Despite Two New Tracks, Janet Jackson "Not Working on an Album"

Janet Jackson may have two songs in rotation — "Nothing" and her Pitbull team-up "Heartbeat Love" — but fans anxious to hear her follow-up to 2008's Discipline have a long wait ahead of them: Jackson tells Rolling Stone she's not currently working on an album.

Check out photos from Janet Jackson's Rock Witchu Tour.

"There was a time where I was actually in the studio and I was recording, but I'm not working on an album," she says. "There have been a lot of record labels that have asked me to sit down and talk with them, but I don't know if I want to do something completely independent, or go with a major." Discipline was Jackson's first disc on Def Jam after she left her longtime label Virgin.

So what about the new songs? "Nothing" is a one-off she co-wrote and co-produced with Jermaine Dupri for the new Tyler Perry film Why Did I Get Married Too?, and the lyrics reflect the tensions and turmoil between characters, like Angela's trust issues with Marcus ("You can even have the password to my phone"), as well as her own character Patricia's guilt and regret over Gavin ("We should cherish every moment like it's the last"). As for the second song, Jackson said she did it as a favor for Rodney Jerkins, for "fun."

When Jackson does return to the studio, she's not sure whether she'll work toward a classic pop album (as "Nothing" might indicate) or do something more dance club-oriented (like "Heartbeat Love"): "I haven't decided on exactly where I want to go or what I want to do."

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

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