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

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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