Coming off the hugely-successful Control LP, Janet Jackson was one of the hottest properties in the music industry and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis found themselves a production team of choice.  But label interference almost kept the three from reuniting for Janet's sophomore album.  "It seemed like everyone had their two cents they wanted to put in about the next album," noted Jimmy.  "The reason it took so long in the negotiations was that we had decided because we were close as friends, we would let the lawyers and the managers take care of it and we wouldn't be involved.  We would concentrate on the creative end of things.  There were a lot of standstills, a lot of changes at A&M records internally."  A simple phone call from Janet changed everything:  "She said, 'Let's just get this done.'  We forcefully directed our attorneys and management to get a deal done - and magically, in two weeks, there was a deal."

Production began in Minneapolis in September, 1988, and continued for six months.  Rhythm Nation was not initially intended as a concept album.  "The thing we set out to do was not make Control Part II," said Jimmy Jam.  But the threesome spent their time watching television news during breaks from recording, and Janet was touched by the injustice in many world events.  About six or seven songs into the project, the Rhythm Nation theme began to take form.  Released in late September, 1989, Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation bested the success of Control by remaining number 1 for 4 weeks, selling over six million copies, and spinning off seven Top 5 hits, a record that remains unbroken to this day.