20 Y.O.

20 Y.O. is the ninth studio album by American recording artist Janet Jackson, released by Virgin Records on September 20, 2006 in Japan, September 22 internationally, and September 26 in Canada and the United States. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with 297,000 copies sold in its first week, making it Jackson's eighth consecutive top three debut and second consecutive number two album debut. It is also Jackson's eighth consecutive platinum album. On December 7, 2006 the album earned Jackson a Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album. The reception was better than Damita Jo but was still lukewarm. Jackson launched a contest, the "Design Me" cover contest, giving fans an opportunity to create the artwork for the album by downloading images of her and creating proposed covers for the album. Jackson hand-picked dozens of images to be used in the contest. She selected her top four favorites, which were used for the standard edition's cover on U.S. pressings of 20 Y.O.

Conception

In 2004 Jackson released her anticipated new album, Damita Jo. The added media exposure led to a high chart debut, but no hit singles, due to lack of radio support. Jackson, deciding to step away from the spotlight, announced in late 2004 that she intended to start work on a new album project in the coming year. It would involve her then boyfriend—record producer......
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