The chorus of the song decipts Jackson singing "I don't care who's around" during her public lovemaking. During the second pre-chorus, the singer vamps, "I don't give a damn! I want you now!" According to Sputnikmusic, the song "oozes with the longing to be touched".
American singer R. Kelly made a remix of the song, which along with the CJ's 12" Mix, appeared on Jackson's 1995 remix compilation album Janet Remixed.
Critical reception
"Any Time, Any Place" received positive reviews from music critics. Billboard editor Andrew Hampp, while reviewing the album on its twentieth anniversary, called it "a stone-cold classic". Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine noted that the song "provides a genuine climax: It's an oozing, slow-paced romp". Philadelphia Daily News's Chuck Arnold called the song a "delicate, aching ballad", which "warmly climaxes the carnality with a cooing vow of insatiability".
Chart performance
The song held the number-one position on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for ten weeks (a record at the time) and became Jackson's biggest hit on the chart; it also peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 (behind All-4-One's "I Swear"), while it saw limited success in Europe and Australia. With the song reaching number two on the Billboard Hot 100, Jackson became the only artist to release 3 consecutive albums with at least 5 top-ten singles in the U.S.
Music video
The video for "Any Time, Any Place" was directed by Keir McFarlane. Jackson is depicted playing sex games with a man across the hall. The video acted as a safe sex campaign. An alternate version of the video with the R. Kelly Mix was also shot with more explicit footage. At the end of the video, the screen fades to black, and a message fades in: "any time, any place ......be responsible".
Both versions of the video are featured on the 1994 VHS janet., while the original appears on the DVD edition of 2001's All for You and on the 2004 DVD From Janet to Damita Jo: The Videos.
Live performances
During the performance of "Any Time, Any Place" on the Janet World Tour which occurred through 1993 and 1995, Jackson selected a man from the audience to the stage, and sat on his thigh. An instrumental interlude of the song was included on the The Velvet Rope Tour in 1998 right before the performance of "Rope Burn", where Jackson picks an unsuspecting member of the audience onto stage and teases them with her performance which included a lap dance. The performance of the song at the October 11, 1998 show in New York City, at the Madison Square Garden, was broadcast during a special titled The Velvet Rope: Live in Madison Square Garden by HBO. It was also added to the setlist at its DVD release, The Velvet Rope Tour – Live in Concert in 1999. Due to censorship laws, "Rope Burn" and "Any Time, Any Place" were left out of the release in Hong Kong, where the video was issued as a 17 track double VCD. It was later included on the 2008 Rock Witchu Tour, as an interlude for the performance of "Discipline", on which she and her dancers pull up a male audience member and strap him into a harness; he was then suspended midair as Jackson teased him with a highly suggestive set of moves and the breathy soft-core porn of the track. Additionally, an interlude of the song was included on the 2011 Number Ones, Up Close and Personal. It was also included on her current 2015-2016 Unbreakable World Tour.
Legacy
Hip-hop artist Da Deputy sampled the song in 2012 with "Private Resort". Also in 2012, rapper Kendrick Lamar sampled the song for his single "Poetic Justice", which featured Drake, and was titled after the film Poetic Justice, which starred Jackson and Tupac Shakur. The song's producer Scoop DeVille recalled several artists wanting the song based on the Jackson sample, including rapper 50 Cent, before he ended up giving it to Lamar. Although Kendrick asked Jackson to appear in the music video, saying it would be "a blessing" and he was "a young boy that looked up to you for years", she did not make an appearance. A freestyle over the song's instrumental was recorded and released by American rappers Busta Rhymes and Q-Tip on December 21, 2012, where the two pay homage to the singer. A gospel version of the song was featured in the pilot episode of Issa Rae's dramedy web series The Choir. Raheem DeVaughn recorded a cover version of the song with a few lyrics changed in 2015.