July 24, 2006 @ 12:18 am

Janet Jackson's Love For Jermaine Dupri Helps Recording Process

Mark Lelinwalla

"Now, that I found love, I'm in a different space now,” said Jackson at a news conference in Atlanta on Friday (July 21), as reported by The Associated Press. "Jermaine is drama-free. He's a very giving person. The challenges have been all joy working with Jermaine.” Dupri, along with Jackson’s longtime collaborators Jimmy ‘Jam’ Harris and Terry Lewis have set the bar high for the superstar singer, as they’re among the producers on her highly-anticipated 20 Years Old set. Last Tuesday (July 18), Jackson gave her fans the chance to create the art work for her 20 Years Old album, by allowing them to download 33 different images of her on the Yahoo! Music website and to create their own LP covers. right Jackson will then personally choose four finalists, whose album art will appear on selected publicly distributed copies of 20 Years Old, which is scheduled for a Sept. 26 release. Outside of the actual recording process, Jackson has had to work equally hard. Jackson had to lose 60 pounds after passing on a role in the upcoming movie Tennessee, (starring Mariah Carey and scheduled for a 2007 release, according to the Internet Movie Database), to finish the album. Jackson’s lead single, “Call on Me,” featuring St. Louis superstar rapper Nelly is currently on radio rotation.

Have a news tip? Email us.