Janet Jackson Opens World Tour With New Song Featuring Missy Elliott

Janet Jackson launched her world tour in Vancouver Monday night, and though her set was reportedly a hit-heavy 32 songs long, the show opened with a new Unbreakable track featuring Missy Elliott.

A fan-shot video captured the opening moments of the show, which featured a Hitchcockian intro video filled with swarming birds as Jackson delivered a spoken word ode to her fans over a steadily building beat.

When the track finally kicked in, Missy Elliott — standing tall on two giant screens framing Jackson’s silhouette — let loose over punchy, shuffling production. Jackson then emerged taking center stage and control of the song, a propulsive pop number with a vocal performance that vacillated between sultry, smooth and casually fierce.

Despite rumors of a title, a rep for Jackson confirmed to Rolling Stone that the track remains untitled. 

Elliott returned as Jackson led her cadre of dancers towards the song’s end, which tapered off with a sample of the rapper’s “Lose Control” — a fitting transition into Jackson’s own, “Control.”

Per a tweet from Missy Elliott, the song was produced by Jackson’s longtime collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who also helmed her comeback single, “No Sleeep.” That track marked the first taste of Jackson’s upcoming LP, Unbreakable, and was followed by a remix featuring J. Cole and snippet from another album cut, “The Great Forever.”

Jackson has yet to confirm a release date for Unbreakable, though it’s expected to arrive this fall. The album marks her first since 2008’s Discipline, which also boasted a Elliott feature on the song “The 1” (they also collaborated on 2001’s “Son of A Gun” with Carly Simon).

Jackson will continue to tour North America through early November. She’s already scheduled a second leg of her trek, as well, kicking off January 12th, 2016 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.